mobility
Deutsche Bahn leaves arrival plans hanging at train stations
Actually, the white plans with the arrival times of the trains should disappear from the train stations when the timetable changes in mid-December. Now the railway is backing down.
After clear criticism, Deutsche Bahn is now leaving the white arrival plans hanging at train stations. “Deutsche Bahn (DB) takes the criticism from the public and associations seriously and is withdrawing its decision,” said the federally owned company. Even after the timetable change in mid-December, the arrival plans remained stuck “for the next timetable period”. The “Bild” newspaper first reported on it.
The railway is now planning to comprehensively evaluate the use of the print medium at the station in the coming timetable phase. On this basis, the next steps should then be discussed with the associations.
It was only on Wednesday that the company announced that notices of arrival plans should no longer be displayed in train stations from December 15th. The move was justified by the fact that travelers needed information in real time. The most reliable way to find out the arrival time and the arrival platform at the station is via the monitors, the live arrival boards or the dynamic displays directly on the platform, it said. Since the paper notices are rarely used by travelers, but require a lot of effort in data maintenance and printing, they are not used. The printed yellow departure schedules should not be affected by the plans.
The white plans are hanging at 570 medium to large train stations
According to its own information, Deutsche Bahn operates around 5,700 train stations where around 21 million travelers travel every day. The yellow plans are hanging at all train stations. The white plans are also hanging at 570 medium to large train stations.
After the announcement, there was clear criticism from social and passenger associations. “The planned abolition of analogue notices, even if so far only affects arrival plans, exacerbates the feeling of being left behind, especially for everyone who does not travel digitally all the time – senior citizens, people with disabilities or poor people,” said Verena Bentele, President of the social association VdK, the editorial network Germany (RND). “People are excluded from important information without necessity.”
The chairman of the Pro Bahn passenger association, Detlef Neuß, told the RND: “We are of the opinion that the printed timetables could continue to be posted.” Many people preferred to calmly follow the plans instead of using the digital displays.
dpa
Source: Stern
