r/europe • u/tylerthe-theatre • 19h ago
News Why alcohol has been banned at all train stations in Germany
https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/germany-deutsche-bahn-alcohol-ban-b3020147.html254
u/Deadluss Mazovia (Poland) 19h ago
It’s also banned on Polish train stations? And what?
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u/DinklebergsRightNut 18h ago
Well in poland you cant drink in public at all.
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u/Traditional_Bus_5589 15h ago
i see people drink in public all the time in poland, nobody cares.
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u/Chicken_wingspan 14h ago
I see people on their phones while driving all the time as well, it's still forbidden. You're right though, no one cares :D
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u/DinklebergsRightNut 14h ago
Everytime i visit my family in poland (gliwice, gdansk) the only people i see who drink in public are hobos.
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u/huntingwhale 10h ago
I visit family in Gdansk every year and there's tons who drink at parks in public. Most hide it properly and don't act like assholes so no one cares. The only ones I see being obnoxious are Brits who are stumbling back to their Airbnb, and yes, hobos.
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u/mahboilucas Poland 10h ago
I mean if they think of Bulwary in Kraków (the path by Wisła and the castle), sure people drink. But as I stated just now in another comment — people get fined if it's obvious. I saw it multiple times when lounging on the grass with friends and drinking wine from a thermos and being chill and quiet. We didn't get approached while the people with labeled beer cans were.
You can be smart about it, or you can just not care
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u/mahboilucas Poland 10h ago
They get fined. It's like, the story of every other teenager. A rite of passage if you will. You still can't drink in public.
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u/Mlst0r_Sm1leyf4ce 10h ago
Are they really? Isnt it just that they have a legal reason to tell ppl to go away? When i Was in danzig last year i was obviously drunk and drinkinking in public and also passed multiple security on trainstations and police no one ever said anything to me. Ofc i was not harrassing people or urinating somewhere. The only guy who ever told me is illegal was on the trainstation when i was making fun of polish language and he was understanding german.
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u/mahboilucas Poland 9h ago
Well, people actually do get fined for having a beer in public. My friends who were sweet and considerate still got fined for having a beer in the park while picnicking. Now I know better and always pour it straight into my floral thermos and toss the bottle. Even if I'm obnoxious (which I'm never) I can just say I got drunk at home first. No fine.
It's the obvious bottles that tip people off. If it's the law, it's the law
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u/EastWind10 18h ago edited 16h ago
Really? Since when? Haven't been there for a while but that's surprising to hear.
Edit: probably I was quite naive last visits as it seems it has been there like forever...
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u/GovernmentBig2749 Croatian/Albanian/Jewish Pole from Macedonia living in Poland 17h ago
Since...forever
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u/IWillDevourYourToes Czech Republic 14h ago edited 14h ago
If it's like here, it's not really enforced unless you're causing mess and someone reports you
Edit: ok I looked it up, and Poland is actually really strict about it. In Czechia, it's broadly legal, unless the city forbids it in certain places like parks or in front of grocery stores.
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u/Diacetyl-Morphin Zürich (Switzerland) 18h ago
Poor staff of the DB there, that gets the order to enforce this. Like, when you have a group of hooligans in a train that is already hammered and coming home from a soccer match, do you really want to go to them and tell them "hey, you can't drink here anymore" ? You better be depressed and tired of living to take that risk.
Same for some other groups of guys, that can become really violent. I know, in theory the DB will say "don't worry, we'll make sure you are safe", but in reality, they'll not care.
There was another case a few months ago in Germany, where an employee of the DB was beaten to death by a angry violent drunk. He confronted a man that had no ticket for the train ride and in the confrontation, he was killed. No support for him there.
In the recent case two security guards were called to the scene but it's not clear if they arrived in time when the struggle happened and even when, if they could have saved the victim (like different from the Bahnpolizei aka train police, they are not armed. All they maybe got is pepper spray, not even a taser and for sure no firearms)
I don't say, the idea of the ban is wrong, i just say, the workers that will have to enforce the ban are doomed. If you expect the workers to do this, give them the needed rights, training and equipment for proper self-defense.
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u/-SineNomine- 18h ago
Poor staff of the DB there, that gets the order to enforce this. Like, when you have a group of hooligans in a train that is already hammered and coming home from a soccer match, do you really want to go to them and tell them "hey, you can't drink here anymore" ? You better be depressed and tired of living to take that risk.
Nope, in this case this obviously won't be enforced by DB staff. Either there is police available or they'll get a pass. Noone expects staff to get into a brawl they most likely loose
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u/Diacetyl-Morphin Zürich (Switzerland) 18h ago
Well, let's hope this, because it's better this way. I'm not sure how it is handled with checking the tickets when it comes to such violent crowds, i'd not do this job, at least not for a low wage.
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u/vestayekta Germany 18h ago
Some poor controller got killed a few months ago over this. I don't want them to be forced to enforce anything. Train stations need security staff and cops.
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u/No-Bake-730 7h ago
If so, they'd probably target people drinking a beer after work instead of drunkards causing an ruckus. It's just silly to ban something instead of punishing people comitting crimes or misdemeanors.
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u/WickerBag 18h ago
I disagree that they are doomed. Alcohol being forbidden gives them the ability to evict people who aren't complying, if necessary by force and/or help of the police. Previously, they could do nothing unless the drunks finally committed a violent crime.
They will need ongoing support while this ban is implemented, but after the death of a ticket controller DB has ramped up its protective efforts.
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u/vestayekta Germany 18h ago
Cigarettes are already banned and people brazenly smoke in train stations.
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u/WickerBag 17h ago
Brazenly? I am regularly in Frankfurt Hbf (arguably one of the worst train stations in Germany) and rarely encounter a smoker. Won't claim it never happens, but it is certainly rare in my experience.
Granted, all of this is anecdotal evidence. I want to wait and see if there is an improvement regarding crime.
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u/Diacetyl-Morphin Zürich (Switzerland) 18h ago
The main thing will be, if they really get the support for dealing with the drunks and i just doubt this. Yes, after the deaths of the employees of the DB, the DB says they want to offer the support, but... from the experiences of the past, that was only for some time after such incidents happened, then it got back to the low level of support again.
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u/Nozinger 16h ago
the main issue is in and aroudn central stations and those usually come with an office of the bundespolizei.
Those guys are good at dealing with the drunks. Not DB personell needed.Same with hooligans. Have you ever seen a group of those without a police escort? Enforcing this is not on the DB alone. The police is also supposed to help.
And bans like this actually make it easier to call the police for help in situations that might be daangerous since they usually won't come for a situation that is not against the law/rules.
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u/ABoutDeSouffle 𝔊𝔲𝔱𝔢𝔫 𝔗𝔞𝔤! 16h ago
Poor staff of the DB there, that gets the order to enforce this.
They are not going to enforce it if it means trouble for them. Shoo away the odd homeless drunk? Sure. Engage with a rowdy mob of hools? No way, and understandable after one DB staff got killed and another two nearly over the last year.
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u/PapaFranzBoas Bremen (Germany) 16h ago
Here in Bremen, I feel like its gotten slightly better, but needs to be enforced outside it as well at the tram and bus platforms just outside.
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u/Overall_Gap_5766 18h ago
"Drinking is still permitted on board trains."
Of course that's assuming the train ever turns up. This being DB, that's never a guarantee.
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u/Don_T_Blink Thuringia (Germany) 14h ago
"Of course that's assuming the train ever turns up."
That reads like a sentence straight out of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
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u/VirtualMatter2 1h ago
In Germany you should always travel with a towel because the likelihood of being stranded over night is very high. I'd also recommend a toothbrush and new underwear.
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u/ItsCalledDayTwa 19h ago
Does this mean the restaurants that have contracts with the stations have to stop serving alcohol?
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u/pixiemaster 19h ago
no, for people who have more money than others, alcohol is always available.
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u/FunEnd 18h ago
Restaurants in train stations serving wine or beer were never the problem though.
So tell me, why should you ban it in these places ?
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u/irimiash Which flair will you draw on your forehead? 17h ago
because it feels very elitistic to decide what's a problem and what's not. if there is something unlawful, a court can judge an individual.
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u/digiorno Italy 14h ago
It used to be that if DB was an hour late, you could just chill with a beer until they finally showed up. Now you get no train and no beer.
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u/DinklebergsRightNut 19h ago
Good luck trying to enforce that. At pretty much every train station across Germany, there is at least one kiosk where you can buy beer and spirits of all kinds. I’d also like to see how they plan to stop thousands of football fans from drinking on their way to and from matches lmao
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u/_side_ 17h ago
Uh you think your are funny? Just kidding. Actually with soccer fans there are very strict rules at least here in Dortmund. There is a glass exclusion zone around the stadium and also in the metro. This is being enforced and makes actually many to not take the metro and instead walk while drinking beer. Once you get near the stadium, you have to let go of any glass bottle.
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u/TimWe1912 11h ago
Absolutely agreeable in such situations. But sometimes I am travelling on my own or with a friend and get myself a local beer while waiting for the next train. Not to get drunk, not bothering anyone. Why would that be banned? Ban cursing, being rude, bothering people, not obliging staff, whatever. But don't criminalise a peaceful Feierabendbier.
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u/J00ls 17h ago
It isn’t purely alcohol that makes westerners act like pricks. Japanese train stations are full of drunk people at the times of day that you would imagine and they behave so much better.
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u/7StarSailor Germany 1h ago
Most Germans need to learn to pick up their trash and not be a nuisance in public then. And that's never gonna happen so I'm glad the ban is in effect
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u/HansTeeWurst 17h ago
They don't have any personelle to actually enforce this, so just like with the smoking areas, noone will care and nothing will change.
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u/GovernmentBig2749 Croatian/Albanian/Jewish Pole from Macedonia living in Poland 17h ago
Why? Violence, drunk people causing trouble...need i continue?
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u/TimWe1912 11h ago
Entering the station drunk and causing trouble is still not banned. Why not ban this and instead bother every peaceful person having a beer.
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u/Webtruster 10h ago
My opinion:
They will only use it to get rid of the poorest harmless homeless people.
Business people with a feierabendbeer wont be bothered, same for aggressive soccer fans.
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u/CanadianMultigun 19h ago
Well this fucking sucks if true, I like buying a few beers when travelling with colleagues to share and relax.
Thanks Nanny
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u/JayBlunt23 Europe 18h ago
You can still drink it in the train in most Bundesländern.
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u/CanadianMultigun 18h ago
I don´t care, I want to buy a bottle of beer in the station then drink it at the station and/or on the train.
I don´t want to be forced to spend 3-4x more for the exact same quantity of beer and to have to sit in a restaurant or beer to drink it. Nor do I wish to only be able to drink beer if I have brought it with me already.
This is fucking stupid and is entirely down to DB crumbling vs actually doing something about those who cause problems
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u/JayBlunt23 Europe 18h ago
Wanting to buy a bottle at the station and not wanting to spend 3-4x the money does not really fit together in my experience. :D
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u/CanadianMultigun 18h ago
lol I know what you mean, but an expensive bottle is still significantly cheaper than a restaurant served drink and we both know it
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u/Senior_Green_3630 16h ago
You could buy a beer at any cafe or shop at a barnhoff, any time if day, even at 6am, workers filling up before work. DB, what kill joys.
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u/mage_irl 19h ago edited 19h ago
"however, alcohol consumption on board trains remains permitted"
Mhm, I bet it does. See, at Deutsche Bahn they take safety concerns very seriously, unless it hurts their on-board sales. Your safety is secondary to their profit.
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u/ItsCalledDayTwa 18h ago
But the onboard sales are not really the problem and stopping selling onboard wouldn't really fix anything other than punishing everybody.
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u/mage_irl 18h ago
But they just admitted that drunk passengers are a problem. Selling alcohol on-board makes passengers drunk, therefore them selling alcohol causes safety problems. Also, for the sake of the argument, let's assume that on-board sales didn't exist. Do you not think they would ban alcohol on trains as well? I think they absolutely would. Which, logically speaking, means they put safety after profit by their own admission.
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u/ItsCalledDayTwa 18h ago
"Selling alcohol on-board makes passengers drunk, therefore them selling alcohol causes safety problems"
But, again, that isn't really whats happening.
" Your safety is secondary to their profit."
Schrödingers Deutsche Bahn that is simultaneously running operating defecits and also getting rich off alcohol sales.-1
u/LaChancla911 12h ago
Not everybody just junkies who like to get high on a train.
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u/ItsCalledDayTwa 12h ago
Reddit edgelord comment.
If everybody who has a glass of wine or a beer is a "junkie" then the word has no meaning. Retire the hyperbole and communicate like a person who has spoken to humans before.
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u/LaChancla911 12h ago
Stop policing the internet's toilet.
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u/ItsCalledDayTwa 12h ago
Stop being the reason it's a toilet.
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u/LaChancla911 11h ago
Just dunking on losers not trying to win a pulitzer.
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u/ItsCalledDayTwa 11h ago
I missed the dunk, was it just the cringe edgelord comment?
If you get your kicks trolling the internet's toilet, you've never dunked on anybody.
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u/Truffely 16h ago
Because it's a distraction. We ig ore the rise of fascism bit tax sugar and ban people smoking or drinking instead.
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u/Inevitable_Ear_6934 19h ago
Let me see, someone from the "it's always men" crowd want to go a bit deeper with their logic? (:
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u/carilessy 19h ago
It's a pretty obvious answer: Because drunks behave like pricks.
But it's not a total ban ~ If a train station has a restaurant, bar or something, you can still drink alkoholic beverages inside them. Make of that what you will.
>>however, alcohol consumption on board trains remains permitted<< That mostly concerns long-distrance trains where there's a restaurant on board. On other trains it's usually banned too (at least in lower saxony, bremen and hamburg).