Deutsche Bahn: ideas on rails – Bavaria

If you wait at 6:56 a.m. this Monday at Mühldorf train station at the right height of platform 7, you have a good chance. So get into the double-decker coach, up into the relaxation area and quickly onto one of the two panoramic chairs screwed diagonally in front of the large glass pane, which also shield the passenger somewhat from the side. And then, on the way to work, first let the hilly landscape of Upper Bavaria pass by – probably only disturbed by people who want to know on behalf of the DB how things are sitting there. Because from Monday the new “idea train” of the south-eastern Bavarian railway will be on its way, as a commuter between Mühldorf and Munich, just like the almost 17,000 rail customers on the route every weekday, which is one of the most important commuter routes of the railway in Bavaria.

The DB declared that it wants to be close to its customers and has therefore been asking around again and again since 2017 what kind of equipment in the wagons would be desirable. When the punctuality rate to Mühldorf will clearly exceed 80 percent again or when the railway line opened in 1871 through the east of Upper Bavaria will finally be double-tracked, it was less of a question. In principle, this expansion has been in the planning for 150 years, and the railway has never been further than it is today. With the expansion, the route will also be electrified at some point, which has so far only been the case for 12.7 of the total 420 kilometers of the south-east Bavarian railway between Munich, Salzburg, Rosenheim and Passau.

In the meantime, however, there is the idea train for rail customers, which is actually just an idea wagon for the time being, as one of almost 70 double-decker coaches on the south-eastern Bavarian railway. Outside and inside it is mostly kept in a dignified gray. In terms of equipment details, the designers have distilled elements from the customers’ wishes, such as a corner bench, more comfortable backrests, storage tables, USB charging sockets, a family compartment, more spacious storage space, two sociable “regulars’ tables” at counter height with a higher seating position and WiFi in 5G quality. First class also features electronically adjustable seats and four separate cabins with 27-inch inset monitors for mobile laptop workers.

The technology seems to work, because the DB Group representative for Bavaria, Klaus-Dieter Josel, said he took part in a video conference in such a compartment on Friday morning before the presentation of the idea train at Munich Central Station. The monitor display at the entrance, where there are still free seats, would also be operational, but the monitoring of the wagon with cameras, on which the whole thing is based, must first be coordinated with the official data protection officers and interested collateral users such as the federal police. On the other hand, there will certainly not be a morning training session on the spinning bike in a sports cabin. In the end, not all of the ideas made it onto the train, which had already been presented at the Inno-Trans trade fair in Berlin in 2022.

The development was pushed by the state Bavarian Railway Company (BEG) and co-financed by the Free State with 1.5 million euros. For BEG boss Thomas Prechtl, the train of ideas should not remain just an idea. “He belongs on the rails, and preferably in the area,” said Prechtl, whose company orders local rail transport on behalf of the Free State. The idea train makes rail travel even more attractive and sets new standards, explained Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU), and Evelyn Palla, who is responsible for regional matters on the DB board, already recognizes “the future of regional transport on the rails” in the idea train. Which individual elements will have a larger or nationwide future by 2026 now also depends on the acceptance of the passengers of the Southeast Bavarian Railway.