About every fifth station building still belongs to Deutsche Bahn (DB), according to a statement by the Pro-Rail Alliance lobby group. According to the information, the group has sold a little more than 80 percent of all station buildings since 1999 – i.e. 2824 of its total of 3507 station properties. The DB parted with stations, especially in the eastern German states. From the point of view of the association, this was a mistake in terms of transport policy: Many of the buildings sold are in a desolate condition and offer little incentive to discover the train as an attractive means of transport.
According to the Pro-Rail Alliance, the reason for the numerous sales lies in a “glitch in the railway reform”: Since the reform in 1994, the federal government has only financed the construction and renewal of platforms from tax revenue, but no longer feels that the station buildings should be preserved responsible. Instead, the federal government is asking its subsidiary DB Station & Service, which is responsible for the stations, to finance the buildings through rental income, which is “a real challenge” especially in rural areas.