Our place should be nicer: This premise, popular throughout Bavaria, even worked in the case of Coburg – more precisely with the place where the trains rush to Munich in one direction and to Berlin in the other. Because the Coburg train station was voted Germany’s “Bahnhof des Jahres 2022” on Wednesday. “It offers a great quality of stay and always focuses on the needs of travelers,” said Dirk Flege, Managing Director of the Berlin-based transport alliance Pro-Rail Alliance, which has been awarding the prize every year since 2004.
In fact, the train station in the far north of the Free State had only recently been renovated. As one of 16 so-called future train stations nationwide, Deutsche Bahn tested new concepts and services there. From the point of view of the jury, Coburg stands out above all because of its very special station hall. “A real eye-catcher,” says the rating. Specifically, the renovated floor in the historic checkerboard pattern, the modern seating islands with USB ports and the seating niches that were created in former shop windows are praised.
A feel-good place for passengers should also be created at the platform underpass. According to the jury, this was achieved with “modern, bright graphics”.
(Photo: Christopher Schmid/Allianz pro Schiene)
The platform underpass – in some places more of a place of horror than eye candy – impressed the jury with “modern, bright graphics”. Creative solutions were found in a small space to offer passengers a place of well-being. The only thing the jury would have wished for was luggage storage facilities in the station area and more covered bicycle parking spaces. According to the Pro-Rail Alliance, the rating includes cleanliness, information for travellers, integration into the city and the building architecture.
The responsible railway subsidiary DB Station & Service sees the award as confirmation of the renovation and concept efforts. The station has been designed to be more beautiful and modern from the reception hall to the platform, said CEO Bernd Koch. “The recipe for success: new ideas, attractive design and close cooperation with the city, state and federal government.” Coburg is a model for turning even more train stations into train stations of the future.
The care and effort that was invested in the renovation and concept of the Coburg train station has apparently paid off – both for the railway and for the city.
(Photo: Christopher Schmid/Allianz pro Schiene)
The Bavarian Ministry of Transport was also impressed by the Coburg victory: According to a statement, the Free State has made the most winners of all federal states so far. According to this, the award had already been received in Oberstdorf (2006), Landsberg am Lech (2007), Aschaffenburg (2012), Murnau (2013), Bayerisch Eisenstein (2017) and Altötting (2020) – although the latter station is currently not at all due to track construction work on the rails can be reached. The Bund Naturschutz, on the other hand, sees the award as an indication that mobility “must be completely rethought in the Bavarian state and significantly expand public transport offers”. According to surveys, only 24 percent of the population in Upper Franconia have a bus or train stop within a kilometer of each other, where something runs at least once an hour.
In Coburg itself, too, according to the statements sent out for this reason for the celebration, people are happy about the award. In the past, the station and its timetable offer have often given rise to disputes. When the new Berlin-Munich high-speed route was opened in 2017, the first ICE drove through Coburg without stopping, although a band played especially. And in 2018 even the then Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) got involved in the so-called ICE dispute about more long-distance stops in Coburg. A topic that Mayor Dominik Sauerteig (SPD) also raised on Wednesday: he hopes that the award will have a positive effect on Coburg’s ICE connection. Because by far not all connections that rush to the distant state and federal capital at the “Bahnhof des Jahres” stop there.