There are around 2,700 found bikes at German train stations every year. Deutsche Bahn will keep them for at least ten weeks – then they will be auctioned off. Even e-bikes are going under the hammer.
Last year, Deutsche Bahn auctioned off hundreds of forgotten bicycles. “There are an estimated 2,700 lost bikes at and in our 5,400 train stations every year,” said a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bahn when asked by the dpa news agency. Around half will be auctioned off at on-site auctions after a storage period of at least ten weeks.
E-bikes are also being auctioned
What prices are achieved? This depends entirely on the type of bike and its condition. According to the railway spokeswoman, the average auction proceeds are 60 euros per bicycle. However, e-bikes have already been auctioned off at auctions in various cities for which bids exceeded the 300 euro mark.
“The proceeds from each bicycle are initially kept,” explained the spokeswoman. If the previous owners come forward within three years of the auction, they are entitled to the proceeds paid, which will then be paid out to them.
This is how the bike owner receives the auction proceeds
But how do you prove that it is your own bike? All you need to do is specify certain features and characteristics of the bike, such as the brand and color as well as the location where it was found. The frame number does not necessarily have to be mentioned.
If the owner does not come forward within three years of the auction, the money collected will be used to finance lost property management, said the spokeswoman. The high volume of lost property and the management of lost property such as processing, storage, return to the owner and recycling are associated with high costs.
700 forgotten things per day
Nationwide, travelers lose around 250,000 items in Deutsche Bahn train stations and trains every year. That’s almost 700 forgotten things every day. These include everyday objects such as cell phones as well as curiosities such as dentures, wedding dresses or judges’ robes.
According to Deutsche Bahn, an average of 60 percent of items can be returned to their owners, “in high-quality product groups such as notebooks even up to 90 percent.” The railway maintains over 80 sites nationwide.
Bahn is making progress with the construction program
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bahn says it is making good progress with its “small and medium-sized measures” construction program. “By the end of 2025, 138 of the 355 planned projects will have been implemented,” the railway announced today. “That’s 40 percent of the planned measures with an investment volume of around one billion euros.”
The projects include, among other things, the expansion of overtaking tracks for freight trains up to 740 meters long. There are also projects for local rail transport, such as transfer points or junctions.
The aim of the construction program is to ensure greater punctuality in rail transport in the short term. Last year, especially in long-distance transport, the railway was more unreliable than it had been for many years. Almost every third ICE and IC train was delayed. For this year, the railway has set itself a target of a punctuality rate of more than 71 percent.