There are over 5,000 train stations in Germany – every year the “Pro-Rail Alliance” honors an outstanding example. This year the jury is full of praise for Coburg in Upper Franconia.
Coburg – The Upper Franconian Coburg has the “Bahnhof des Jahres 2022”. “It offers a great quality of stay and always focuses on the needs of travelers,” said Dirk Flege, Managing Director of the Pro-Rail Alliance transport alliance, on Wednesday. The jury of the annually awarded prize wrote in their justification: “The historic station hall in particular is a real eye-catcher.”
Specifically, the jury praised, among other things, the renovated floor in the historic checkerboard pattern, modern seating islands with USB ports, the seating niches in former shop windows and the platform underpass with “modern, bright graphics”. The committee also praised the selfie point with the Veste Coburg, a large castle complex, in the background and the digital information point of the city. Creative solutions were found in a small space to offer passengers a place of well-being. “The only things the jury would have wished for were luggage storage facilities in the station area and more covered bicycle parking spaces at the station,” it said.
The train station in northern Bavaria was recently renovated and from 2019 to 2021 was one of 16 future train stations nationwide where Deutsche Bahn tested new concepts and services. The station has been designed to be more beautiful and modern from the reception hall to the platform, said the CEO of DB Station&Service AG, Bernd Koch, according to the announcement. “The recipe for success: new ideas, attractive design and close cooperation with the city, state and federal government. Coburg is a model for us: In the future we want to turn even more stations into stations of the future.”
The first impression counts
According to the Bavarian Ministry of Transport, Coburg is the seventh train station in Bavaria to receive the “Bahnhof des Jahres” award. In the past, Oberstdorf (2006), Landsberg am Lech (2007), Aschaffenburg (2012), Murnau (2013), Bayerisch Eisenstein (2017) and most recently Altötting (2020) emerged as winners of the competition. So far, the Free State has made the most winners of all federal states, it said.
Coburg’s Lord Mayor Dominik Sauerteig emphasized that the station has given a great first impression since the renovation. “This was made possible by the joint efforts of the city and Deutsche Bahn.” According to the SPD politician, he hopes that the award will have a positive effect on Coburg’s ICE connection. The city is on the Munich – Berlin route, but by no means all connections stop in Coburg. A spokeswoman explained that one would like to see more stopping ICE trains in the future.
Information for travelers
The non-profit alliance Pro-Rail Alliance has been awarding the prize since 2004. Bavaria is the front runner, followed by Hesse with five and Lower Saxony with four train stations. The winners of the past years were Cottbus, Altötting and Bad Bentheim.
For the ten-strong jury, cleanliness, information for travelers, integration into the city, building architecture and shopping opportunities play a role, among other things. The connection to local and long-distance traffic is not included in the rating, it said. In some years there were special prices, in 2022 this will not be the case. dpa
