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Inclusion looks different – but is it discrimination if train tickets are only offered digitally? The ProBahn passenger association says yes.
From delays to train cancellations to defective doors or air conditioning – there are many reasons to be annoyed with Deutsche Bahn. A more recent topic is the lack of inclusion. While many train stations are currently being converted to provide barrier-free access to the platforms for people in wheelchairs or with strollers, older people in particular are increasingly being excluded because tickets are often only available digitally.
Passenger association ProBahn criticizes Deutsche Bahn’s lack of alternative digitalization
It is often no longer possible without digital tools such as email or smartphones. Many ticket purchases are now only possible online. According to Lukas Iffländer, the deputy federal chairman of the ProBahn passenger association, which receives many complaints from customers, this is discrimination, as the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (mdr) reports.
There are often no alternatives to buying tickets digitally. Saver prices and super saver prices are only available if you have an email address. The Bahncard 100 actually contains the Germany ticket. But suddenly this only applies digitally on cell phones. Many travelers are left behind – smartphone refusers, senior citizens, and the unfortunate people whose cell phone batteries run out on the way.
State senior representatives criticize the lack of alternatives in rural areas
The Saxony-Anhalt senior citizens’ representative also complains that there are often no train stations with travel centers in rural areas and that the machines are equipped with fonts that are too small, unreadable and incomprehensible. This would make it particularly difficult for seniors to use.
It is important that, in addition to the digital offer, there are still analogue options for information and the entire ticket offer, said the mdr. Here you can find the most important FAQs about the 49 euro ticket.
Deutsche Bahn does not respond to criticism
The railway is talking about unfortunate individual cases, Iffländer tells the mdr. When asked, the railway said that four out of five customers were already booking their tickets digitally. However, there are also problems with the new DB navigator.
The railway also explains that the saver and flex prices will also be available in the travel centers and DB agencies in the future, as has been the case with the “super saver price for seniors” since October 1st. It just doesn’t help if there isn’t a travel center in the rural train station. (db)
2023-11-06 09:55:17
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