Deutsche Bahn is dismantling video travel centers on the Pfaffenwinkelbahn

Created: 01/12/2022, 08:00

By: Christopher Peters

The days of the little red house at the Ost station in Peiting are numbered.

Last Friday, technicians began dismantling the video travel center on behalf of DB.

© Hans-Helmut Herold

Introduced six years ago with great hype, the days of the video travel centers at the stations in Peiting, Schongau and Peißenberg are numbered: Deutsche Bahn has started dismantling the systems, and BRB will be using another service provider for ticket sales in the future.

Not everyone is enthusiastic about it.

Peiting/Schongau/Peißenberg – The crowd at the train stations in Peißenberg and Peiting was huge in 2016 when the new video travel centers were opened.

Representatives from municipalities, railways and local politics attended the inauguration.

Even the Transport Minister at the time, Alexander Dobrindt, insisted on appearing in person to celebrate the new achievement.

As loud as the hype about the introduction was, the era of the video travel centers of Deutsche Bahn on the Pfaffenwinkelbahn is ending quietly these days.

Last Friday, technicians began removing the devices from the small red house at the Peiting train station, where passengers had previously been able to book their tickets with the company's service employees via video link.

Next up will be Peißenberg, where dismantling is scheduled to begin on December 6th.

For Schongau, where the video rice center is located in the station building, no exact date has yet been set.

The facility is expected to remain in operation until the timetable change in mid-December, according to Deutsche Bahn.

The company reportedly would have liked to continue operating the video travel centers.

But the Bavarian Regiobahn is responsible for ticket sales along the route, and they obviously had other plans.

The company has decided to implement its own sales solutions locally in the future, DB informed the local newspaper when asked.

The BRB confirms the end of the cooperation.

In the future, ticket sales will be based on another service provider, and the municipalities had already been informed about this in the summer, said press spokeswoman Annette Luckner.

One was not dissatisfied with the DB, says Luckner.

"In the end, it's always about profitability."

Video consultation still possible

The press spokeswoman emphasizes that nothing will change for customers as a result of the change.

It should also be possible in the future to be able to buy video-based tickets at the three stations.

The existing ticket machines would be upgraded with the necessary functions for this, explains Luckner.

"Our service provider has a lot of experience in this field," video-based ticket sales are available daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

(By the way: everything from the region is also in our regular Schongau newsletter. And in our Weilheim-Penzberg newsletter.)

The fact that it should also be possible in the future to speak personally to an employee who advises on ticket purchases is seen positively in the town halls of the municipalities concerned.

Even if the affinity for mobile phones among older passengers is increasing, there is still a large group that needs help.

"We mustn't forget them," says Peißenberg's mayor, Frank Zellner.

He had also given this to the BRB to understand.

"I'm glad that they went into it." His peer in Peiting, Peter Ostenrieder, takes a similar view.

"If the offer remains, then everything will be fine." And Schongau's second mayor, Daniela Puzzovio, is also happy that things will continue - albeit in a different form.

"It would have been a pity if the opportunity for advice had disappeared."

Criticism comes from Schongau

Andreas Holzhey sees the development much more critically.

He owns the station building in Schongau, which previously housed the video travel center.

DB has since terminated the lease.

Holzhey will not only lack income in the future.

After the video travel center had already replaced the ticket office in 2016, the building is now again losing an important function, criticizes Holzhey.

who speaks of a setback for the future development of the station.

Selling tickets from the machine in front of the door is significantly less convenient than the previous solution, and in case of doubt you might even end up standing in the rain, says Holzhey angrily.

"Unfortunately, the service for travelers is being dismantled more and more."

also read

Ice cream parlor Pinocchio closes: tenants say goodbye with a letter – "I cried while writing"

Winter grilling with the SizzleBrothers – Bavaria blu burger taste explosion

You can find more current news from the region around Schongau at Merkur.de/Schongau.