Overview
- Deutsche Bahn introduced the nationwide ban Wednesday, covering about 5,700 stations nationwide and including 425 DB‑operated stations in Rheinland‑Pfalz.
- The rule is enforced under DB's house rights so staff and security will inform people, issue place orders and impose house bans for repeat offenders while being asked to act with 'Augenmaß' (measured judgement).
- Station bars and restaurants remain exempt and most onboard train areas continue to allow alcohol; sealed alcoholic drinks may be carried in luggage and rules can differ where DB does not own the station building.
- DB says the ban aims to reduce abuse, violence and litter, citing positive results from roughly 40 earlier local bans and a July assault in Baden‑Württemberg in which a 26‑year‑old DB security worker fell from a moving regional train during an altercation with an allegedly intoxicated passenger.
- Civil‑society groups warn the policy could lead to unequal treatment and push drinking into station surroundings, and the measure will face practical tests on busy event days such as Bundesliga match days.