Train Station of the Year award: Travellers would choose Stuttgart

^{* = Train Station of the Year winner Total of 725 nominations received by 19.05.2011}

"What is surprising is just how much emotionally attached people are to their train stations," said Dirk Flege, managing director of the Pro-Rail Alliance. "Even in Stuttgart, it isn't the angry citizens who have written to us because they are unhappy about the city's plans for the station. In all the letters we have received there is always a deeply positive feeling about the building itself, something that stands for both departure and return. A train station can become a symbol of a person's emotional home, their Heimat." Apart from sentimental values, rail customers highlighted above all the shopping amenities and the suitability of a station for travellers. In critical letters, major factors were disenchantment with politicians and general dissatisfaction with Deutsche Bahn, the national operator. This could often be interpreted as a sign of people's disappointed affections for a building, said Flege, who is also a member of the jury for the Train Station of the Year award. "As a jury, we feel that all these nominations have given us new insights," said the railway alliance's managing director. "The normal, everyday perspective does not often come up when a group of experts are involved in their discussions." Flege pointed to the numerous letters praising Berlin's main station, with everything centrally located and within easy reach.  A few railway purists complained about how modern train stations had been transformed into better shopping centres. "But customers who sent nominations as fans of Berlin, Leipzig and Hannover did not see any contradiction between travelling and shopping." Flege promised that all letters sent in by the end of July would be "taken to heart by the jury when choosing this year's winners." This is especially important because for some of the customers who sent in nominations, their favourite station would also appear to the love of their lives.

In an interview with the Pro-Rail Alliance, Federal Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer (from the CSU) welcomed the new interactive part of the competition. "I think it is very good that citizens are now being directly asked about the train stations they consider to be the best." The minister could not answer when asked about his own favourite station. "Personally, I couldn't tell you which is my favourite train station is. Germany simply has too many lovely railway stations."

Additional information (in German)