Bahnhof.de and its Accessible Travel Navigator
Key trigger fact
Real-time arrival and departure boards for each station.
Key implementation fact
Informations about station facilities such as shops, toilets, luggage lockers, parking, and bike services.
Key evidence of success fact
Live elevator status, with optional push notifications for outages or changes.
Key take away
Maps and orientation plans to help navigate stations and platforms.
Challenge addressed: Addressing Accessibility Challenges in Public Transport
Passengers with disabilities often experience uncertainty when using public transport due to a lack of clear and consistent information about station accessibility. Physical barriers, such as broken elevators or the absence of step-free access, and sensory barriers, such as insufficient visual or acoustic guidance, limit independent travel. Bahnhof.de addresses this issue by providing reliable, station-specific accessibility information for all tracks on all stations across Germany to help passengers plan their journeys with greater confidence.
Solution implemented: Improving Accessibility Through Digital Tools
Bahnhof.de is a digital platform offering detailed, station-level information on accessibility features, including lifts, ramps, tactile guidance systems, accessible toilets, and step-free access. Integrated links to Deutsche Bahn’s Mobility Service Centre allow passengers to request personal assistance. This improves pre-trip planning and reduces uncertainty for travellers with reduced mobility.
Results achieved: Implementation and why it is good practice
Bahnhof.de is part of Deutsche Bahn’s wider accessibility strategy, which aligns digital information with improvements to the physical infrastructure. Each station profile clearly displays information on step-free access, lift availability, platform heights, and assistance options, enabling users and professionals to assess accessibility before travelling.
The platform supports A2PT services by linking digital information with operational support via the Mobility Service Centre, which organises assistance at almost 300 stations nationwide. This integration ensures that infrastructure investments result in real-world, usable accessibility. As of 2025, 79 per cent of Germany’s approximately 5,700 passenger stations will be step-free, with DB upgrading around 100 stations per year. This demonstrates a measurable, system-wide impact.
Bahnhof.de offers authorities and transport planners a transparent, scalable model showing how digital tools can complement physical accessibility measures, improve customer information, and comply with EU TSI PRM standards.
Lessons learned: Lessons for other regions
Clear, station-specific accessibility information is essential for making public transport more inclusive. Bahnhof.de shows how digital transparency can greatly improve trip planning, even before full infrastructure upgrades are completed. Other regions can replicate this approach by centralising accessibility data, linking it to assistance services, and ensuring it is continuously updated. Combining digital tools with stakeholder consultation increases trust, usability, and the real accessibility impact.
Cross Links
Contact: bahnhof.de
Learn more
The project Active2Public Transport is supported by the Interreg Danube Region Programme project co-funded by the European Union. The project was initiated by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI), Department II/6 in cooperation with klimaaktiv mobil – the Austrian Federal climate protection initiative on sustainable mobility.