Deutsche Bahn has responded to this problem with a new paid service-specialized accompaniment for young passengers.
The service currently covers only part of Germany’s railway network, but the company already plans gradual expansion of routes.
What is DB Junior Express?
The new child accompaniment service is called DB Junior Express. It is designed for children aged 6 to 14, who will be accompanied throughout their journey by a specially trained railway employee who will organize entertainment for the child based on their age.
In its initial phase, the service will operate only on Fridays and Sundays and will cover three routes:
- Berlin-Munich
- Munich-Cologne
- Frankfurt am Main-Hamburg
How Booking and Child Handover Work
Bookings for the new service opened on Wednesday, August 12, despite the first accompanied trains not departing until August 21. After booking, the parent brings the child to a designated meeting point at the station and hands them over to the accompanying staff member in person. Upon arrival at the final destination, the railway company employee will likewise hand over the child personally to the receiving adult.
There are limits, however: each train will accommodate no more than 14 children-this ensures the accompanying staff can keep track of each young passenger.
The service costs €69 per journey. This sum does not include the price of a second-class ticket, which must be purchased separately. Most peculiarly, for reasons unclear, the parent must first book the accompaniment service and only then purchase the train ticket. Normally-and logically-this is done the other way around. – Ed.
What Railways Rules Say About Children Traveling Alone
Children older than six already have the right to travel on German railways without adults, as this is established in Deutsche Bahn’s regulations. However, in such cases, legal responsibility for the child during travel remains with their guardians, not the company.
It is explicitly noted that train staff are not obliged to supervise unaccompanied children and will not perform a custodial function. This rule created demand for the paid child accompaniment service. The new service fills the gap between a child’s formal right to travel alone and parents’ need to have someone watching over them.
A Return to an Idea That Already Existed
DB Junior Express is not the company’s first venture in this area. From 2003 to 2021, Deutsche Bahn, in partnership with the organization Bahnhofsmission, operated the Kids on Tour program. Over that period, nearly 100,000 children aged 6 to 14 used the service, with a ratio of no more than five children per volunteer.
The program was shut down in 2021 because it was unprofitable, and the COVID-19 pandemic made operation in its previous form impossible.
Why This Matters
DB Junior Express looks like a reimagined version of the former program, but with a higher cost for families and a clearer commercial model. For now, this concerns only a pilot launch on a limited number of routes. Whether the service will take root in its current form will only become clear after the first months of operation. At least in airlines, this service has worked for a long time and with considerable success. Perhaps the question is not one of demand, but of execution?
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