Toilet price at Berlin Central Station is increasing: outrage among travelers!

Toilet price at Berlin Central Station is increasing: outrage among travelers!

The Berlin Central Station, a central hub in rail traffic, faces a precarious increase in toilet prices. On November 18, 2024, the “Rail & Fresh” company raised the price for the use of public toilet facilities from 1.00 euros to 1.50 euros. The reason for this decision is increased operating costs, which include wages, water and wastewater costs as well as cleaning agents. This is the first time in 15 years that the prices have been increased and not only affects Berlin, but also other big cities such as Munich and Frankfurt am Main, as rbb24 reported.

alternatives and outrage among travelers

The price adjustment leads to outrage among travelers. Critics complain that access to sanitary facilities in other major cities in the world is often free, whereby the toilets there even appear more hygienic there. Negative reactions can be found on platforms such as Reddit, where users are looking for alternatives. From then on, however, there are some free options near the main train station: the city toilet on Invalidenstrasse is only 600 meters away and accessible around the clock. In addition, there is an ecotoilette in the invalid park, which can also be used free of charge, such as Berlin-Live explained.

In addition, the multiple income from the increased toilet prices should benefit the cleaning staff in order to enable higher wages. The operator emphasized that the maintenance of the toilets was expensive and that investments of up to 1.2 million euros per toilet facility have been made in recent years. Children up to twelve years are allowed to use the toilets free of charge, which the operators also highlighted. Deutsche Bahn itself agrees with the price increase, since cost -covering operation of toilet systems can only be realized via adequate usage fees.