Cologne is taking action: subway stations should be safer and cleaner!

Cologne is taking action: subway stations should be safer and cleaner!

In recent weeks, the Cologne Transport Company (KVB) has launched a comprehensive offensive to increase safety and cleanliness in the cathedral city's subway stations. In view of increasing challenges such as drug use, homelessness and neglect, transport companies see an urgent need for action. According to the KStA, closing a stop during a break is an important test field to improve the situation.

As part of these measures, the KVB, under the leadership of CEO Stefanie Haaks, is planning to introduce “passenger manager teams”. These teams will be active in six city districts and will be dedicated to specific lines and stops. Your tasks include not only being present on site, but also eliminating grievances and intensifying contact with passengers and authorities. This initiative is intended to help promote a feeling of safety in the subway stations.

Safety measures in focus

The KVB is also taking action by shortening the cleaning intervals at problem stops such as Neumarkt and Ebertplatz. Special cleaning products are designed to combat the smell of urine in elevators. The deployment of cleaning teams is expanded in the cold season to accompany homeless people from the wards and to provide assistance. Shuttle buses to emergency sleeping places and a “warming room” in a KVB bus are planned.

There are similar problems in other German cities. In Munich, for example, the roller doors in front of subway stations are lowered after closing time, which is not perceived as a significant problem by the Munich Transport Company (MVG). The condition of the subway lines in Berlin shows that drug use and violence are increasingly being observed, as in the U8, but also in Cologne.

Together against the problems

The KVB has already taken the first steps in Cologne to intensify cooperation with the police, public order office and street workers. Existing joint patrols should be expanded to further increase security. The pilot project to provide sound at two stops also aims to strengthen the feeling of security. As a test, some stops will also be closed between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.

A similar strategy is used in Hamburg, where the elevated railway closes the stations at night after cameras have been used to check whether there are still people in the stations. During cold spells, the Hochbahn is also open to ideas for accommodating the homeless, as long as this does not pose safety problems.

The KVB recognized that these challenges are a problem for society as a whole. The new structure with the passenger manager teams is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2026. Cologne may soon become a bit safer and cleaner on its tracks.