Passenger Association

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A passenger association (sometimes also rail customers association) is an interest group of users of local public transport and the railroad .

A passenger association represents the interests of customers vis-à-vis transport companies , infrastructure operators, politics and administration . A rail customer association goes beyond language understanding and can, for example, also represent the interests of freight transport customers vis-à-vis the aforementioned groups.

In Germany, a passenger association usually has the legal form of a registered association . There are national as well as regional groups. The structure of the nationwide associations is based on the one hand on the regional, i.e. one or more federal states. There are also specialist areas of focus. This includes topics such as timetable, tariffs, information before, during and after a trip, passenger rights or passenger participation.

Passenger associations in Germany

Berlin Passenger Association IGEB

On July 3, 1980 in Berlin-Charlottenburg as a community of interests Eisenbahn Berlin e. V. (IGEB) is now called the Interest Group for Railway, Local Transport and Passenger Issues Berlin e. V. (Berlin Passenger Association IGEB). The IGEB is the oldest interest group for passengers in Germany. The reason for the establishment of the IGEB in 1980 was the unsatisfactory situation of the long-distance railway operated by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in West Berlin , which carried out transit traffic to the Federal Republic. The lack of integration of the S-Bahn into the local transport of the BVG , which culminated in the same year with the closure of important S-Bahn routes, was an issue for the IGEB. With the takeover of the S-Bahn by the BVG, the passenger association was able to take an important step towards rebuilding the S-Bahn and its tariff unity with the other local means of transport. In addition, the IGEB is primarily concerned with the BVG means of transport bus, underground and tram . The members ' magazine Signal , which is also available for sale, appears six times a year (less often due to double editions) as the “transport policy magazine for Berlin and Germany”.

German Railway Customers Association (DBV)

The Deutsche Bahnkunden-Verband (DBV) was founded in April 1990 as the main Pro Bahn association of the GDR in East Berlin for the area of ​​the post-reunification GDR .

Because of the technical backlog and uncertain financing, it was clear that the Deutsche Reichsbahn - just like the Deutsche Bundesbahn for decades before - would be affected by line closures. Today the DBV is the nationwide umbrella organization for regional organizations.

PER TRACK

The Pro Bahn passenger association was founded on March 28, 1981 in Cologne. There have been state and regional associations since the 1990s.

Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD)

The Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) was founded in 1986. It covers all modes of transport and also acts as a passenger association.

Umbrella organizations

The so-called European Passenger Association (EFV), which was founded in 2002, acts as the European umbrella organization .

In other countries

In Great Britain , in response to months of disruptions in the Southern public transport network, the Association of British Commuters was founded in 2016 , a new type of passenger association that works with social media and aims to improve the situation through legal action and in contact with politicians.

literature

  • Jansen, Holger: Passenger Associations in Germany . In: Schiefelbusch, Martin; Hans-Liudger Dienel (ed.): Customer interests in public transport. Consumer protection and consumer participation . Series of publications for traffic and technology. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin, 2009, ISBN 978-3503110094 . Pp. 201-209.
  • Jansen, Holger; Martin Schiefelbusch: User Associations - Common Features and Experiences. At: Schiefelbusch, Martin; Dienel, Hans-Liudger (ed.): Public Transport and its Users. The Passenger's Perspective in Planning and Customer Care. Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey, 2009. P. 154-165.
  • Garrod, Trevor: The European Passenger Association: Bringing together customer interests from individual member states. In: Schiefelbusch, Martin; Hans-Liudger Dienel (ed.): Customer interests in public transport. Consumer protection and consumer participation . Series of publications for traffic and technology. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin, 2009, ISBN 978-3503110094 . Pp. 209-211.