“We apoloize to the family,” Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Burkhard Ahlert said, adding that the conductor’s actions went against the company’s service orders.
The train conductor forced the girl to disembark on Monday evening in the rural area despite protests from adult passengers, who offered to pay her ticket and complained that it was irresponsible to leave her alone so far away from home.
She was already on the train travelling from Bad Doberan to Rostock in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania when she realized she had left her wallet at home. But the conductor refused to allow her to continue her journey and made her leave the train at the next stop – with her cello. She was some five kilometres from home as night set in.
A spokesman for the train passenger association Pro Bahn said he was appalled by the case, and suggested a series of what he said would have been more humane ways of dealing with the situation.
These would have included calling the girl’s parents or music school to establish her identity, or to take her details and send a bill.
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