A survey commissioned by Die Zeit weekly newspaper this week showed that 80 percent of those asked would like to see alcohol restricted on trains. Forty-one percent said they wanted to see trains made completely alcohol-free, while 42 percent would be in favour of limiting it to the restaurant car. Only 14 percent said they did not want to see any restrictions.

A third of those questioned said they had been harassed by drunken fellow passengers. When asked what the best way to deal with people who broke any new rules, 59 percent said they thought a fine would be the best punishment, while 45 percent said those breaking a booze ban should be thrown off the train. A further 13 percent said a spoken warning would be best.

Currently there are no rules on drinking alcohol on trains in Germany, although over the last couple of years Munich and Hamburg have banned boozing on their metro systems. Some cities have also made efforts to make their train stations no-drinking zones.

What do you think? Should football fans be permitted to drink on the train to and from a match – is an after-work beer during the commute home the same kind of thing?

Would restrictions on booze be a small step in reducing the general social acceptance of drinking? Is that a desirable aim? And how could a ban aimed at reducing the aggression of drunks on the trains even be implemented by the sparse train personnel? Have your say.

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