DHL and DB Launch Cooperation for Parcel Stations at Train Stations

The Deutsche Post DHL Group and Deutsche Bahn (DB) are enhancing the service offerings at train stations and making it easier to pick up and send parcels: As part of a new cooperation, both companies are providing their customers with around 800 additional DHL parcel stations at train stations across Germany. A large portion of the machines is expected to go live later this year.

(Bonn/Berlin/Leipzig) This was announced today by Bernd Koch, CEO of DB Station & Service AG, and Holger Bartels, responsible for the entire branch and parcel station network in the postal and parcel sector of Deutsche Post DHL. Together, they presented the first DHL parcel station of the new cooperation at Leipzig Central Station. Up to 135,000 travelers who pass through there daily will benefit from the service. By avoiding additional trips and bundling deliveries and pickups through DHL couriers, the use of the parcel station is particularly environmentally friendly.

Bernd Koch: “Train stations as central hubs in the city are ideal locations for the new parcel stations. With the new Click & Collect service ‘Box – The Pickup Station’, we are making our stations even more attractive for our guests. Our customers can conveniently receive cross-provider shipments on their daily routes, saving time and distance. Our clear goal: To contribute to travelers choosing the climate-friendly train as a means of transport more often with modern train stations and innovative services.”

At attractive and central locations

Holger Bartels explains: “Millions of people in Germany use the parcel station and appreciate this flexible service for sending and receiving their parcels around the clock. The more parcel stations are accessible on foot or at the transition to local and long-distance transport, the better it is for the sustainability of our service. Therefore, we are pleased to provide our customers with hundreds more parcel stations at attractive and central locations through the new cooperation.” There are already some regional parcel stations at train stations today, with which both partners have had good experiences. This collaboration will now be intensified.

Continuously increasing the number of parcel stations

The new parcel station at Leipzig Central Station is located on the upper floor of the station directly at the access to the S-Bahn stop in the city tunnel. With 241 compartments, it is one of the largest machines in the country for convenient parcel reception and dispatch.

The Deutsche Post DHL Group announced last year that it plans to increase the number of currently over 9,000 parcel stations to about 15,000 machines by the end of 2023. The DHL parcel station is very popular with customers as it is accessible around the clock and easy to use. Additionally, parcel stations are usually located in central places of daily life, such as supermarkets, company premises, or residential areas, allowing customers to combine parcel reception and dispatch with their everyday errands without detours.

Online shops can deliver with new service

From the end of 2022, customers can pick up or return ordered goods from various providers at the train station, regardless of delivery and opening times. The Smart City | DB initiative is launching a new Click & Collect service. This allows online shops and retailers to deliver to a part of the parcel station independently of the delivery company for the first time. Deutsche Post DHL will provide DB with up to one-third of the compartment capacities at the respective machines for this purpose. The new service is easily recognizable through a new co-branding of the parcel stations.

Smart City | DB is working on solutions for a sustainable city and aims to simplify the everyday lives of travelers and city dwellers through intelligent and environmentally friendly offerings. Smart City is developing train stations into attractive points of attraction and thus into centers of urban life.

Photo: © DB AG/Oliver Lang / Image caption: The new parcel station at Leipzig Central Station is located on the upper floor of the station