photo: ÖBB/ÖBB train
Every year, thousands of items are left behind forgotten in trains or train stations. Austrian Railways (ÖBB) informed about the lost and found services during the year 2021. Overall, there were 19 000 items found, which is slightly more compared to the previous year. About 34% of all items found their way back to the owners. Lost & Found Service Centre managed to return the items to the rightful owners about 6500 times!
People most often lost bags, suitcases, or rucksacks, around 5200 times. Closely behind, in second place are electronics, which were handed in about 3600 times. In third place can be found money, securities and bank cards which have been lost over 2800 times.
Employees were often surprised by what could people forget. Apart from classics such as clothing (1900 pieces), ID cards and documents (1500 pieces), or keys (1200 pieces), there were all kinds of curiosities. We can only wonder how people left the train without their crutches and walking sticks. Among other medical devices were also some unflattering findings such as dental prostheses. Left behind were also 11 prams (hopefully empty), or 104 bicycles.
Campaign for a transition from road to rail was partly successful in here too. A particularly large number of car drivers left their necessities behind and doomed themselves to travel by train even next time. Apart from some car tires and snow chains could also be found 5 license plates and more than 120 vehicle documentations and around 70 drivers’ licenses.
In case of need, all items can be easily reported, searched, and found online.
In 2021, ÖBB modernized its Lost&Found website and established a new digitalized and automated software for searching and reporting lost items.
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