Atonal music might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but Germany’s national rail operator is convinced that it is disliked enough to drive away drug users at one of its stations. The unusual initiative will be trialled next month by the Deutsche Bahn at the Hermannstrasse station, a known crime spot.

Arnold Schoenberg

When asked to elaborate why atonal music was the weapon of choice, Friedemann Kessler, head of DB’s eastern regional department, said that “it completely undermined traditional listening habits”. Although he admitted that some may find atonal music beautiful – not to mention those attending Berlin’s Atonal Music Festival, which began this week – “many people perceive it as something to run away from”. Similar experiments by DB using classical music didn’t quite do the trick in the past, as many seemed to enjoy it – but, according to Kessler, there is no fear of that happening with atonal music.

Kessler added that it was a delicate balance between driving away criminals and putting off passengers. He said that the music would not be played on actual platforms, and that it would be tried out at different volumes. “We must experiment rather...