Significantly more attacks on railway employees in the past year

The massive catching up of events also contributed to the increase in attacks.

Significantly more attacks on railway employees in the past year

The massive catching up of events also contributed to the increase in attacks. After most of the official corona protection measures were lifted, the number of passengers in long-distance and local transport rose massively and has been back to the pre-corona level since the summer and in some cases significantly higher. "Unfortunately, more passengers also mean more conflicts."

The head of the railway and transport union (EVG), Martin Burkert, told the editorial network Germany that there had been massive attacks. "There were even life-threatening injuries." The fact that the mask requirement is now “finally” falling will hopefully lead to a reduction in violence because the railway employees no longer have to deal with those who refuse to wear a mask.

"Every attack on our employees is one too many and unacceptable," said the DB spokeswoman. In this context, it is also important "that we perceive this trend in the entire public space, in public transport as well as in the police force, fire brigade and rescue services".

The railway wants to "consistently fight" the attacks on employees. The spokeswoman mentioned more security forces, improved training - such as behavioral and de-escalation training - better equipment and technical support.

EVG boss Burkert told the editorial network Germany (RND) that it was "basically necessary to have federal police on board in every long-distance train". Therefore, the positions of the federal police would have to be increased. In local transport, regular rides by DB Sicherheit are necessary. The employer has to take care of that. The costs would have to be borne by those who ordered local transport in the federal states.

"Essential" is also the monitoring of the train stations by cameras. Although this does not prevent attacks, the clear-up rate in a pilot project in Nuremberg is over 90 percent. "We need this sense of security, which is transported via cameras, in every train station in Germany," said Burkert.

The Police Union (GdP) proposed a train station security strategy. A better prioritization of the capacities of the federal police and state police is necessary so that more police officers are present in the train stations and they can be on site faster after receiving emergency calls from trains, GdP boss Jochen Kopelke told the RND. The strategy must also take into account the situation in hot spots and the fact that a particularly large number of people take the train at peak times.

According to DB figures, there have been around 2,550 attacks on railway employees every year since 2017. In 2018 there were even over 2,600. For 2022, currently secured data is only available up to the end of the third quarter.

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