Due to more attacks on its employees, Deutsche Bahn (DB) wants to equip customer service representatives on trains with body cams. A test operation with cameras on the body has been running in the Black Forest Railway since February, which is to be extended to other regions, the group said. In addition, further protective measures are planned, as well as training courses for railway employees who come into contact with customers.
Video surveillance at train stations is to be expanded. The DB currently operates around 9,000 video cameras at train stations, and by 2024 there should be 11,000. Almost 50,000 cameras are already installed in the interiors of almost three quarters of all local and suburban trains.
Violence against railway employees has increased over the years
According to DB information, there were around 21 percent more attacks on railway employees in 2022 than in 2021, when significantly fewer people used trains due to Corona (2021: 2582 cases).
About 30 percent of this can be attributed to the enforcement of the mask requirement. This was lifted nationwide in February. Another seven percent of the cases in 2022 were related to the 9-euro ticket, which was valid in June, July and August as a monthly ticket for local public transport (ÖPNV) throughout Germany.
Violence against railway workers had increased every year since 2012. In the pre-Corona year 2019, it decreased slightly by 2.5 percent compared to the previous year with 2558 attacks.
After most of the official corona protection measures were abolished in 2022, the number of travelers increased significantly over the course of the year. According to DB information, they have been back to the pre-corona level since the summer, and in some cases they were significantly higher. The “massive rescheduling of events” and the revival of football travel have contributed to the increase in attacks.
