Last summer, the 9-euro ticket is intended to relieve commuters and attract new customers to public transport. With success: the offer is sold 52 million times in three months. The time is exhausting for the train attendants. You get the frustrations of passengers far more often than usual.
During the validity of the 9-euro ticket last summer, there was a sharp increase in verbal attacks on train staff in Germany. This is the result of figures from Deutsche Bahn, which are available to the editorial network in Germany. From June to August there were 4202 verbal assaults.
In the three months before the validity of the 9-euro ticket, on the other hand, there were only 2,938 verbal attacks, according to the information. In the three months after the end of the special offer, the number fell back to 3653 incidents.
The railway numbers available to the RND cover the period from January to November. During this time there were 13,578 attacks last year, in 2021 there were 9995 in the same period – however, significantly fewer passengers were on the road during the pandemic and the associated lockdowns. 12,302 cases in the past year involved verbal attacks such as insults, threats and coercion, and 1,276 physical assaults were also counted.
In view of the forthcoming introduction of the so-called Germany ticket from May, the chairman of the general works council of DB Regio, Ralf Damde, called for safety for railway staff to be improved. “In the case of ‘difficult trains’ – we all know them – we need additional patrols by the federal police.” If this is not possible, there must be at least two customer advisors or DB Security to accompany them. In addition, trains would have to be taken out of service if the video recording did not work for them, demanded the head of the works council. “The safety of employees and customers must come first.” The Germany-wide 49-euro ticket is to be introduced on May 1st.
