We have had the corona problem in our stomach for about a year now. Last year, this resulted in significantly fewer travelers in public transport. You would think that there would be considerably less aggression against employees in public transport. According to safety figures from the Dutch Railways, the number of incidents of aggression against NS employees decreased slightly last year, with 17 incidents less than the year before (2019). In 2019 there were 678 incidents of aggression and in 2020 there were 661. You would actually expect this figure to be much lower, there is minimal travel and this should therefore lead to much fewer incidents of aggression against employees.

Faisal has been working as a Safety and Service employee for more than five years and has noticed that corona has a lot of influence on his work this year: “It is precisely those who cause nuisance that are less concerned with corona measures. Because there are fewer travelers, people who cause nuisance become more visible. Together with my colleagues, I supervise and maintain order, peace and safety at the stations. A safe journey for the traveler is our top priority. ”

What was striking about the safety figures of NS was that the number of aggression incidents has shifted from the train to the platform. Incidents at the station are often easier and faster to resolve by the police and NS employees than on the train. Since 1 June, NS has been keeping track of what is corona-related, 83 of the 661 incidents in the whole of 2020 were corona-related. The incidents of aggression were: threats, threats with a weapon, resistance to arrest, physical violence, spitting and assault. NS says the figures are disappointing website.

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