NUREMBERG/LANDSTUHL (dpa-AFX) – The chairman of the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) sees the fatal attack on a train attendant in Rhineland-Palatinate as having reached a “new, terrible quality” for railway employees.
“The colleague didn’t make any mistakes, as far as we know, he proceeded carefully and ultimately succumbed to his serious head injuries, even though there was help on the train,” said EVG boss Martin Burkert at Nuremberg Central Station. There, as at several train stations nationwide, a minute’s silence took place at 3 p.m.
A union survey of railway employees showed that 32 percent of those surveyed were afraid to go to work, said Burkert. “That is an incredibly high value.”
EVG: Employees should not travel alone on regional trains
In order to improve the safety of train attendants, the union has long been calling for double staffing on regional trains – so that one employee does not have to travel alone on the train.
“The states are responsible for this,” said Burkert. “They simply have to pay for a double cast.” From his point of view, it would also help to equip railway employees with body cameras and to expand the range of emergency buttons./fjm/DP/jha
