BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Rhineland-Palatinate’s Prime Minister Alexander Schweitzer (SPD) has called for a visually uniform Germany ticket with a photo in the debate about more safety for train crews. The colleagues of the train attendant who was beaten to death in Rhineland-Palatinate told him in a personal conversation that it would make their work easier if they no longer had to check the passengers’ passports in addition to the ticket, said Schweitzer in the ARD program “Report from Berlin”.
“That’s why I’m calling for a uniform Germany ticket. We have a lot of Germany tickets that look different, and the train attendants often have to ask for their ID card or passport,” says Schweitzer. The implementation “doesn’t cost a lot of money, we can do it very quickly.”
More staff presence through double staffing of trains and the introduction of body cameras are also urgently needed, but more suggestions are still needed. It is very important to act quickly now. “That’s why I’ve offered that we put this issue of train safety on the agenda at the Prime Minister’s Conference on March 5th – which I chair – as well. That will certainly bring the debate further forward.”
The Minister of Transport is also in favor of fewer ID checks
Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) is also considering having fewer ID checks carried out on trains. “We have found that the identity checks are a trigger for considerable basic aggression,” said Schnieder to the “Handelsblatt”.
“You could reduce violence by around 18 percent if you forego such controls,” said Schnieder. Mere random checks, such as in subway and S-Bahn trains, would be conceivable and would be carried out by larger teams of employees. “Or you can already check at the platform, like other countries do,” said Schnieder./mxx/DP/zb