Workers on public transport in the Netherlands are facing more violent attacks from passengers when going about their work, according to new statistics revealed by De Telegraaf. In 2023, 1.042 reports of violent incidents against NS train staff were reported, an 8 percent increase compared to 2022. 

NS director brands violent attacks on staff as “shocking and unacceptable”

The director of NS, Eelco van Asch, said that the violence committed against his colleagues is “shocking and unacceptable.” The company stated that despite the large number of violent attacks reported in 2023, they are likely to only be a small representation of the true number of incidents.

2023 marks the third year in a row that such violent incidents are on the rise. In 2020, there were 661 reports - significantly less than the now over 1.000 annual incidents of violence towards train staff.

Verbal abuse towards NS staff not included in the figures

The figures relating to violent crimes against NS staff are shocking enough, but the numbers revealed by De Telegraaf are unlikely to scratch the surface of the true abuse that staff working on public transport face. Incidents of verbal abuse and less serious physical altercations are not included in the data - only violent incidents in the so-called A category, which fall under criminal law, are registered by the company.

Workers of NS had to call the police more than 13.000 times in 2023 for thousands of incidents. The company has stated that it is taking measures to protect staff and reduce danger to their workers, but did not go on to detail exactly how it plans to counter rising violence towards train staff.

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