Customers’ perception of safety at stations and in trains improved in 2018: 90% gave a score of 7 out of 10 or higher, as opposed to 88% in 2017. Last year we took additional measures to improve personal safety further, such as using cameras and deploying Safety & Service staff and private security staff at stations where passengers feel unsafe and where there is a problem with crime or people being a nuisance. We cooperate closely with the police, municipalities and other carriers. With our partners we made agreements in so-called safety arrangements to carry out joint actions to increase the level of safety. For example, as of 2017 there are two guards after 22:00 on trains on the evenings when a lot of people go out; on other evenings, we deploy what are known as ‘flexible service and safety teams’.

Incidents involving aggression

Aggression incidents cannot be prevented, but each and every incident is one too many. NS encourages staff to report all incidents involving aggression. Extra attention was given to this in October, during the Safety Week. Within NS as a whole, 802 incidents of category A aggression against staff were reported in the past year. Many of the category A incidents involved some form of threat (285), and physical violence was involved in 222 incidents. There was also resistance (183), spitting (93), threatening with a weapon (12) and 7 cases of indecent assault. Of the uniformed staff, 753 employees were involved with some form of physical aggression. This was 17% higher than in 2017 (642).
Closing the gates at stations shifts incidents away from the trains and onto the stations. The percentage of employees who are involved in aggression connected to fare dodging is falling. That is an issue in particular in trains. On the other hand, there is increasing cause to address people because of their behaviour and for not keeping to NS’s rules. This is mainly an issue at stations, both due to abuse of the access gates and due to nuisance behaviour and other violations of NS rules. The number of category A incidents involving aggression on the train decreased by 15% compared with 2017. The number at stations has gone up by 21%. Incidents are easier to control at stations. Support from Safety & Service, the police and/or emergency services can arrive on site sooner than on a moving train.
There were 206 injuries as a result of aggression against staff in 2018 (183 in 2017). These were mostly minor injuries (91%). 193 cases involved uniformed employees (183 in 2017), of which 76% of the injuries were incurred by Safety & Service staff.
As a measure to cut the number of incidents, NS rolled out the body camera for Safety & Service employees and security guards in the second half of 2018. The body cam adds to the feeling of safety experienced by passengers and staff, and has a de-escalating effect in difficult situations.