The train conductor who was attacked during a ticket inspection in Rhineland-Palatinate has died from his injuries. “We at Deutsche Bahn condemn this terrible outbreak of violence and the utterly senseless death of our colleague in the strongest terms,” said Deutsche Bahn board chair Evelyn Palla on Wednesday. “We all must ask ourselves why such violent eruptions keep happening,” she added.
Her condolences go to the colleagues, family members and friends of the deceased. “Today is a dark day for all railway employees in the country,” she said. The conductor had suffered life-threatening injuries on Monday evening when he was attacked during a ticket inspection as the train was leaving the Landstuhl station near Kaiserslautern. According to investigators, the railway employee had tried to remove a passenger from the train because he did not have a valid ticket.
The 36-year-old was so severely injured by punches to the head that he had to be resuscitated. He was taken to a hospital. A 26-year-old man is considered a suspect. He was arrested at the scene. On Tuesday evening, the Zweibrücken District Court issued an arrest warrant. At that time, he was accused of attempted manslaughter.
On Tuesday, the railway union EVG expressed shock and disbelief over the attack. Above all, however, employees were “angry,” said EVG chair Martin Burkert. The number of assaults on trains and buses had been rising for years. “And politics watches,” he said. For years, money had been saved at the expense of the safety of staff and passengers, the union leader criticized. “On many local trains there is only one conductor,” he added. Security personnel almost never travel along.
Following the 36-year-old’s death, the EVG called for a minute of silence on Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. “Today the railway family stands still,” Burkert declared. The attack must trigger a change in thinking, he insisted. Politics must immediately do more for safety. “Such a case must never happen again.”
The Zweibrücken Public Prosecutor's Office and the police in Kaiserslautern also confirmed the man’s death on Wednesday. Investigators ordered an autopsy, which was scheduled to take place later the same day.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has called for harsher penalties for such attacks. "The legal protection for employees of service companies like the railway must be significantly strengthened," Dobrindt declared on Wednesday. "The range of penalties must be expanded and the minimum sentences for attacks must be considerably increased." The rising violence against public sector employees and service providers like the railway requires "decisive consequences."
Dobrindt expressed his shock, dismay, and deep sorrow at the death of the train conductor. He expects "that the perpetrator will be punished to the full extent of the law for his brutal act."
Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) has called for increased protective measures for railway staff. "We must do more together to protect employees," Schnieder declared on Wednesday, according to a statement from his ministry in Berlin. "Trains and stations must be safe." He added that all levels of government are now called upon to curb the rising tide of violence.
"This is not only a dark day for the entire railway family, but for all of us," Schnieder added. He was "appalled and stunned" by the train conductor's death. "It is terrible that a customer service representative should lose his life while simply performing his duties – killed by raw and senseless violence." His deepest condolences went out to the family, colleagues, and friends of the train conductor.
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