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RTV East
NOS News•today, 07:51
The number of incidents on the train between Zwolle and Emmen was eight times higher in the first quarter of this year than in the same period last year. More and more passengers on the train are driving while black and refuse to show identification, the regional broadcaster Oost reports based on figures from the province.
“Shocking,” Wim Eilert of railway union VVMC calls the figures. “It is now more luck than wisdom that there has not yet been a fatality. The level of aggression has also become much worse.”
The Arriva train is often used by asylum seekers on their way to the registration center in Ter Apel. There has been a lot of nuisance on the route between Zwolle and Emmen, also known as the Vechtdal line, for years. This would mainly concern safe landers, asylum seekers who are not actually entitled to asylum in the Netherlands, because they can live safely in their own country.
Abuse and intimidation
The figures now show a large increase in the number of so-called B3 incidents, in which a traveler has to be searched because he or she is speeding and does not want to identify themselves. In the first quarter of last year there were just under 40, now there are 331.
The number of serious incidents, such as assault and intimidation of train staff, also increased. In the first three months of this year, an Arriva employee was assaulted four times on the train between Zwolle and Emmen. In eight other cases there was threat or intimidation by a traveler, illegal possession of weapons or theft.
In 2021, the province of Overijssel allocated one million euros to curb nuisance on the route. That money was invested, among other things, in ‘flying brigades’, mobile security teams that support boas on the platform and on the train.
According to Arriva, the number of incidents on the train is increasing despite these measures because there are no longer checks on the platform. These now take place as standard on every train. “In other words: the fare dodgers are already on the train and are still caught at the controls,” says an Arriva spokeswoman. According to her, the mobile team does have an effect: when it is called in, the number of incidents in the trains involved decreases.
Not the desired effect
Trade union VVMC is not convinced of this. “We can now draw the conclusion together that all measures do not have the desired effect,” said director Wim Eilert. He makes an urgent appeal to politicians, both provincial and national, to allocate even more money for the ‘nuisance train’. “Because we need extra people.”
Eilert also calls on Arriva to introduce access controls on the platform again. “Then you ensure that you do not have the troublemakers on the train at the start of the journey.”
The province of Overijssel keeps it to a short response: “The resources allocated for the Vechtdal line are there to keep the incidents manageable. What we get from the figures is that the stewards on the train have a better sense of safety, because it backup team can come to the rescue if necessary.”
