The NMBS has decided to deploy fifty extra Securail security agents to tackle the increasing aggression against railway employees. That is also good news for the Securail team in Limburg and Flemish Brabant. Thanks to the extra security officers, staff shortages are made up there and the Limburg security agents no longer have to intervene in Flemish Brabant, the socialist trade union says.
“This allows the Limburg teams to be visibly more present in and around the Limburg stations and to carry out more checks on the trains in our region,” says Stefan T’Jolyn of ACOD Spoor Limburg. “This is certainly a first step in the right direction to better ensure the safety of passengers and railway staff.”
Nearly 2,000 cases of physical and verbal aggression
After the recent attack on a De Lijn driver at Genk station and the increasing aggression in and around the stations, ACOD Limburg had initiated an alarm procedure with a strike notice. In 2022, almost 2,000 cases of both physical and verbal assaults against railway employees took place. “The problem in Limburg is that there are normally twelve people from Securail in Leuven. But of those twelve, only seven are currently present at the station and here in Limburg we also have only seven people, of whom they often have to go to Flemish Brabant. will come in because that is where most of the lines meet where there are more risks,” explains ‘T Jolyn. Now the team in Flemish Brabant is being expanded to sixteen security officers and the Limburg team to ten. “That is very positive because then our people can be visibly present in the stations and do what they have to do on the trains.”
No unnecessary luxury
This is not a superfluous luxury, especially after the transfer of the federal railway police from Limburg to Antwerp. Verbal aggression is also increasing in Limburg, it sounds. “The presence in the station may not solve that aggression, but the traveler and the staff will feel safer. It doesn’t give a good feeling when you enter an empty station like Genk’s. If they want to get more people on the train, they need to feel good and deal with this.”
The trade unionist also hopes that inspection teams will be reintroduced, such as at De Lijn. These teams have been abolished due to the shortage of personnel. “Those teams, consisting of two people, carried out an extra check, they were visibly present and they had to detect fare dodgers. Most aggression occurs because people are not in order with their ticket. If those teams were to return, this would still be a step in the right direction.”
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