The rising tide of violence on Europe’s trains and in its stations has placed train conductors on the front lines of a growing crisis linked to mass immigration. In Italy, Germany, and France, conductors are increasingly subject to brutal attacks, often at the hands of passengers without tickets.
These incidents, which range from violent beatings to public humiliation and even stabbing, have sparked national debates about security, immigration policies, and the safety of public transport workers.
In Italy, the situation has reached critical levels, with the third violent attack on a train conductor occurring this month alone. On the regional railway line between Porretta and Pianoro in the province of Bologna earlier this week, a train attendant was severely beaten by a passenger of North African origin when asked to present a ticket. The conductor suffered serious injuries, including the loss of two teeth, and the attack disrupted multiple train routes as emergency services responded.
Earlier in November, a conductor on a train in Genoa was stabbed by two North African migrants during a routine ticket inspection. One attacker used a knife to stab the conductor twice, leaving him in serious condition. This incident prompted six rail unions to declare a nationwide strike, citing “violent and repeated attacks” against their workers.
Italian politicians, including Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, have vowed to increase security on trains and at stations. However, the escalation of violence continues to alarm rail workers and passengers alike.
Germany has also witnessed a surge in violent incidents involving train conductors. In February, a rail employee in Karlsruhe was brutally attacked by a migrant male during a ticket inspection. The attacker not only punched, kicked, and choked the 57-year-old worker but also humiliated her by urinating on her in front of witnesses. The suspect then assaulted others at a nearby supermarket before fleeing the scene.
Another incident in March saw a Malian woman riding without a ticket in Magdeburg lash out at a conductor, scratching his face and throat before attacking two federal police officers who arrived at the scene.
In Thuringia, train conductors have been advised not to check the tickets of foreign passengers after an increase in threatening behavior from asylum seekers.
The problem extends beyond train conductors to public transport across Western European nations as a whole who have opened their doors to mass immigration.
According to data from the French Interior Ministry, 69 percent of violent crimes on public transport in the Île-de-France region are committed by foreign nationals, with Africans alone responsible for 52 percent of these crimes, despite comprising just 3.2 percent of the population.
This non-exhaustive list of incidents involving public transport workers this year alone underscores the challenges Europe faces in managing mass immigration and the demise of civil order it brings.
Train conductors and other customer-facing roles, are on the frontline and are witnesses to the problems. So too are teachers, who are also sounding the alarm over the rising behavioral problems in multicultural schools among the next generation.
Union leaders and politicians are calling for greater security measures, but the broader social and systemic issues remain unresolved and the root cause appears to be, for many establishment parties at least, too taboo to mention.
