Railway staff in Thuringia have been told that ticket inspection is now discretionary—with discriminatory consequences. Specifically, train conductors can opt out of checking the credentials of passengers who appear to be foreign, due to the threat of assault.
While female conductors and train attendants tend to suffer disproportionately from such attacks, the problem is widespread across the rail service.
Listing previous incidents, the works council of the South Thuringia Railway has warned against “people with a migration background.” State-owned national railway Deutsche Bahn agrees, saying attendants no longer have to ask to see the tickets of foreigners.
Past confrontations with asylum seekers suspected of fare-dodging, particularly on the Erfurt-Suhl railway line, mean that transport employees are now being left to decide for themselves on how to proceed with suspicious behaviour from travellers.
Train operator Deutsche Bahn described the measure as “de-escalation” to the Thüringer Allgemeine newspaper. Critics say that this approach to conflict avoidance in effect decriminalises fare-dodging and creates a two-tier system between different types of passengers, based on their appearance.
The South Thuringia Railway has supplemented its evasive approach to fare evasion with €336,000 worth of security measures. It has also requested that, on arrival, asylum seekers be schooled on the correct conduct for train passengers.
