2023-04-24 15:43:00
The facts were so dangerous that Securail agents had to intervene. And that a train carrying more than 300 commuters had to be evacuated. As the convoy from Brussels to Namur entered Ottignies station on Sunday around 5 p.m., his guide was intrigued by the more than suspicious behavior of a passenger. Which, very agitated during the check, began to vociferate remarks suggesting that he might be in possession of explosives.
Sunday evening, traffic on line 161, one of the busiest in the country, had to be interrupted for several tens of minutes, the time that the intervention services intercepted the madman and checked that no explosives were at hand. board the train.
If the individual was finally arrested without resistance and without explosives, this incident perfectly illustrates how the behavior of a single individual can considerably impact the journey of thousands of other commuters.
Only 12 Securail agents deployed at night on the entire SNCB network: “It’s absurd when you know that the aggressiveness continues to increase!”
Last year, the SNCB punctuality rate was 89.2%. A little more than one train in ten, therefore, arrived with a delay of more than six minutes at the station. And the behavior of third parties is the main reason for these delays: 40.8% of delays were attributed, in 2022, to acts committed by third parties (suicides, accidents, assaults, theft of cables, malicious behavior, livestock or game on the paths…)
Some of these are managed by Securail, which is responsible for security, among other things. Last year, Sécurail agents had to intervene 32,000 times on railway property. That is an average of nearly 90 interventions per day! “They intervene for all kinds of interventions such as attacks on passengers or staff, incivility, intrusions on the tracks or malicious acts such as theft of cables or throwing stones at trains, commented Marianne Hiernaux, spokesperson for SNCB. All these interventions involve sometimes considerable delays which are beyond the control of SNCB. Unfortunately, we see that malicious acts are on the increase. SNCB raises awareness and warns the perpetrators of these acts who may be prosecuted. It strongly condemns any breach of the safety of train travel and recalls that the consequences on traffic, infrastructure, rolling stock but also on staff can be significant.
Last year, among all the events caused by third parties at SNCB that impacted punctuality, acts related to passengers led to the cancellation of 1,400 trains and generated delays of 93,000 minutes. That is nearly 65 days of cumulative delays! “These figures also include, to a lesser extent, sick travelers (Editor’s note: heart attack, fall, vomit…) which require the intervention of the train conductor or an ambulance.”
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#Vandalism #assaults.. #crazy #figures #interventions #Securail #agents
