Deutsche Bahn Bodycams: One Third of Customer Service Staff Participating

Background: Rise in Assaults on Rail Transport

The equipment rollout comes against the backdrop of a tense security situation. The Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft (EVG) regularly surveys its members and finds that many train attendants do not feel safe in their work. In early February, 36-year-old train attendant Serkan Çalar was so severely injured by a passenger punching him in the head in Rhineland-Palatinate that he died. According to the federal government, the number of assaults on employees of Deutsche Bahn and other railway companies rose by eleven percent from 2024 to 2025, to just under 2,690 cases.

This figure was recently picked up by the advocacy group Allianz Pro Schiene and made public. The union and the company see growing aggression as a central risk for local public transport and for rail transport as a whole. Van Zijderveld also pointed to the effect of the visible camera: „Das Gegenüber sieht sich dann in der Bodycam, schon das hat oft eine deeskalierende Wirkung“, he said.

According to the company, Deutsche Bahn is working on linking the bodycams with the emergency buttons that many employees wear on their arms. „Wir arbeiten gerade daran, dass die Bodycams auch mit den Notrufknöpfen, die viele Beschäftigte am Arm tragen, verknüpft werden“, van Zijderveld explained. The goal is for the camera to start automatically as soon as the emergency button is pressed. By summer, all employees with customer contact are also to have attended mandatory training.

Technology: Linkup with Emergency Buttons Planned

In parallel, the company is preparing the legal requirements for additional audio recording. „Die Bahn hofft, dass bis Herbst die gesetzlichen Voraussetzungen auch für eine Tonaufzeichnung geschaffen werden“, it said. Audio recording is considered particularly intrusive and is therefore tied to additional data protection conditions. Only once these are in place is the microphone in the devices to be activated.

Pilot Projects in Frankfurt am Main

In Frankfurt am Main, DB Regio — Deutsche Bahn's subsidiary for regional and S-Bahn services — plans to present the results of initial pilot projects on Monday from 10 a.m. onwards. „So soll es etwa Einblicke in das Training von Zugbegleiterinnen und Zugbegleitern geben, die zum Umgang mit Bodycams und in Selbstbehauptung geschult werden“, the company announced. In doing so, the group is also responding to employees' concerns, who are to be better equipped to defend themselves against assaults.

Deutsche Bahn had already planned the expansion of bodycam equipment before the fatal incident in Rhineland-Palatinate, but the recent attack has significantly intensified the debate over the protection of train personnel. Industry observers see the voluntary participation as an initial indicator of how willing employees are to use technical aids in their day-to-day work. Should the targeted 50 percent rate be reached or exceeded by mid-year, it would, from the company's perspective, be an important step toward a nationwide rollout as standard equipment.