Deutsche Bahn to test bodycam audio from 5 October after fatal attack on staff

Deutsche Bahn is widening staff safety measures about seven months after train attendant Serkan Çalar was fatally attacked on a regional train, with a bodycam audio test from 5 October.

The test is part of a package of protective measures published on 15 September. It is run by DB Regio Mitte, and the company wants to follow it with a prompt rollout across the group. DB said a memorial plaque would be installed near Çalar’s workplace at Mannheim Hauptbahnhof on 18 September, the “Day of Respect”, with DB chief executive Evelyn Palla and federal transport minister Steffen Bilger attending.

Martin Seiler, DB’s board member for human resources, said Çalar’s death leaves the company obliged to give employees and passengers the best protection it can, and that DB is taking seriously the concerns many staff have raised.

Bodycams, audio recording and training

Every DB employee who deals with customers can now wear a bodycam. More than 90% of DB Regio staff have completed bodycam training, and the long-distance business and the station business introduced the cameras this summer.

The timing of the audio test has moved as the plan developed. When DB outlined the plan in May, it expected to test sound recording in the third quarter. In August, DB Regio said the pilot would run for two months in the Rhine-Neckar-Palatinate region from no later than 1 October. It added that the Hessian data protection commissioner had been informed and involved. The September announcement names DB Regio Mitte as the unit running the test and 5 October as its start.

De-escalation training is compulsory for all customer-facing staff. DB Regio adds a module on holding one’s ground on the train, while DB Fernverkehr offers a self-protection course.

Vests, helmets and second staff on board

Since July, DB Regio customer service staff have been trialling stab-resistant vests worn under their uniforms. Until the end of 2026, DB Sicherheit is testing helmets for its Mobile Support Group (MUG). The unit is called in for particular security situations at stations and on trains.

DB Regio is also trying out, on selected routes and until the end of 2026, two customer service staff on the same train and teams that pair one staff member with a security guard. These pilots run with the public transport authorities that order regional services, and DB said in May that the decision on where they are used lies with those authorities. A further pilot sends inspection groups of six to eight staff through a train to check every ticket together.

Alcohol ban at 5,400 stations and police video access

DB is banning the drinking of alcohol at its stations. The rule announced in July is being phased in at all 5,400 of its stations by 15 October 2026 under DB’s house rules. Bars and restaurants are exempt and sealed alcohol may still be carried. Anyone who breaks the rule can be ordered to leave, and repeat offenders can be banned from the station. DB says its model projects showed the ban helps reduce violent crime and alcohol-related conflicts.

The Federal Police is to receive uniform digital access across Germany to live and recorded video from selected DB Regio trains, which DB says will help secure evidence and speed up prosecution. From 18 September, DB employees can also volunteer through the GemeinsamSicher app to support colleagues on DB Regio trains until DB Sicherheit or the police arrive. A rollout in long-distance services is being prepared.

Since May 2026, the transport ministry, the VDV transport operators’ association and DB have been running the #mehrachtung campaign for more respect towards rail staff. DB has also explicitly backed a draft law to strengthen criminal-law protection for public transport employees, which it says would allow attacks on its staff to be punished more effectively. The announcement does not say what the draft would change.

Attacks on Deutsche Bahn staff since 2016

In February, eleven days after the attack on Çalar, Palla convened a security summit at which the federal government, the states, unions and the transport industry agreed the areas for a joint action plan on rail safety, with concrete steps to be settled by the end of April. DB committed there to bodycams for all customer-facing staff during 2026. At the summit, DB published figures showing 3,262 physical attacks on its employees in 2025, counting attempted and completed assaults. That was slightly fewer than a year earlier but 37% more than the 2,374 recorded in 2016.

In the first half of 2026, DB Regio alone counted 989 attacks on its staff, including 781 cases of simple bodily harm and 185 attempted assaults, while 22 employees suffered serious bodily harm.

Bodycams, security staffing and training are already in use, while protective equipment, extra staff on regional trains and audio recording remain at trial or test stage.

Sources for this table: Deutsche Bahn press releases of 13 February, 5 May, 10 August and 15 September 2026.