Conductor Priscilla van Barlingen began walking more than 500 kilometers in Den Helder this morning. During her vacation, she moved from station to station to draw attention to the growing aggression against train employees.

“I was verbally abused yesterday by eight boys who did not have a ticket. Insults and threats are the order of the day,” Van Barlingen told the radio before her action began. New Hampshire. Van Barlingen finishes Her walkwhich passes through Amersfoort, Zwolle and Tilburg, among other cities, after three weeks at The Hague Central Station.

Last year, 1,042 cases of assaults on railway employees were reported, 8 percent more than in 2022. This was the third year in a row that the number of reports rose. Thus, Van Barlingen will walk half a kilometer every time a colleague is verbally abused, threatened, spat on or hit in 2023.

But despite the increasing aggression, she absolutely does not want another job. “This is still the best job ever. And it should remain that way. That’s why I’m doing this.”

Last April, almost all trains, buses, trams and metro in the Netherlands stopped for three minutes. The action followed a serious assault on a double-decker train driver.

According to the VVMC railway union, the woman was thrown down the stairs and was kicked and punched. The train driver was also injured.