The train driver asked her to put on a veil. “Amateur lawyer” lured her to the mud of the Internet, ZSSK claims that these are everyday problems – Startitup

The pandemic is hard to bear with medics, police and many others who meet vaccine opponents in the course of their work. The saleswomen, but also the train drivers, have to say their own, and they have to check the certificates of vaccination, overcoming or negative tests. At the same time, however, they must ensure that passengers have a covered airway.

It is not always easy and as a result conflicts arise, with which the actors are very happy to share on social networks, perhaps in the hope that the Slovaks will understand and praise them.

This was also the case a few days ago, when a photo of a train driver began circulating on Facebook, requiring the passenger to wear a respirator.

The woman who wrote the social network has accused the train driver of harassing passengers and violating rules and regulations. The post was also shared by ZSR – Railways of the Socialist Republic.

Attacks on ZSSK employees are frequent and the company is well aware of this. As company spokesman Tomáš Kováč says for Startitup, no attacks of this nature took place before the outbreak of the pandemic.

Police often intervene on trains

“In 2021, we recorded 57 incidents of passengers ignoring existing anti-pandemic measures on trains, mostly involving wearing towels while traveling by train. We have to say that this is a better situation than in 2020, during which we recorded 105 cases of such incidents. ” presents Kováč statistics.

He adds that problematic passenger behavior is unpredictable and very difficult to prevent. “Our train drivers deal with similar situations on a daily basis, often with the assistance of the Slovak Armed Forces, when warnings are issued, sometimes even the passenger is excluded from transport.” says Kováč on behalf of ZSSK.

It is difficult to defend against this attack, and according to a ZSSK spokesman, the police must intervene from time to time, and they usually arrive at the nearest station in a short time.

“However, exclusion from transport occurs in the extreme case, if the passenger is e.g. aggressive, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, resp. does not have travel documents or repeatedly refuses to put on a veil / respirator, ” explained for Startitup.

In 2021, the police had to intervene approximately 300 times on passenger trains. The reasons were different. However, the most common were attacks on aggressive passengers who were under the influence of various drugs.

However, the police also had to deal with passengers who drove illegally, but also those who verbally or physically attacked the train staff. It is interesting that the police had to intervene several times when robbing passengers or train drivers.

Emergency management

As these situations are relatively common, we asked ZSSK how the company’s employees should react to the attacks. According to Kováč, the employees try to explain to this problematic group of passengers in a decent way what measures currently apply and that in case of non-compliance with these rules they may be excluded from the transport, either by the accompanying personnel themselves or by summoning members of the Slovak Police.

“ZSSK also prepares its train drivers to deal with and manage emergencies. As part of training in communication skills, they also complete a block aimed at managing situations when meeting conflicting passengers, ” he says.

source: ZSSK

Due to the fact that the work of train drivers is becoming more and more demanding, also due to the mentioned attacks, ZSSK decided to appreciate the work of people performing this job. “Therefore, according to the new collective agreement, their wages will be increased again,” states the company’s spokesman.

In conclusion, he adds that the last chairwoman of the train, who became the target of an attack on the Internet through no fault of her own, also called the chairman of the ZSSK board of directors. He thanked her for her work and assured her that her workflow was fully legal.

Source: Facebook