Train passengers traveling without tickets in the Netherlands are to be tackled by conductors equipped with handcuffs and batons, Dutch paper De Volkskrant reported Thursday.
A spokesman for Netherlands Railways (NS) told the paper that the company is holding talks with the Justice Ministry on whether staff members can be given greater power to use force.
"Conducting body searches and the use of a baton and handcuffs have been discussed," he was quoted as saying.
The new equipment will not be handed out to all 2,300 conductors of the NS. It will only be given to a maximum of 1,000 specially trained officers, who have been deployed on lines with higher risks since the beginning of the year.
These mobile security teams are allowed to use a "suitable degree of force" to arrest aggressive passengers and turn them in to the police.
A three-month trial of the new scheme will take place in and around the cities of Zwolle and Amsterdam, the paper said. But the starting date is not yet known.
Source:Xinhua
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