Train Stopped in Vilvoorde After Conductor Verbally Attacked by Fare Dodgers
A train on the Antwerp-Brussels railway line was forced to halt at Vilvoorde station on Saturday morning after the conductor was verbally attacked by passengers travelling without valid tickets. The conductor was so distressed that he requested to be replaced by a colleague, forcing passengers to transfer to the next service.
Incident Details
The incident occurred during a routine ticket inspection on Saturday morning. According to HLN, several passengers who lacked valid tickets reacted with verbal aggression toward the train conductor. The impact on the employee was immediate and severe.
“He was very upset and asked to be replaced,” said Dimitri Temmerman, spokesperson for NMBS, the Belgian national railway company, as reported by VRT NWS.
Police were called to the scene. The fare dodgers received fines from NMBS and were permitted to continue their journey on a later train. Service was normalized within approximately 30 minutes. Passengers on the affected train were required to transfer to the next service at Vilvoorde, but no further delays were reported on the line.
A Growing Crisis
This incident is far from isolated. It is the latest manifestation of a steep and troubling upward trend in aggression against railway staff in Belgium. In 2024, NMBS registered 2,102 cases of aggression against its personnel, including 445 reports of insults, 713 threats, 652 cases of minor assault, and 292 cases of assault with blows or injuries, resulting in over 47,000 hours of work incapacity, according to N-VA MP Dorien Cuylaerts.
By 2025, the situation had worsened significantly. Aggression cases rose to 2,602 — an average of seven per day — with physical violence involved in more than four out of ten cases, as reported by Redactie24.
The problem has prompted alarm from railway security personnel themselves. In January 2026, over 100 Securail agents published an open letter warning that violence on the job is escalating and that they fear “it will soon go seriously wrong.”
Policy Responses Underway
The Vilvoorde incident comes just 11 days before a major policy change: from July 1, 2026, NMBS will end onboard ticket sales entirely. The measure is explicitly designed to reduce fare dodging and the aggression that often accompanies ticket inspections. NMBS cites the lack of a valid ticket as the primary cause of aggression against staff. Passengers without tickets will face a 90-euro fine, rising to 250 euros and up to 500 for repeat offenders.
However, the policy has drawn criticism. Passenger organization TreinTramBus has argued that when ticket machines are broken and passengers lack smartphones, they receive a paper bill they must pay at a station counter the following day — requiring an additional trip.
Broader safety measures are also advancing. The federal government gave initial approval in late May 2026 for legislation allowing security services in public transport to use bodycams. A second reading is expected after the summer, followed by parliamentary approval. NMBS has announced it will launch a market consultation to procure bodycams in anticipation of the legal framework, as detailed by Dorien Cuylaerts.
Additionally, an internal research report on the possible installation of access gates in stations is being prepared for the NMBS board of directors. A parliamentary hearing on railway safety was held on June 16, 2026, where Jan Smets, head of NMBS security services, presented the company’s safety policy.
What’s Next
The Vilvoorde incident serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of the aggression crisis. Behind the statistics is a railway employee who was too distressed to continue his shift. As NMBS moves forward with bodycams, access gates, and the end of onboard ticket sales, the question remains whether these measures will be sufficient to reverse the upward trend in violence — or whether more fundamental changes are needed to ensure the safety of both staff and passengers on Belgium’s railways.