Status: 11/23/2021 4:25 p.m.
From tomorrow, the 3G rule will also apply to rail transport. Deutsche Bahn wants to check these on the trains on a random basis. She relies on her employees – and the cooperation of the travelers. There is criticism from the unions.
Passengers on long-distance and regional trains as well as on buses and trams must be vaccinated, recovered or tested against the corona virus from this Wednesday on. Deutsche Bahn announced corresponding controls of the so-called 3G rule. These are to be carried out randomly by the security and control staff, the group announced.
3G not in the stations
Checks are only carried out while driving and not when boarding. The 3G rule only applies to trains, not to stations and platforms. If you do not show proof on the train, you have to get off at the next stop. There the inspectors can also ask the federal police for assistance.
“In long-distance traffic alone, controls on 400 connections are planned in the first few days after the new rules come into force,” said the railway. The railway is thus implementing the Federal Government’s resolutions in the new Infection Protection Act from last week.
The changes have been in the Federal Law Gazette since Tuesday and are therefore valid from Wednesday. This is intended to regulate contacts more closely in view of the rapidly increasing number of corona infections. The rail unions EVG and GDL had criticized the new rules in rail traffic. They fear an additional burden on the train attendants.
Call for the federal police
“The employees of the railway are not deputy sheriffs, that has to be a matter for the federal police,” said the deputy chairman of the railway and transport union (EVG), Martin Burkert, last week. GDL boss Claus Weselsky agreed with him: “The train staff cannot take control of the 3G regulations. Whoever demands that has no idea about the railways,” he told the newspaper “Die Welt”.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, our employees have been doing an outstanding job under the most difficult of conditions,” said Berthold Huber, Board Member for Passenger Transport. “Now, too, they are faced with massive challenges again. That is why, in addition to random checks by our staff, we also rely on the cooperation of the passengers in implementing the new legal regulations.”