Clean train stations also contribute to greater safety.
© dpa
The joint cleaning and safety patrols of the Berlin transport companies are now in permanent use.
At the same time, the company wants to test ideas for more cleanliness and safety at the problematic Kottbusser Tor station. A new campaign is to inform passengers about the emergency call pillars and other safety features at stations and on the trains.
BVG launched the cleaning patrol project a good year ago in a test phase on the notorious U8 subway line and later extended it to other lines such as U5 and U7. According to surveys, the cleaning patrol was rated positively by almost all passengers, the BVG announced. There is also a high level of approval among employees. In future, the patrols will continue to operate on the U5, U7, U8 and U9 lines, for example at the Hermannplatz, Yorkstraße, Leopoldplatz and Frankfurter Tor subway stations. Transport Senator Ute Bonde said that the cleaning patrols would also contribute to greater safety. "Where it's clean, there are fewer assaults," said the CDU politician.
At Kottbusser Tor, a crime hotspot in Berlin, a modular security center is to be built on a trial basis and mirrors are to be installed for corners that cannot be seen. This doesn't sound like rocket science, but it has to be done, said BVG boss Henrik Falk. Elevator shafts should be cleaned to dispel bad odors. Calm music should also contribute to a sense of well-being at the station. It is being examined whether the subway exit south, which has been closed since the 1980s, could be opened. Kottbusser Tor is considered a place with a lot of crime, party life, drug dealing and a scene that is sometimes hostile to the police. A police station was set up there at the beginning of 2023.