NS arms first 2 Rotterdam boas with batons in year-long pilot

Two officers from Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), the Dutch national rail company, began carrying batons at Rotterdam Centraal station today, marking the start of a 12-month NS railway batons pilot that the company says is a response to rising aggression against staff. The two officers, named publicly only as Adnan and Nick, are boas, special enforcement officers (buitengewoon opsporingsambtenaren) who already had powers to detain passengers and to use force when needed, but who until today were equipped only with handcuffs and a radio.

NS reported 1,132 incidents of aggression against its staff in 2025, up from 1,095 the year before. Boas in particular were involved in 11 percent more incidents involving physical or verbal aggression compared with the previous year.

Why the NS railway batons pilot now

NS director of social safety Itai Birger said the company had moved with reluctance. “Society is changing and we see that on the stations and on the trains. So we have to look at every tool that might contribute to the safety of our colleagues,” he told reporters in Rotterdam. He added that the decision had been difficult inside the company. “I find this step quite confronting. We are a railway operator. We move people from A to B,” Birger said.

The shift in equipment follows years of internal debate. Boas work in pairs and are trained to de-escalate first. They regularly handle situations involving fare-dodging and conflict between passengers, and they are most exposed during high-traffic events such as Koningsdag (King’s Day) and Rotterdam’s Zomercarnaval, when major stations can hold tens of thousands of people at peak hours. Boas have the authority to detain individuals and to use force where necessary, but until now their only standard-issue equipment was a set of handcuffs and a service radio.

The new equipment also marks a visible change for commuters. NS staff in distinctive uniform are a daily fixture of stations such as Rotterdam Centraal, Amsterdam Centraal, Utrecht Centraal and Den Haag Centraal, and the addition of a baton, even one held in a holster, signals a different posture from the company. Birger has stressed that the goal is staff safety rather than a tougher enforcement line on passengers.

What the NS railway batons pilot actually changes

The officers received weeks of mandatory training before they were allowed to carry the new weapon. Nick, one of the first two participants, said the baton was a last-resort tool, not a first-line one. “Your mouth is your biggest weapon, but I am glad we have an extra means at our disposal,” he said. His colleague Adnan said the baton was particularly useful when a detention drew bystanders into the scene. “Especially during arrests you can keep people who get involved at a safe distance, which keeps you out of unsafe situations,” he said.

If the NS railway batons pilot proceeds as planned, 75 of the company’s roughly 700 boas will be equipped with batons by the end of the 12-month trial. After Rotterdam, the rollout will reach The Hague (Den Haag), Zwolle and Den Bosch. NS has said the trial will be evaluated at the end of the period, with an internal review of how often batons were drawn, how often they were used, and whether incidents of aggression dropped or shifted in pattern.

The choice not to issue firearms, tasers or pepper spray to NS staff was deliberate. Boas are civil enforcement officers, not police, and their legal mandate is far more limited than that of the politie. Dutch police already operate at most large stations, with the marechaussee, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, present at international stations such as Amsterdam Centraal. Birger has stressed that the NS railway batons trial is intended to complement that presence, not replace it.

The Tweede Kamer (Dutch parliament) is expected to ask for an update on the pilot before the autumn recess, with members from across the political spectrum having flagged staff safety on public transport as a priority over the past two budget cycles. CBS, the Dutch statistics office, publishes annual data on aggression in public-facing professions, and that figure will be a key reference point when the NS railway batons trial is reviewed at the end of its 12-month run. For now, NS is asking commuters to expect more visible enforcement on its busiest platforms, even as the company insists its preferred tools remain conversation and de-escalation. Further reporting on the rollout is available from NL Times.