According to NDR Hamburg, many passengers on Hamburg's public transport hesitate to intervene when someone is threatened. The report begins with a 25-year-old woman who was threatened by a man on an S-Bahn train, while the other passengers did not react. Her social media video has been viewed by more than 200,000 people.

What the police figures show

According to the Hamburg police, 693 cases of violent crime on public transport were recorded in 2025, about two per day. The previous year had 792 cases, a drop of 12.5 percent. The police say the number of unreported incidents is unclear. Their statistics also cover long-distance trains, stations and stops, not only buses, U-Bahn and S-Bahn trains. Some figures have more than quadrupled since 2019, but the source notes that this does not necessarily mean the risk has grown, because reporting, recording and passenger numbers can all affect the data.

Why bystanders hesitate

Social psychologist Juliane Degner, cited by NDR Hamburg, names several reasons. People may not recognise that someone needs help, and they often follow others: if nobody reacts, the situation may seem less serious. This is called pluralistic ignorance. In a crowd, responsibility can also seem spread out, and fear of getting hurt plays a role.

HVV measures

According to NDR Hamburg, the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV) launched the initiative „Sicher unterwegs im HVV“ at the end of 2024. It includes station walks where people can try out safety equipment, red floor markings at selected stations, and posters and social media campaigns. Since November 2025, the workshop „Handlungsmut“ teaches passengers to assess dangerous situations and help without endangering themselves, for example by using an emergency call point or alerting bus drivers. Workshops and station walks take place four times a year and are regularly fully booked, according to HVV.

Perceived safety and next steps

According to the current ÖPNV customer barometer, the feeling of safety has improved compared with the previous year. Around 1,000 passengers from the HVV area were among about 22,000 people surveyed nationwide. HVV spokeswoman Silke Seibel sees this as a success of the initiative, although the figures cannot show whether the campaigns caused the change. HVV plans a first digital event on 11 November 2026, and a programme for schoolchildren is being developed.