Taipei Rapid Transit Corp on Thursday said it has adopted a zero violence policy against its employees, adding that any verbal or physical violence against them would be reported to the police.
The operator of the MRT railway serving metropolitan Taipei said that after COVID-19 curbs were eased, the number of violent incidents against its personnel increased along with passenger numbers.
From the beginning of the year until Thursday, there had been 10 incidents involving verbal harassment or threats against its employees, the company said.
Photo: CNA
Most of the incidents occurred when station personnel asked MRT passengers to abide by the rules or involved drunk passengers, it said.
One incident involved a drunk person who entered a station without a mask before the mask requirement was eased on April 17, it said.
Station personnel asked the person to put on a mask, but the person refused, insulted staff and injured them, the company said.
They were escorted out of the station by MRT and local police, the company said, adding that the injured staff filed a complaint about the drunk person with police.
Station staff are obligated to remind passengers to abide by the regulations, the company said, urging passengers not to overreact when they are addressed by staff.
The company said that if people act irrationally, issue verbal threats or become violent, it reserves the right to refuse service to them.
Any such act would be reported to MRT police and local police, it said.
Station staff could respond to violence by spraying the aggressor with aerosol self-defense sprays, while MRT information desks are equipped with batons and shields, it said.
The company said it holds regular training sessions for all station staff to ensure they have a basic understanding of self-defense techniques.
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