BERLIN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A 36-year-old train conductor died on Wednesday after being assaulted during a ticket inspection on a regional train in Germany's southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the local public prosecutor's office said.
The attack occurred late Monday afternoon while the conductor was checking tickets, according to a statement from the office. After the suspect failed to produce a valid ticket, the conductor asked him to show identification and leave the train. The victim was then repeatedly punched in the head and later died in hospital.
The suspect, a 26-year-old Greek national, told investigators that he lives in Luxembourg. No knife or other dangerous object was used in the assault, police said. Preliminary autopsy results showed that the victim died from a brain bleed caused by severe blunt force trauma to the head.
Further investigations are underway to determine the circumstances of the attack and the suspect's motive, police said.
On Wednesday afternoon, the German railway union EVG held a minute of silence for the victim and called for double staffing on regional trains to improve worker safety.
"It is terrible that a staff member loses his life while simply doing his job -- killed by raw and senseless violence," Germany's federal transport minister Patrick Schnieder said, adding that he was "shocked and appalled."
According to data from Germany's interior ministry, crime and violence against railway staff have been on the rise. In the first 10 months of 2025 alone, nearly 3,000 railway employees were victims of crimes, including more than 1,230 cases of bodily harm and over 320 cases of grievous bodily harm.
