Expatica news

Brussels metro ‘unsafe’ say one in three users

20 February 2004

BRUSSELS – One in three passengers do not feel safe when they use the Brussels metro, according to a new study published on Friday by the company in charge of public transport in the Belgian capital.

According to the survey, which was carried out in 2002 by the state-backed Societe des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles (STIB), 35 percent of travellers do not feel safe when they take the metro.

The STIB says it is puzzled by the results which, it claimed, contradict its own statistics showing that violent attacks on the metro network are decreasing.

It says that in 2002 there were 251 attacks on customers but that this fell to 159 incidents last year.

The Brussels police paint a far grimmer picture however. They say that on average two Brussels metro users are attacked or violently robbed every day.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Belgian news