July 5th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – A Greek citizen is on trial these days. He is being accused of stalking two 27-year-old women, sexual assault and harassment. In 2023, he followed one of the victims at one of the 168 S-Bahn train stations in Berlin and the city’s outskirts in Brandenburg. He supposedly cornered her at “Königs Wusterhausen” station, on the platform, as the “Berliner Kurier” reports. She asked him to leave her alone, but the 45-year-old man would not let go. He offered her a joint and asked for sex. She fought him and managed to flee.
In March of 2025, the suspect approached his second victim at “Sonnenallee” station in Berlin’s Neukölln district. According to the report, he asked her for a glass of water. When they reached her apartment, he wanted sex. She screamed for help.
This kind of harassment happens in other German cities as well. But the situation in Berlin’s public transport is not improving, even though the overall number of offenses has decreased by 16 percent to 12,584 in 2025. The problem: First of all, each case is one too many. Secondly, there have not been this many sex offenses since 2015. The transport providers registered more than 300 of them. Also, the number of violent offenses in Berlin’s subways and city trains was above 4,000 last year.
Attacked with a Screwdriver
“The high number of assaults against women in our society — whether on public transport, in cases of domestic violence, or elsewhere — is definitely too high”, Berlin’s Governing Mayor, Kai Wegner (CDU), recently stated. “We have to do everything we can to ensure that women are better protected in public places and squares, as well as at home.” The state-owned BVG, the city’s operator of all metros, all trams and most bus lines, says 250 security officers were on its vehicles in 2025. This number might not be good enough considering the high number of attacks.
A year ago, the Berlin police set up weapons-free zones that include the city’s public transport. Whether this measure has reduced attacks substantially is unclear.
In the past few weeks, a 19-year-old man kicked two passengers’ heads and beat them. He was influenced by drugs he had consumed. This culprit is in investigative custody right now. A few days before this case was reported, another young man injured a fellow passenger with a cordless screwdriver. This happened less than a week after a 39-year-old man intended to help two young women who were being harassed by a group of twelve individuals. He was beaten and injured.
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Obviously, all of this is just the tip of the iceberg. Every single day, passengers are being harassed on S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains. They are being cornered, insulted, hit, beaten and sexually abused. There are Berliners who avoid public transport on trains as much as possible. On buses, a driver is always nearby. The same applies to trams. But on trains, drivers are hard to reach and security officers cannot be everywhere at once. In many cases, other passengers do not help victims of violence or harassment.
“The Ringbahn is Scary”
Daisy Davidson (name changed), who moved to Berlin from overseas just before the new millennium dawned, did not receive any help from anyone when she was pestered by a woman on the S1 line just the other day. She used to ride Berlin’s public transport without fear, twenty-five years ago. Today, she avoids certain lines and stations. “I am thinking about getting a spray, in order to be able to defend myself on the S-Bahn”, she told The Berlin Spectator. “Especially the Ringbahn circle is scary”, Davidson says.
Attacks and insults are being registered on all lines and at all times. But in order to decrease the probability of experiencing this kind of offense, avoiding the circle train around Berlin late in the evening makes sense. Also, entering stations such as Kottbusser Tor, Boddingstrasse, Hermannplatz, Landsberger Allee or even Zoologischer Garten late is not recommendable.
Generally, being around as many other passengers as possible (except for intoxicated or aggressive groups of younger men) does make sense.
