Dutch Rail (NS) is in talks with the justice ministry on equipping an elite group of 1,000 conductors with batons and handcuffs, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

The NS also wants these conductors to have the authority to search people found travelling without a ticket and handcuff them if they refuse to show ID.
‘We are in talks with the ministry to see if our service and security teams can get expanded rights to use force,’ an NS spokesman told the paper. ‘The power to use searches, handcuffs and batons are part of that.’
The new rights would apply to 1,000 of the company’s 3,200 conductors – an elite group which has been given special training in dealing with difficulties on problem routes since January.
The NS wants to run trials in Amsterdam and Zwolle for three months but no start date has been set pending justice ministry permission.