A passenger on the train has become unruly. With a can of beer in his hand, he is shouting at another passenger.
Insults are flying between the two passengers, and staff have to intervene.
This is not a real situation. It has been staged so that train drivers and conductors can practise dealing with a heated conflict.
Vy staff are practising how to deal with passengers at their worst, and NRK reports from the course.
People from Gudbrandsdalen and Nordfjord never learn
Railway staff are facing a tougher daily reality at work, and recently a train dispatcher was assaulted in Larvik. Train drivers and conductors are now being sent on special training courses to deal with aggressive passengers between stations, according to the state broadcaster.
In 2025, Vy staff were subjected to violence and threats 228 times. So far this year, staff have reported 177 such incidents, according to Vy’s own figures.
The company has previously stated that it fears there are many unreported cases.
The training is organised by former police officer Arne Guddal.
The aim is to make the situations feel as real as possible, for example by slamming beer cans hard onto the floor to heighten the tension, writes NRK.
You can just picture it. People from Gudbrandsdalen and Nordfjord who haven’t yet learnt how to behave in public.
Really good at active listening
During the exercise, staff practise active listening, performing evasive manoeuvres and physically separating the quarrellers to defuse the situation.
Guddal plays the role of the difficult passenger. He is impressed by the composure the staff manage to maintain when faced with aggression. He praises a train driver for being ‘really good’ at active listening. When you can’t get through to someone, it’s important to let them finish speaking, explains the instructor.
It’s just as well that, for the time being, it’s only beer cans flying about, and not machetes or Molotov cocktails. So it hasn’t quite turned into Texas in Norway just yet.
NRK reports that former police officer Arne Guddal is convincing in the role of a rowdy passenger. Probably because he’s seen Hans and Ola out on the town after one beer too many, or perhaps he went a bit over the top himself in his youth?
An increasing number of vulnerable people in society
Guddal tells NRK that Vy staff can often find themselves isolated when undesirable situations arise, particularly on the stretches between stations.
“Unfortunately, there are an increasing number of vulnerable people in society whose behaviour affects Vy staff, in the form of frustration, anger, intoxication and mental health issues,” explains Guddal.
He clearly has many years’ experience of dealing with difficult situations from his time in the police force. They are vulnerable, probably living in cramped conditions and likely under the influence – these angry men with their beer cans.
Guddal also advises train staff that they are welcome to tell disruptive passengers that there is CCTV both on the train and on the platform.
– Unpleasant situations do occur from time to time. So it’s good that we’re well-drilled and trained,” says train driver Frode Schau Kollerud.
It’s brilliant that they’re finally tackling this, as the problem has been going on for a few years now.
Beaten, kicked and spat on
In November 2024 NRK reported on the story ‘Conductors are being beaten, kicked and spat on: – The violence is getting worse’.
By then, there had been two serious incidents in quick succession.
Two underage boys attacked a conductor at Stokke railway station in Sandefjord, leaving visible marks on his face and nose.
A few days earlier, another conductor was literally beaten up by four young men in Tønsberg, following a dispute over ticket payments.
There is no mention of flying beer cans in these cases.
So far in 2024, Vy had recorded 246 incidents of violence and threats against staff on the company’s trains.
Staff representatives were receiving an increasing number of reports from employees saying that it felt unsafe to go to work.
“We cannot have it like this. Staff must feel safe whilst on duty,” a staff representative told NRK.
We cannot have it like this: The same old song and dance.
The staff representative reacted strongly to the attacks and believed the conductor was not equipped to handle the situation. He alerted the Labour Inspection Authority, the Norwegian Railway Authority and Vy, and demanded better training to ensure the safety of both staff and passengers.
They have now received training in 2026. But where are the incidents involving flying beer cans? Looking at some of these incidents, it seems that dialogue alone is not enough. Perhaps we should instead deploy armed police officers on every single train?
Vulnerable gangs of lads
In December 2024, a young man carried out attack on two train conductors in Fredrikstad. According to a witness, a woman was sitting on the train from Sarpsborg to Oslo on Christmas Eve next to two boys who were speaking English. One of them was the perpetrator.
In March 2026, a conductor in his 30s struck in the face and on the head on a train bound for Drammen. According to the police, three teenagers were involved. They had been behaving badly on the train and had been asked to leave.
In December 2025, a conductor was assaulted by a passenger on a train near Eigersund. A teenage boy was arrested. The conductor was punched, headbutted and kicked. NRK devoted five sentences to the incident.
In September 2024, a conductor was assaulted by a gang of boys at Oppegård station. NRK devoted three sentences to the incident.
In December 2024, a conductor threatened with death by three youths at Ski station, according to the police. Once again, NRK devoted three sentences to the story.
These are just some of the stories covered in the media. There is little mention of beer-drinking, angry Norwegians who have had one Ringnes too many.
A distortion of reality
It is hard to say what is most disturbing: that the training is based on the classic image of the drunken troublemaker with a can of beer in his hand, or that the former police officer explains this trend by saying that an increasing number of ‘vulnerable’ people are taking their anger out on train staff.
NRK’s report does not state that the perpetrators are Norwegians, as my headline might suggest. But the way it is presented leads the reader in that direction.
Of course, some of the cases may involve the stereotypical, drunken troublemaker. But if angry, beer-drinking Norwegian men were behind the majority of these attacks, we would hardly have been told that they were ‘vulnerable’.
– Society has changed. We just have to accept that, one of the conductors told NRK. It certainly has, but not everyone wants us to understand why, how and who is behind it.
