Conductor (profession)

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Ticket inspector on the train, 1988

As a conductor or Schaffer , the asset manager was originally a city , a monastery or a home system ( steward ), referred to as conductress the assistant of housewife with key power over kitchen and cellar . Goods verifiers, who recorded the turnover of goods in ports and markets, were also called conductors. This meaning has been preserved to this day as the designation of an office in Masonic lodges , which is responsible for the economy of the lodge house as well as the supply of food and drink and for organizing the Schaffer meal and comparable events.

Proceeding from this, Schaffner became an official title for civil servants in the simple service , in the past for example a postman .

Conductor in public transport

Conductor's seat in a trolleybus in Brno, 2008
Conductor's cabin, Amsterdam tram , 2009

Going back to the times of civil servant railway workers , nowadays Schaffner is generally associated with an employee of the train staff at the railway and also transfers employees of other public transport companies ( trams , buses ) without being an official job title . Typical duties of a conductor's part of the control of the tickets and collection of the fare respectively collecting an issued in stationary box driving brand . He also transmits the completion message (readiness for departure) from the rear of the vehicle or sidecar to the train driver (or train driver / tram driver) and thus has safety tasks. Due to the increased use of ticket machines and automatic door locking and security devices ( light barriers , step sensors), the main focus of the conductors' activities, if they are still carried out in local public transport , is more on ticket control and customer service. Classic conductor services in local transport are most likely to be encountered today on special tourist routes.

In schaffner operation without the ticket control is exercised by its own staff, the only black driver looking to locate and recover any penalty on success. Those who are often in close contact with the security forces (for example with the federal police ) are not called conductors . In Germany, they are known as driving license examiners (FAP), among other things. Depending on the place of work as a tram, train, ticket or ticket inspector, in Switzerland as a ticket inspector, in Austria also as an inspector, in Vienna, according to the color of their uniform, colloquially as Schwarzkappler . Especially in city traffic, they often work without a uniform in civilian clothes.

On regional trains, "conductors" have been replaced by train attendants (Zub) and local customer advisors (KiN, DB ). In the past, they also sold tickets, but now more and more routes are nationwide or trains are equipped with ticket machines. The staff are usually only allowed to issue regular tickets if the machines fail and, in addition to security and organizational tasks, are limited to ticket inspection.

Outside of local traffic, the train attendants and customer advisors , the members of the train attendants who report to the train driver (also called head conductor ), are referred to as "conductors" . The train attendants therefore consist of the train driver and the conductors . Because of his duties in the service area, the train conductor on the long-distance trains of Deutsche Bahn AG is called train attendant . These are in turn divided into the designation first supervisor and supervisor . The first supervisor has the same level of training and the same authorizations as a train manager (train driver) and is in charge of 1st class customers on the ICE trains, where, in addition to checking the ticket, he also ensures all service tasks. For service tasks, he is supported by specially trained 1st class stewards when there are high numbers of passengers. At times, when the number of passengers was very low, the first supervisor also ran the on-board bistro independently. The supervisors (conductors) in the long-distance trains of Deutsche Bahn AG now have, in addition to knowledge of ticket control, at least basic operational knowledge and provide support.

With the introduction of the Railway Building and Operating Regulations on May 8, 1967, passenger trains with a total length of up to 100 m were allowed to run without train attendants, provided the driver's cab was occupied by two people.

In Switzerland, the expression "conductor" is not used, instead " conductor" is used, and occasionally (especially outside the railroad) also ticket agent . Today, SBB uses passenger train attendants as the official job title .

Service uniform

Employee of the Westbahn in Salzburg train station , 2017

Conductors or train attendants can be recognized by their uniforms when performing their work, in Germany currently called corporate clothing (UBK). In Austria, for example, these are the typical red ties or scarves of the ÖBB as well as the blue caps of the Western Railway .

See also

Web links

Commons : Conductor (Profession)  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files
Wiktionary: Schaffner  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Walter Heresbach: Vom Landbau , p. 4a.
  2. ^ Krünitz, Ökonomische Enzyclopaedie, 1773-1858, keyword Schaffner , here digital:
  3. ^ Ernst Kockelkorn: Effects of the new railway building and operating regulations (EBO) on railway operations . In: The Federal Railroad . tape 41 , no. 13/14 , 1967, ISSN  0007-5876 , pp. 445-452 .
  4. Update on our new uniforms (February 6, 2015)
  5. The business card made of fabric (January 4, 2012)