Tickets, controls and the good in people
Why our inspections don't cause mistrust, but show appreciation - and how our inspection teams ensure greater safety, fairness and humanity in local transport.
Status: 30.07.2025
It's probably happened to everyone. You're sitting on the tram, engrossed in a book or playing on your mobile phone. All of a sudden you start to feel uneasy, look up and then you see it: a ticket inspection. The regular passenger pulls out his ticket, unimpressed. Occasional bus and train travellers are perhaps a little more nervous and quickly check again whether they have really bought the right ticket - until the tension eases again after our ticket inspectors have taken a closer look.
Is it all just control because everyone is a potential "fare dodger"?
Of course not. Of course: ticket inspections are designed to catch people travelling without a valid ticket. We don't even use the term "fare dodger" ourselves. Why? Because we don't accuse anyone of deliberately travelling without a valid ticket. Public transport is a service for everyone. But on the other hand, it must also be co-financed by all the people who use it. Every single ticket sold counts in maintaining our service and making it even better. Throughout Germany, transport companies like DSW21 lose around 250 million euros in revenue every year due to people travelling without a valid ticket. That's a lot of money that is urgently needed.
But for us, our ticket inspectors are also a real added value for our paying passengers. It may sound strange, but if you are checked regularly, it gives you confirmation that you bought the right ticket. The question "Why should I buy a ticket if nobody cares whether I have a ticket or not?" is easy to ask. We do care - and that's why we want our controls to say something like: "nice that you bought a ticket".
Our ticket inspectors are also important to DSW21 for many other reasons. Our colleagues are very close to our passengers in their work. They are present and approachable and are happy to answer questions about tickets, fares and problems with ticket machines. Their presence gives many of our passengers a sense of security. The security of knowing that other passengers will not misbehave so quickly, for example. In addition, all of our ticket inspectors are trained first aiders and can help directly in the event of accidents and emergencies - which also makes using our buses and trains safer.
If you travel with us often, you may have noticed that our inspection team has changed in recent years. We have gone to great lengths to ensure that our team is just as diverse as society in Dortmund. Colleagues from more than ten nations now work in the inspection service and speak many more different languages. This should make ticket inspection even more pleasant and stress-free for people who understand little or no German. If there is ever a problem, many things are much simpler and easier to explain and resolve. And some questions about our services are simply easier to ask without a language barrier.
So our ticket checks are not about accusing everyone of not having bought a valid ticket. So you could say that we believe in the good in people - and for us it is very important to simply be close to people.