France will equip several hundred security officers across its rail and metro networks with electric stun guns in a bid to better manage violent incidents.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot signed a decree authorising the use of the devices. Often referred to by the brand name Taser, the weapons are intended to provide a non-lethal option in tense situations.
Rollout will begin on a trial basis, with around 10 percent of railway police – roughly 300 to 400 officers – permitted to carry stun guns in the coming weeks.
Speaking on the TF1 television channel on Thursday, Tabarot said the measure could offer “an appropriate response” to acts of violence on public transport, adding that authorities must ensure officers are equipped both to protect themselves and passengers.
France’s two main transport operators maintain sizeable security forces. SNCF’s internal railway police force has around 3,000 officers, while RATP’s Network Protection and Security Group counts approximately 1,000. All are authorised to detain suspects and carry firearms.
Under Thursday's decree, the use of stun guns will be tested over a three-year period. The government says the aim is to improve control over high-risk situations, reduce reliance on firearms and limit the risk of injury to both officers and the public.
Tabarot noted that similar devices have been used effectively in other countries. In the United Kingdom, transport police used a Taser to detain a man suspected of stabbing passengers on a train near Cambridge in November.
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Sexual violence
According to preliminary figures from France's interior ministry, police recorded 104,700 victims of crime on public transport in 2025, the lowest number in a decade. Non-violent thefts made up the majority of incidents.
Some 5,000 people reported being the victims of thefts involving violence last year, around 3,000 of them in the Île-de-France region that includes Paris.
Nationwide, almost 9,600 reported violent incidents involving strangers, and nearly 3,500 said they were subjected to sexual violence. Those figures increased by around 2 percent from 2024.
An internal RATP study from 2022, later published by the National Observatory on Violence Against Women, found that seven in 10 women in the Paris region have experienced sexist or sexual violence on public transport at some point in their lives. The figure rises to eight in 10 among 15- to 18-year-olds and nine in 10 among women aged 19 to 25.
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Both RATP and SNCF have welcomed the government’s decision. RATP said it would implement the new powers “as soon as possible”.
SNCF said the trial would “improve the operational capabilities” of its officers, highlighting the deterrent effect of a device that can be used from a distance of up to 10 metres.
Before deployment begins, a further decree will set out detailed conditions for use, including mandatory training for officers. Authorities have stressed that the experiment will be closely monitored, with a full evaluation planned at the end of the trial period.
The initiative was originally included in the Transport Safety Act of April 2025 – proposed by Tabarot at the time in his role as a senator – but was struck down by France's Constitutional Council on procedural grounds.
(with newswires)
