Armed police patrol trains for first time
ARMED police are now patrolling trains for the first time.
Virgin passengers travelling from Euston to Birmingham were surprised to see specialist officers carrying guns sweeping through the carriages at 2pm yesterday.
The officers were seen carrying heavy backpacks and wielding the long barrel of a semiautomatic rifle as the train travelled at speeds of 125 mph.
The British Transport Police (BTP) introduced armed patrols of London train stations in February 2012 in response to the threat of a Mumbaistyle marauding gun attack.
Since then police firearms officers have appeared at other major stations.
But yesterday BTP chief constable Paul Crowther took the unprecedented step of announcing officers would be carrying guns on trains for the first time.
He said: ‘The aim is for it to be unpredictable and widespread across the network, to create a deterrent and an immediate response to terrorists who may be thinking of [attacking] the transport network.’
Encouraging passengers to report anything suspicious, he added: ‘Nothing should be considered too trivial to report and any information... may be important to all of us. The cowardly acts of terrorists will never weaken our resolve.’