Odds of being a victim of crime on railway “incredibly low”

The number of sexual offences committed on the railway increased by 16% in 2017-18, according to figures released by the British Transport Police on October 5.

In its annual report, it revealed that 2,472 sexual offences were carried out, 60% of which were against females. The BTP believes that many more go unreported.

BTP also reported that the number of Violence Against the Person offences (VAP) rose by 26% to 11,711 in the same period. It said that 63% were classified as common assaults that involved no injury to the victim, and that incidents involving injury comprised 23% of all VAPs. Most instances were linked to the peak rush hour periods and night-time economy.

In total, the BTP recorded 61,159

crimes in 2017-18, compared with 52,235 the previous year. The force believes this increase is due in part to improvements in the way crime is recorded. Some 3,304 notifiable crimes were recorded through its text 61016 service (5.4% of all offences).

Overall, the BTP has assured the public that the chances of a passenger being a victim of crime on the railway is extremely low, with 19 crimes recorded for every million journeys. This compares with around 30 crimes per million journeys ten years ago.

DCC Adrian Hanstock said: “The past year has been a very challenging one for our officers, who responded to multiple terrorist attacks as well as intervening almost 2,000 times with vulnerable

people on the network. Despite these challenges, it is reassuring to see that the chance of becoming a victim of crime on the railway network remains incredibly low.”

The RMT union used publication of the figures to call for an immediate halt to the de-staffing of stations.

General Secretary Mick Cash said: “These shocking figures show that it is nothing short of criminal negligence on the part of those rail companies that have axed guards and de-staffed stations in the drive for profits.

“RMT has warned that they would be turning our railways into a criminals’ paradise and they have ignored us. Those private rail companies should be hanging their heads in shame this morning.”