Assaults on rail community greater than triple in 10 years | EUROtoday

The variety of reported passenger assaults on the rail community has greater than tripled prior to now 10 years, in line with official figures.

Between April 2024 and March 2025 discovered there have been 10,231 reported assaults, up 7% on the 12 months earlier than, the Office of Rail and Road’s annual report into well being and security discovered.

Ten years in the past, there have been 3,211 reported assaults, together with harassment and customary assaults.

The improve coincides with a drive by British Transport Police to encourage the general public to report a variety of potential issues on the rail community.

Its “See It. Say It. Sorted.” marketing campaign was launched in 2016 after which relaunched final 12 months, encouraging the general public to report “anything unusual”, both to station employees or to British Transport Police.

In 2022, it launched its ‘Speak Up, Interrupt’ marketing campaign to encourage anybody who witnesses inappropriate sexual behaviour “to report incidents or safely intervene where they can”.

Across the mainline rail community, harassment and customary assault made up greater than three quarters of the overall assaults, and each of those classes noticed a rise.

This pattern was mirrored on the London Underground, the place reported assaults reached their highest stage for the reason that knowledge collection started in 2004, as much as simply over 4,600.

Of these reported incidents, harassment and customary assault counting for greater than 80% of the overall.

In the monetary 12 months from April 2024 within the report back to March 2025, passengers took 1.7 billion journeys on the mainline railway.

In that interval, 14 members of the general public died on the mainline community and the London Underground (not counting suicides and trespass-related incidents).

There had been additionally two deaths of employees on the rail community – one after being assaulted at a station, and the opposite ensuing from a fall.

The variety of suicides throughout the rail community had been additionally at their highest stage since 2002.

Across the mainline community, there have been 368 suicides or suspected suicide makes an attempt, leading to 293 fatalities.

Thursday’s report discovered accidents to members of the general public and employees have additionally been creeping again in the direction of pre-pandemic highs.

Recording simply over 11,472 accidents, this marked the fourth yearly improve in a row, however was nonetheless beneath stage reported in 2019-20.

Of these accidents, the overwhelming majority – nearly 80% – had been non-severe.

The ORR divides up the data it stories between the mainline rail community, non-mainline (which incorporates companies by the Channel Tunnel, in addition to trams and lightweight rail), and the London Underground.

• If you, or somebody you understand, has been affected by psychological well being points BBC Action Line has put collectively a listing of organisations which can assist.