Transport police facing cuts amid record assaults

Dozens of British Transport Police stations across the country face possible closure, leaving fewer officers protecting the railway at a time when assaults on passengers have reached record levels.

- Gwyn Topham

BTP bosses have imposed a hiring freeze and warned that some bases will have to close, signalling possible job losses after failing to secure enough funding to meet current commitments.

Assaults on passengers and members of the public on the mainline railway reached a record 9,542 in 2023-24, up 17% on the previous year, according to the latest statistics from the regulator, the Office of Rail and Road. While transport police have ascribed some of the increase to growing train usage after Covid, as well as easier reporting of offences through smartphone apps, the number of assaults is now about 50% higher than before the pandemic.

More than three-quarters of the reported assaults were harassment or common assault, which includes the threat of physical violence.

The BTP say that funding shortfalls mean "it is inevitable that we will have fewer police officers and staff available to respond to crimes and incidents in the future".

The force's budget for the next year, which is funded by the largely state-owned railway, will be increased by 4.6% - less than half what the BTP had argued for, and millions less than it said was needed to keep bases open.