The RMT<\/a> general secretary, Eddie Dempsey, said the numbers were horrendous but chimed with the union\u2019s own surveys showing two-thirds of its members had experienced some form of violence at work in the past year.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cWe are calling for a significant increase in staffing across public transport, including an end to lone working. We also clearly need stronger legal protections for public transport workers against assaults at work.<\/p>\n \u201cBritish Transport<\/a> Police funding cuts have also been disastrous which has undermined a proper policing presence on all public transport.\u201d<\/p>\n The chief inspector of railways, the ORR\u2019s Richard Hines, said: \u201cThe increase in reported assaults is concerning. No one on the railway should be subjected to violence, threats or abuse.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re working with industry and our trade union colleagues to address work-related violence and harassment, including through recent guidance which sets out what we expect from rail employers.<\/p>\n \u201cThis includes understanding where the risks are, putting effective controls in place, encouraging staff to report incidents and providing appropriate support afterwards. Our inspectors will continue to check how these risks are being managed.\u201d<\/p>\n The RMT is calling for increased rail staffing, including an end to lone working, and stronger legal protections for public transport workers. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod\/The Guardian<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Network Rail and train operators said: \u201cViolence, abuse and intimidation directed at passengers or staff are completely unacceptable. The rail industry works closely with British Transport Police<\/a> to investigate incidents, support victims and bring offenders to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter |Every weekday<\/p>\n Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n They said the numbers also reflected greater intelligence sharing, improved reporting processes, and more CCTV and body-worn cameras for frontline staff.<\/p>\n The ORR report noted that the headline numbers of reported assaults can include multiple counts in a single incident, for example for both harassment and common assault, while workforce assaults are now recorded even if no physical injury occurs. On the London Underground, where there is single counting, the number of assaults on the workforce fell slightly last year.<\/p>\n The chief executive of the Rail Safety and Standards Board, Mark Phillips, said the rail industry was taking action to better protect staff, but the figures \u201cunderline the need for a change in public behaviour and greater respect for the people who keep the railway running safely every day\u201d.<\/p>\n Reports in recent years have highlighted that women and girls were at particular risk<\/a>, while the growing number of assaults year on year<\/a> since the pandemic has coincided with pressure on British Transport Police numbers.<\/p>\n The abuse and intimidation faced by frontline staff on the railways has also been seen in sectors including retail and in the NHS. The British Retail Consortium warned over \u201cendemic\u201d violence towards shop workers<\/a> earlier this year, while the number of reports of violence against NHS staff by patients surpassed 100,000 in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Department for Transport and British Transport Police were approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The number of reported assaults on Great Britain\u2019s railways has risen to a record high of almost 25,000…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-781172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790262491_634_500.jpg\")
<\/p>\n