Transport staff face average of 200 incidents of violence & aggression a week

10,493 reports were made of violence and aggression towards transport staff in London in 2023/24, London Assembly data has revealed. That works out to an average of 200 incidents every week.

A major union has called on TfL to do more to transport staff safe, including ensuring that stations are well staffed with an increased police presence across the network. Rail staff have seen a 35% increase in incidents while for bus drivers, incidents have increased by 18.5% since 2021.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has held a campaign day across the country to demand an end to the increasing numbers of assaults and abuse experienced by transport staff. Union officials said that members had been “punched, spat at, sexually assaulted, verbally harassed, and threatened” every day.

They have called on the government as well as TfL to ensure safe staffing levels and ending lone working. They have also called for adequate funding for British Transport Police (BTP) to ensure that they are present on the network, as well as legislation that would make assaulting a transport worker a specific offence, similar to what has recently been introduced for retail workers.

“We have many thousands of members who work within TfL and on the railway,” Senior Assistant General Secretary John Leach told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). “In London, we had a case of one of our members being killed in Ilford – but every day we have members being punched, spat at, sexually assaulted, verbally harassed, threatened, it’s worse than its ever been, and TfL don’t even deny it. We are putting the full weight of the union behind doing something about it.”

Stay tuned to EyeOnLondon for the latest news and expert opinions.

Follow us on:

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest videos and updates!

We value your thoughts! Share your feedback and help us make EyeOnLondon even better!