Rise in attacks on rail staff

An attack on a guard is caught on CCTV

Physical and verbal assaults on railway staff in the West Midlands have risen by 10% over the last year, according to figures released by the British Transport Police.

The survey found there has been more than 100 physical and verbal attacks on rail and metro staff this year.

In one case a guard was hit over the head with a hammer at Hawthorn's Metro station in West Bromwich after asking a passenger for his fare.

In another case, a passenger repeatedly punched a guard at Galton Bridge station in Smethwick when he was asked to pay for his ticket.

Attacks commonplace

The police are still looking for both men and have released CCTV footage of the incidents.

But they say that these attacks are becoming commonplace.

DI Huw Jones: more police on the beat

Detective Inspector Huw Jones said: "Obviously we in the British Transport Police provide as many uniformed patrols as we possibly can.

"CCTV is also located at many stations but it is very unfair to expect these people going about their job of work to be subjected to violent attacks and abuse."

He added: "The only way we believe we can arrest this worrying rise in the number of attacks is by increasing security and the number of officers on the beat.

"There is now a programme for more CCTV cameras to be installed in stations."

'More tolerant'

Ken Usher, regional organiser of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, said: "There has been a rise in assaults on staff not just this year but year on year for quite some time.

"At the end of the day, members of staff working in railways are doing their job.

"They are trying to get people from A to B in the quickest time possible. They are not responsible for all the problems and members of the public should be more tolerant."

Mr Usher added that he would now like to see all staff trained in aggression awareness aswell as more funding for greater surveillance in stations.