Recorded assaults on Britain's railways hit record high of nearly 25,000
Reported assaults across Great Britain's rail network have reached a record high of almost 25,000 in a year, with unions demanding more staff and policing as figures show a sharp rise in attacks on passengers and rail workers.
Reported assaults on Great Britain's railways have climbed to a record high of almost 25,000 incidents in a single year, according to new figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The regulator's data reveals a sharp increase in attacks on both the travelling public and railway staff, prompting unions to demand urgent action on staffing and policing across the network.
The ORR figures show that 13,464 reported assaults were directed at people who are not part of the railway workforce on mainline services between April 2025 and March 2026. The remainder of the near-25,000 total involved attacks on rail workers, underlining the scale of the safety challenge facing both passengers and employees.
Unions described the numbers as «horrendous» and said they demonstrated the need for more staff and a stronger policing presence on the railways. The record total represents a significant deterioration in safety on a network used by millions of people every year, and it places renewed pressure on operators, the British Transport Police and the government to address violence on trains and at stations.
The figures also highlight a divergence between mainline services and the London Underground. While assaults on Tube passengers surged by 20%, attacks on members of London Underground staff fell slightly over the same period, according to separate data. That contrast suggests the rise in violence is not uniform across the rail network and may reflect different patterns of reporting, staffing or passenger behaviour in different parts of the system.
The increase in reported incidents may partly reflect greater willingness among victims and witnesses to come forward, but unions have treated the record total as evidence of a genuine and worsening problem rather than a statistical artefact. They argue that visible staffing and effective policing are essential deterrents, and that cuts to frontline presence have left passengers and workers more exposed.
Rail staff representatives have long warned that verbal abuse and physical attacks are a routine hazard of the job, with ticket inspectors, guards and station workers often bearing the brunt of confrontations. The latest ORR data places that concern in a national context, showing that thousands of workers are affected each year alongside the travelling public.
The figures cover the twelve months to the end of March 2026 and relate to mainline railway services across Great Britain. They do not include the separate London Underground statistics, which show a different trend for staff and passengers in the capital.
Unions are expected to use the record numbers to press for commitments on recruitment, training and coordination with police. The ORR's publication of the data provides a benchmark against which future safety measures can be judged, and it raises questions about what practical steps will be taken to reverse the upward trend.
For passengers, the figures reinforce existing concerns about late-night travel and the safety of unstaffed stations. For rail workers, they add weight to long-standing complaints about abuse and violence. The coming months will test whether operators, unions and authorities can agree on measures that bring the recorded totals down.
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