The number of reported assaults on Great Britain’s railways has risen by a fifth to a record high of almost 25,000 incidents in a year. Unions said the “horrendous” figures showed the need for more staff and policing, as the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) revealed a sharp increase in assaults on the travelling public and on railway staff last year. There were 13,464 reported assaults against passengers and members of the public on the mainline railway in 2025-26, up 36% on the previous year and the highest number recorded by the ORR since it started tracking the figures in 2004.
Assaults on rail staff were up 12% in a year to 11,289 reported incidents, mainly verbal abuse but including nearly 2,500 physical assaults – an average of about seven every day. The assaults on members of the public included startling rises in cases of harassment, up 52% year on year, and common assault, up by 30%. The figures partly reflect increased reporting and zero-tolerance campaigns on public transport, but also underline concerns flagged by unions about the threats to frontline workers as well as passengers, and the availability of transport police.
The RMT general secretary, Eddie Dempsey, said the numbers were horrendous but chimed with the union’s own surveys showing two-thirds of its members had experienced some form of violence at work in the past year. He said: “We 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.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The rise in assaults on the railway is deeply concerning and completely unacceptable. No passenger or rail worker should face violence, threats or abuse, and we encourage anyone affected to report incidents to the police. BTP said they had been encouraging greater reporting of all types of assault by staff and passengers, including record use of the 61016 discreet text-to-report number, which partly explained the growing numbers.
Nonetheless, the BTP assistant chief constable said: “These figures are a stark reminder of the violence and abuse rail workers face simply for doing their jobs. We will never tolerate violence or abuse directed at passengers or staff on the railway, and anyone committing these crimes can expect a robust response from us. A spokesperson for Network Rail and train operators said: “Violence, abuse and intimidation directed at passengers or staff are completely unacceptable.
The rail industry works closely with British Transport Police to investigate incidents, support victims and bring offenders to justice.” They said the numbers also reflected greater intelligence sharing, improved reporting processes, and more CCTV and body-worn cameras for frontline staff. 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.
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