The Guardian today has:
‘The violence is off the scale’: staff and passengers at risk as assaults on trains in Great Britain soar to record high – Cases of abuse, spitting, head-butting and sexual harassment, have spiked as transport police numbers have dwindled.
I can find no directly comparable figures for rail travel in Scotland but in February 2025, I found this:
With Glasgow Central at 1 458th in the table, the safest railway stations are in Scotland.
The Daily Record, ever-useless as a reliable information source for its readers, has:
A recent analysis of UK-wide data identified the train stations across the nation with the highest crimes rates. Topping the list for Scotland is a small station near Ayr, ranking 67th out of all 2,580 terminals in the UK.
There are 67 railway stations in England and Wales with a higher crime rate than Newton on Ayr, at 67, in the league table hosted by the Daily Mail at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14417037/National-Rail-crime-map.html
Top of the league? Johnston. Near Paisley? No, that’s Johnstone. Johnston is in Wales. I did think the worst when I saw Johnston at Number 1.
Next Scottish station? Stranraer at 230. Ardrossan at 305. Crianlarich at 327.
Where’s Glasgow Central? 1 458th with 12.4 crimes per million visitors.
Remember Johnston in Wales – 1 438 crimes per million visitors.
Newton-on-Ayr – 120 crimes per million passengers.
Lowest crime?
If our stations are safer then I’m guessing our lines are too.
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Interestingly, last week I received a survey from Network Rail about safety on the railway. I think it is because I use rail – local and long distance – quite a lot. I was surprised at the tenor of many of the questions, because they were about things I have rarely encountered on the railway, which includes being on a train from South Bermondsey to London Bridge that was packed with supporters of Millwall FC.
The Guardian report gives a clue to what occasioned the questionnaire I received.
In all honesty, I have very rarely seen violent behaviour on trains or in stations. I have seen rowdiness on a number of occasions, such as the Millwall fans and supporters of Celtic and Rangers, but it has usually been noise and singing and, occasionally, charging to get the polis to chase them. Oil workers coming home from offshore bevvying on trains south from Aberdeen can be noisy and a pain in the arse.
I do not deny that there have been violent incidents, including murders, on trains and in stations. However, these tend to be later in the day, at weekends, and following big events like football matches or large concerts.
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