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Passengers urged not to fire verbal or physical ‘abuse’ at conductors on Northern trains

The train operator said it "will not tolerate" hostile treatment of its staff.

Emily Sergeant - 16th July 2024

Northern is pleading with passengers not to fire verbal or physical “abuse” at conductors on its trains.

As we head into the busy summer travel season, the train operator has highlighted a number of incidents that its crew members have faced in recent years while they’ve been on duty and working to “ensure everyone reaches their destination safely”.

Now, it’s cracking down and asking the public to treat everyone working on the railway with “respect”.

Northern has admitted that while the “overwhelming majority” of people who travel on its trains are polite and respectful, this unfortunately cannot be said for everyone, as there’s sadly been a “very small minority” that has resorted to shouting, spitting, and attacking members of staff over the last couple of years.

The company said it “will not tolerate” verbal and physical abuse towards staff, and is insisting it will be quick to “take action” against anyone who threatens its employees’ safety.

“We welcome millions of customers on board our trains every year and the overwhelming majority are polite, considerate, and respectful of others,” Northern said in a statement as it pleaded with passengers to show respect to train crew.

“Unfortunately, given the numbers involved, our conductors do also encounter people who are somewhat less respectful of them and the safety critical role they have onboard.

“And that is unacceptable.”

Back in December of last year, Northern revealed that the number of dangerous attacks on its trains was down almost 90% in the previous 12 months, with the number of recorded incidents falling from 69 to just eight.

The train operator has also said that the chance of perpetrators being caught on camera is now “much higher” than it was before too, and this comes after it added a further 600 new CCTV cameras to the more than 1,000 that monitor all its stations, and also installed 7,000 HD CCTV cameras on board the trains themselves.

An additional £1.7 million has also been invested into adding more than 1,000 extra body-worn camera kits to its train crew.

Read more:

• Dozens of new CCTV cameras have been installed at Manchester train stations
• Classical music will be played at Northern train stations to ‘deter anti-social behaviour’
• Metrolink workers set to strike and bring Manchester to a ‘standstill’ this summer

Dozens of undercover and plain-clothed police officers, as well as Northern’s own travel safety officers, also regularly patrol services across the network.

British Transport Police has access to all footage and can use it in criminal prosecutions.  

Featured Image – Northern