Crime Rates on Public Transport (1)

London’s public transport network remains a safe, low crime environment, where eleven million passengers travel every day with very few of them ever experiencing or witnessing crime. For every million passenger journeys, there are nine reported crimes – compared to 21 crimes per million passenger journeys on the national rail network. There has been an increase in crime levels on London’s public transport network in recent years, which is primarily driven by an increase in theft offences and low-level violence and aggression between passengers.  

Transport for London (TfL) has maintained its significant investment in dedicated policing for the transport network, providing funding for over 2,500 uniformed officers. These dedicated officers have prioritised high harm offences including sexual offences, hate crime and serious violence, including activities to increase reporting. We know that sexual offences and hate crime have historically been under-reported and significant effort has been put into building confidence and support to encourage reporting, so that police can take action on perpetrators and meet the long-term aspiration to eradicate unwanted sexual behaviour and hate crime from London’s transport network.

The Roads and Transport Policing Command and British Transport Police also worked hard over the last 12 months to keep knives and weapons off the network.  Concerted action is underway to deal with the highest volume crime such as theft and low-level violence. Working with TfL, the police use a range of tactics including high visibility and covert patrols, joint operations with TfL, and engagement activity to keep staff and passengers safe.