Women feel unsafe travelling across Britain's rail networks, new findings show

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The Government recently announced funding to better connect CCTV at train stations, enabling greater real-time access for police to accelerate investigations and help passengers feel safer

Women feel unsafe travelling in Britain, as more than half of UK train stations still fail on basic passenger safety, according to a recent investigation by a leading charity.

Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland, known as SIGBI, conducted a study into safety standards at British train stations and found widespread gaps in basic passenger protection, with women disproportionately affected.

The results found persistent issues related to staffing, lighting, emergency help points, and passenger information. It is the outcome of 388 surveys undertaken by Soroptimists covering 373 stations and 985 platforms.

According to initial findings, 55 per cent of the stations analysed had no visible security presence, only one in 10 stations was staffed throughout the entire time passengers were present, and 48 per cent had no visibly uniformed staff.

Problems were also identified in station car parks. In almost half of cases, these were considered poorly lit, located in isolated areas, or lacking designated safe spaces.

SIGBI advocates for the rights of women and girls and say the findings expose a persistent gender safety gap across the rail network, raising urgent questions about accountability, visibility, and the protection of female passengers after dark.

Lindsay Green, Programme Director at SIGBI, told GB News: "There are women that are choosing not to travel by train because of the issues we found. For some women, they'll not travel in a night time.

"They'll travel during the day, but on an evening, the thought of getting on a train or getting off a train in an isolated station without somebody coming to collect them is quite a worry, or how are they going to get to the car park is a worry.

"Then when you have issues of people being harassed on the train is a worry as well, and how you get help when that's going on.

"The timing of the survey relaunch happened to coincide with the British Transport Police’s last report which stated that violence against women and girls on British railways had risen by more than 50 per cent since 2021.

SIGBI has been campaigning for safer railways for women and girls for over 30 years. It comes after its members, including Gillie O’Rourke, President of SIGBI, have sadly experienced assaults on the trains.

She told the People's Channel: "I was travelling back from London on the train, I'd been on business and I was in first class. A load of chaps got on - one sat opposite me and then I suddenly thought, 'oh, my leg is itching'.

"I couldn't figure out. I kept moving my leg and this itch kept following me. I looked and he had hold of my leg and his hand was going up my leg. I said to him: 'do you mind?' And he just looked at me. In the end, I made a very rapid movement with my leg and he let go of my leg.

"After that incident, it seriously affected the way I travel. I always look at where I'm sitting on the train. I always look at the change points on the trains, and there are some stations I will not change at.

"I'm a resilient woman - the incident made me feel very angry. It wasn't helped by the fact that he was just so charming.

"I think people think that when you get attacked on a train that it's a thug, but it could be anybody. There was nobody I could talk to. At the station, they were too busy letting trains come in and go out and all that.

"I don't think it's asking anything to expect people to be respectful of other people and to allow women to anybody basically to feel safe when they're travelling."

The SIGBI study also identified concerns at several Yorkshire and Humber stations, including permanently unstaffed locations and sites where vital emergency facilities were missing.

Low Moor in Bradford, Sherburn-in-Elmet and South Milford were among stations recorded as permanently unstaffed, while Church Fenton and Ulleskelf were highlighted as locations where emergency phones had been removed without replacement.

Filey station was among the locations specifically referenced by survey observers when discussing personal safety. One member described the station as "grim", while another said it was "scruffy, dirty, unkempt" and noted that no railway staff were present on site.

A Northern spokesman said: "We take the safety of all our customers extremely seriously and work hard to ensure they can travel with confidence.

"We have staff at more than 150 stations across our vast network, around 450 help points and more than 1,600 CCTV cameras.

"Anyone who is concerned about anti-social behaviour or criminal activity at one of our stations should contact the British Transport Police.

"They can also speak to one of our conductors, who are on board every train, and Travel Safe officers, who regularly patrol services across the North of England."

To change the stark statistics found in its report, SIGBI is calling for the introduction of minimum safety standards at all stations.

This includes reliable emergency help points, monitored CCTV, adequate lighting and clear emergency contact information.

The organisation is also pressing for greater accountability, with clear signage showing who is responsible for safety, alongside improved accessibility measures and facilities to ensure all passengers – especially women and girls – can travel with confidence.

Rail Delivery Group is a membership organisation that works on behalf of the rail industry.

A spokesman for the organisation said: "The safety of our customers is a top priority for the railway and it is vital that women and girls feel safe and confident at all times when travelling on the network. Train operators work closely with the British Transport Police (BTP) to investigate incidents and bring offenders to justice.

"The rail industry and BTP have also recently introduced further steps to tackle violence and intimidation against women and girls, strengthening alignment between enforcement agencies and rail organisations.

"We are continuously improving our visual safety systems, working to boost connectivity across the CCTV network, including sharper images and smarter, more joined up systems across the railways. To achieve this, the rail industry is investing in enhanced CCTV coverage and technology to aid and support police investigations.

"We also encourage staff use of body-worn video cameras, with more than 21,000 cameras deployed across the rail network. This can be a powerful deterrent and provide evidence that leads to prosecution."

A spokesman for the Government said: "Everyone should be able to use the rail network without fearing for their safety.

"That’s why we are investing almost £17million to connect station CCTV directly to the British Transport Police, giving them immediate access to the footage they need to catch suspects quickly.

"Our new Safer Railway Scheme will also see rail operators independently assessed for the first time on how they tackle violence against women and girls."

In addition to its work with this report, SIGBI is carrying out ‘Bystander Awareness’ training in communities up and down the UK, in a bid to help further identify and prevent violence against women and girls.