BTP takes centre stage in rail harassment crackdown

The moves marks a notable expansion of the force’s role beyond traditional law enforcement into industry standards and governance.

The Safer Railway Scheme, developed jointly with the Department for Transport, requires operators to be assessed by BTP against eight defined standards covering victim support, staff training, protection of vulnerable passengers and crime prevention. To achieve accreditation, operators must score at least 70 percent overall. The results will be publicly available, creating reputational as well as operational pressure on underperforming companies.

For BTP, the scheme represents a structural shift in how it engages with the rail industry. Rather than responding to incidents after the fact, the force now has a formal mechanism to shape the environment in which those incidents occur, influencing staffing, training, infrastructure and reporting culture across the entire network.

That operational context matters. BTP Assistant Chief Constable Charlie Doyle has been clear that effectiveness on this issue is directly tied to reporting rates. “Every report helps us build a picture,” he said. The force operates 24/7 across the network, but intelligence-led deployment depends on victims and witnesses coming forward, something the force acknowledges remains a significant challenge, particularly for lower-level offending.

Lower-level behaviours such as persistent staring, intrusive questioning, unwanted commentary, are now specifically targeted under the expanded Enough campaign, which launches alongside the scheme. Action-focused messaging across station posters and digital screens will direct passengers to report incidents via text, through rail staff, or online. The campaign is designed explicitly to shift the reporting threshold, encouraging passengers to act on behaviour that has historically been dismissed or endured in silence.

Both initiatives are underpinned by the Public Sexual Harassment Act, which has given BTP and other forces a clearer charging framework and makes intentional, sex-based public harassment a criminal offence carrying penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment along with fines.

The package forms part of the government’s ten-year VAWG Strategy, which has set the headline target of halving violence against women and girls within a decade. Network Rail has confirmed parallel infrastructure investment which will see it extending CCTV coverage and providing BTP with real-time access to footage. It is hoped this will provide the force with improved situational awareness at the locations where incidents are most likely to occur.