Northern Trains call for respect towards staff at Christmas as new figures show 182 offences against staff

The train operator has appealed to Christmas party revellers to treat their traincrew and station staff with respect as part of a new campaign against anti-social behaviour. This comes as it was confirmed there have been 182 public order offences committed against Northern staff this year.

Since 2021, the total figure stands at 745 offences, of which 73 led to a conviction in court. It was in 2021 that Northern introduced the use of body-worn cameras for its staff.

The cameras, which can be worn by traincrew and station staff, do not record all the time, but instead are used to capture specific incidents as evidence for British Transport Police. The high-quality footage is suitable for use in criminal cases and has proved useful in securing convictions in court.

Northern has said this latest figure (182 offences) represents a 15% year-on-year reduction in the number of crimes committed against its staff (2024 versus 2023, when the number of offences was 215), but that each and every case is unacceptable.

Matt Rice, chief operating officer for Northern, said: “Whilst a reduction in the number of incidents is welcome – the fact that there have been 182 offences committed against my colleagues is totally unacceptable.

“Our traincrew and station staff are there to help our customers get where they want to be. They deserve to be treated with respect and the overwhelming majority of our customers do just that.

“However, if anyone does witness any unacceptable behaviour directed towards railway employees, I would urge them to contact British Transport Police.”