The biggest railway workers union is calling for action to tackle claims of escalating violence on busy train routes.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said there had been a “serious escalation” in violent and anti social behaviour across Southern and Gatwick Express services, operated by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).
Staff are facing daily incidents of assault, threats, spitting, verbal abuse, and intimidation, the union claimed.
The RMT is calling for measures including additional staff and security personnel at key locations and a visible enforcement presence to deter violent behaviour.
GTR said it takes the personal safety and security of everyone on its network seriously and physical or verbal abuse of any kind against staff is “absolutely unacceptable”.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “The level of violence on GTR’s Southern and Gatwick Express services and stations, has reached a crisis point and is totally unacceptable.
“Our members are being assaulted, threatened and abused at work and the company is not doing enough to stop it.
“GTR must take urgent action now to protect staff and passengers or we will have to consider all our options, including industrial action.
“We will not tolerate a situation where workers are left exposed and unsupported while this behaviour goes unchecked.”
The RMT is running a campaign calling for stronger protections for transport workers and a zero-tolerance approach to violence and abuse across the rail network.
Govia Thameslink Railway’s safety, health and security director Sam Facey said: “We take the personal safety and security of everyone on our network incredibly seriously and physical or verbal abuse of any kind against our colleagues is absolutely unacceptable.
“Last year we launched a £2.5 million Antisocial Behaviour Improvement Plan, created following feedback from stakeholders including the police, and some of our staff and trade unions representatives.
“We remain fully committed to tackling this issue by working closely with the unions and building on what we’ve done so far – this includes making more than 1,500 body worn cameras available, which studies show reduce assaults by 47% and also gather vital evidence to prosecute.
“We have also doubled the number of high visibility Travel Safe Officers who are deployed using data-led insight to work with British Transport Police (BTP) and our teams of Rail Enforcement Officers to support our colleagues at stations and onboard trains. We have also invested heavily in education projects for schools and colleges.
“But this is bigger than the railway – it is a wider, regional problem of youth violence affecting communities, particularly those on the south coast, which is why the close collaboration of the police, councils and other agencies continues to be so important in tackling this kind of behaviour.”
