Moment foul-mouthed youths spark terrifying brawl on Elizabeth line train after middle-aged passenger asks them to stop vaping
A group of foul-mouthed teenagers sparked a terrifying brawl inside a London train carriage after a middle-aged passenger asked them to stop vaping – as Sir Sadiq Khan faces accusations of failing to clamp down on crime.
Video footage showed commuters trapped on the Elizabeth line carriage travelling through a tunnel before the brawl spilled out onto the platform at Stratford.
The exchange started when one girl wearing a baseball cap ignored a man’s request for her to stop vaping and instead exhaled smoke towards his direction.
The man said ‘don’t smoke in the middle of the train’, but she carried on and told him to ‘f*** off’. They continued to exchange words and she appeared to spit at him.
The group the girl was with then started to shout abuse towards the man while still on board the train, before the fracas continued on the platform.
The girl was held back on the platform by her friends while other members of the group continued yelling insults and making offensive hand gestures.
Crime on the London Underground network is increasing under Mayor Sir Sadiq – with more incidents of violence, public disorder and a huge rise in vandalism.
Susan Hall AM, leader of the Conservative group on the London Assembly, told the Daily Mail today: ‘Sadiq Khan’s two main jobs as Mayor are improving London’s transport and cutting crime, so it’s no surprise that crime on public has rocketed over the last decade.
‘We know that ignoring petty crime has a snowball effect and it is clear that respect and civility on London’s public transport has gone downhill in recent years. Londoners deserve much better.’
A vaping girl ignores the man’s request for her to stop and instead exhales smoke towards him
After the man says to her ‘don’t smoke in the middle of the train’, she tells him to ‘f*** off’
The girl is held back by her friends on the platform at Stratford station in east London
Some 12,951 offences on the Tube were recorded between July and December 2025 – an increase of 2.7 per cent from 12,606 in the same period in 2024.
This included a 152 per cent rise in offences of criminal damage, up from 947 to 2,390 incidents amid an ongoing graffiti epidemic on the Underground.
Some 24,565 offences were recorded across all Transport for London (TfL) services in July and December 2025 – up 57 on the 24,508 in the same period in 2024.
A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesperson said: ‘We’re aware of a video showing an altercation on a train. Enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with information should text BTP on 61016, or call 0800 40 50 40, using the reference 134 of March 20.’
Smoking is prohibited on TfL trains and stations, and carries potential fines of up to £1,000. It has been banned since the King’s Cross fire in 1987 that killed 31 people.
The exact time of the incident is not yet known, but a TfL spokesperson told the Daily Mail today: ‘We prohibit smoking and vaping across all of our services and premises.
‘Everyone has the right to travel safely and we encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses a crime or antisocial behaviour on the Tube or on our rail services to report it to the British Transport Police by texting 61016.’
Other incidents on TfL services to have shocked Londoners in recent months have included a three-man knife fight at Colliers Wood station last December.
Another video emerged last July of a brawl breaking out of Highbury and Islington station – with a screaming toddler ending up on the floor in the melee.
The fight on the steps at rush hour saw screaming members of the public attempt to intervene when the group appeared to hurl a man down the stairs.
A further notable incident last August saw a man expose himself in front of children on a busy eastbound District line train travelling through east London.
Three passengers tackled the man, who had mental health issues, to the ground of the train before they threw him off onto the platforms at East Ham station.
Sir Sadiq has faced significant criticism over crime rates in what some have dubbed ‘lawless London’, with a huge surge in knife offences during his time as Mayor.
Analysis published in July last year by the Policy Exchange think tank showed knife crime had soared by 86 per cent in London in a decade.
But in August, Sir Sadiq hailed figures from City Hall showing a fall in some serious offences including knife crime over the period from April and June 2025.
This was then criticised by Reform UK Assembly Member Alex Wilson, who said: ‘If Sadiq Khan thinks London is getting more safe, he needs to get out more.’
