Region’s cities top table for railway incidents

There were more than 5,800 incidents in the Leeds and 
Bradford area – the highest number of any part of the region covering Newcastle to Nottingham.

In Yorkshire, Sheffield saw the next highest number of reported incidents, 1,893, followed by York with 1,837, Doncaster 1,516, and Hull on 1,011.

The figures were revealed as British Transport Police unveiled a new scheme to allow rail passengers to report incidents to police by text message for the first time. The new number – 61016 – is designed for low level, non-emergency incidents like anti-social behaviour.

Chief Superintendent Terry Nicholson, north east area commander for BTP, said: “Low level anti-social behaviour, which we know occurs on trains often later at night and when people have been drinking, is undoubtedly under-reported. Passengers tend to accept or ignore the minority who make the journeys unpleasant for everyone else.

“We hope that the ease of being able to send a quick text message will encourage more passengers to report incidents when they occur.”