Contribution
This is a really important group covering safety and security on the railway, as well as making rail an attractive option for everyone.
As I mentioned at Second Reading, a recent survey published by Transport Focus showed that personal safety and security on trains and at stations is an increasing priority for passengers. Some 12,000 rail passengers ranked various aspects of travelling by train. Concerns around safety came second and third behind trains running on time and trains not being cancelled. So, although the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, does not see the need for this group of amendments and clearly feels safe travelling, for some—including women, disabled people and passengers from Black and minority-ethnic communities, as we have already heard—personal safety and security on trains top their list of what matters. Passengers feel that increased staff visibility, including checking tickets and challenging low-level anti-social behaviour—as well as the use of CCTV in the moment, not just to provide evidence—will help.
I want to put my remarks in the context of that passenger research. My Amendment 207—I am delighted that a number of noble Lords, including the noble Lords, Lord Moylan and Lord Hampton, and the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan of Cotes, have kindly added their names to it—would require the Secretary of State to undertake
“a comprehensive review of railway passenger safety”
within six months of the Act being passed. It also says that this review should consider women and disabled passengers in particular and should look at the things we have discussed, such as staffing levels at stations and on trains—particularly late at night—as well as CCTV, lighting and real-time reporting.
The review would also look at staff on trains routinely patrolling and walking up and down the carriages. The current passenger experience around the visibility of guards, conductors or other staff on trains is not consistent. I travelled up in the Lake District. The member of staff went and hid himself in his little cabin at the end of the train, rather than walking up and down and seeing passengers, yet this could be a straightforward way to provide the assurance and support that passengers need. A visible presence can offer peace of mind, particularly for those who may feel anxious or unsafe while travelling, and can build confidence in people using the rail network.
My noble friend Lady Brinton and I are supportive of Amendment 210 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan of Cotes, which aims to strengthen the safety of women and girls; as with our debate on the previous group, my noble friend Lady Brinton sends her apologies as she is currently in the Chamber. This amendment follows the Government’s welcome strategy on the reduction of violence against women and girls. I felt that the noble Baroness’s speech was comprehensive and specific about the duties that the railway sector needs to deliver in order to ensure that we understand the scope of the incidents against women through data collection, as well as what the sector must do to reduce incidents and protect women. Data collection is critical to understanding the size of the problem. It will also help station staff and train staff be trained far better. Vitally, it will help rail companies and Great British Railways ensure that there are enough trained staff to minimise incidents and call for help from either the British Transport Police or the police nearest to the next station, as appropriate.
My noble friend Lady Brinton told me of an incident that she witnessed on a train a couple of years ago, where a group of young men had surrounded a young woman and she was frightened by their increasingly aggressive behaviour. The conductor came into the carriage and used the skills that he had learned to defuse the situation. He remained in the same coach until the next station, where he had asked staff to help him to remove the men from the train. But my noble friend has also witnessed very unpleasant behaviour where other passengers have had to try to intervene because, sadly, there are not always staff on hand to help before things become aggressive and violent. We also need to reduce the opportunity for attacks on women and girls through the future design of trains and stations, as the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, outlined.
This amendment would set sensible and practical routes for reducing violence against women and girls on the railway network and, from these Benches, we really support it. I look forward to the Minister’s response to this important group of amendments and hope that she is supportive of the aims in them that I have mentioned.