Member

The problem has been exacerbated by cuts to the funding of the British Transport Police, which faces a shortfall of £8.5 million for the year 2025-26 and has been awarded just a 4.6% increase in funding, compared with the request that the force made for 9.8%. It is estimated that around 1,000 additional officers are required to restore protection to historic levels. Instead of that, some 500 posts are due to disappear by the end of the year 2025-26. The British Transport Police Authority figures suggest that police presence on the railway has dropped by one-third since the year 2009-10. A survey of 6,000 RMT members in transport reported in 2025 that nearly two-thirds had been assaulted in the past year.