TfL: Crime on London public transport soars
Crime on London’s public transport network has surged by 30 per cent in the past year.
Transport for London (TfL) today released statistics for the first quarter of 2019-20, revealing the increase in crime on its services was three-times as large as the increase for the capital as a whole.
Read more: London Night Tube crime rates soar in 2018-19
This equated to 10,171 reported offences between April and June, compared to 7,721 in the same period in 2018.
The vast majority of these incidents occurred on the Tube and on London’s buses, with 4,916 and 4,360 reported crimes respectively on these modes of transport.
TfL said: “We know that our public transport networks are being targeted by prolific thieves working as part of organised criminal networks.”
TfL put the surge in crime down to a sharp rise in theft, which increased by 71 per cent in the 12 months to June.
The network experienced a five per cent rise in violent crime over the period, while hate crime increased by 10 per cent.
There were 817 violent crimes reported over the three-month period – equivalent to almost nine a day.
Siwan Hayward, TfL’s director of compliance and policing, said: “Everyone has the right to travel without being a victim of crime.
“This is why we work closely with the police to reassure customers and deter crime – carrying out plain clothes and high visibility patrols across our network every day.
“Anyone who experiences crime on our network should report it to as quickly as possible, so offenders can be brought to justice.”
TfL believes one reason for the increase in reported robberies is due to increased awareness of how to report offences.
The body in particular credited a British Transport Police initiative to allow people to report crimes online.
Read more: TfL bans hundreds of minicab drivers in crackdown
A source told The Evening Standard that one reason for the 71 per cent increase in robberies was down to people falsely reporting phone thefts to lodge insurance claims.
Conservative crime spokeswoman Susan Hall said: “The increase in crime on the Underground has to be tackled. We need to have CCTV on all trains.”