Surrey's main rail operator gives staff body cameras

South Western Railway has begun trialling body worn cameras for its guards to try and reduce anti-social behaviour on trains and platforms.

It is hoped that the kit will be a deterrent to assaults, threats and abuse experienced by staff.

If successful it could see body worn cameras for all guards rolled out across the operator’s network.

The trial will determine the impact of body worn cameras by comparing the quality of footage to existing CCTV available, as well as whether the footage caught provides better quality evidence for prosecutions and cases in court.

Alan Penlington, SWR’s Customer Experience Director, said: “While our trains and stations are already equipped with CCTV, we are always looking for ways to help our customers travel with confidence and ensure that colleagues feel safer at work.

“These body worn cameras are designed to do just this, by deterring anti-social behaviour on our services and reducing the number of assaults our colleagues experience at work.

“While we wish that we could prevent every incident, we expect that the new footage will help authorities in any prosecutions by providing good quality evidence.”

The trial is taking place on services running through Surrey, including Guildford and Woking.