Rail staff across Lincolnshire and Newark face significant levels of abuse

The last month has seen a rise

Train station
Author: Andy MarshPublished 19th Dec 2024

Rail staff across Lincolnshire and Newark say they're facing significant levels of abuse from passengers

Operator Northern which covers places like Lincoln, Scunthorpe and Grimsby says incidents over the last month increased

Christmas also sees more people catching a train after consuming alcohol which tends to increase the likelihood of abuse.

It's not acceptable to abuse our colleagues

" We've been speaking to Darren Allsopp from Northern Rail about what staff there have been facing.

He told us: " Trains are busy - the stations are really busy - people are confused often - people are drunk."

"Our staff are trying their best to help our customers to get to where they need to be safely."

"They do a really great job and we're just asking people - please be nice."

"It's Christmas - we should all be having a nice time - it's not acceptable to abuse our colleagues."

"We'll take steps to prosecute people who behave badly."

This year we've seen 182 offences

"We've invested multi million pounds in our CCTV both onboard and at stations."

"We've got body cams now so our colleagues can record poor behaviour."

"I think it's terrible - everybody goes to work to do the best they can - not to be abused."

"No matter what industry - bars, leisure, shopping - everybody just wants to go to work - get paid and go home safely."

"What's unacceptable is to abuse any of our staff who are trying to do a great job for our people - getting them to their destinations - getting them home at the end."

"Unfortunately what we've seen this year already is 182 public order offences."

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