Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will encourage transport providers to expand CCTV coverage and ensure that transport staff receive appropriate training to recognise and respond effectively to incidents of sexual harassment and assault.

The Government is committed to tackling sexual harassment and assault on the transport network. That is why the Department has set out nine transport commitments within the cross-government ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse’ strategy published in December 2025. These include CCTV access improvements, mandatory training for bus industry staff, safer infrastructure, stronger industry accountability and work on the feasibility of a national reporting mechanism. Tackling sexual harassment and assault on the transport network is a shared priority.

The Government is providing Network Rail with £17 million to improve CCTV connectivity at train stations, enabling greater real-time access for police to accelerate investigations and help passengers feel safer. The project will be connecting existing CCTV images from the highest footfall stations. The Department is also exploring expanding provision and use of CCTV on the bus network to increase feelings of safety and reduce the length of investigations.

My department is also working with the rail industry and British Transport Police to strengthen staff training and support, including industry-wide training for customer-facing staff on responding to reports of sexual harassment, improved reporting arrangements and wider workforce safety initiatives.

The Safer Railway Scheme was launched in May 2026. Rail operators are independently assessed by British Transport Police (BTP) against eight criteria, which now include violence against women and girls (VAWG) for the first time.

Alongside this, the British Transport Police will receive an additional £63 million over the next three years to support up to 180 additional Network Policing officers.

Through the Bus Services Act 2025, we have introduced a mandatory training requirement for drivers and other staff who deal directly with passengers on local bus services. The training requires staff to take action only where it is safe, protecting both staff and passengers. The Department will publish statutory guidance to outline that the training should cover how to identify, respond appropriately to and, where possible, prevent anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls, later this year.

We will continue to work with industry and policing partners to monitor the effectiveness of these measures and keep under review any further action that may be needed to improve the safety and security of passengers and transport staff.