THOUGH THE knife-man who went berserk on a train at Huntingdon is now safely behind bars
we will have to wait for the police investigation to shed some light on the motives behind his apparently senseless rampage that wounded ten passengers and a member of the train crew whose timely intervention saved many others from getting hurt. What we can say is that many lives were saved by the cool response of the driver, who diverted the train to Huntingdon where the police and ambulance crews were waiting, and the member of the train crew who was seriously injured as he tried to stop the bloodshed.

Jeremy Corbyn has called on the Labour government to now look at “the very serious problem of some trains operating without any staff on at all”. The former Labour leader who leads the Independent Alliance bloc in parliament is urging the Home Secretary to “pause” the operation of trains without crew in the carriages while the rail unions call for no cuts as well as stab-vests for train crews and more transport police on platforms and carriages to prevent further tragedies. These demands must now be treated as a matter of urgency to restore confidence on our rail and underground networks.

This year alone, 522 transport police posts have been cut, with another 51 expected to go over the next two years through natural wastage. But RMT, the main railway union, says around 1,000 additional officers are needed to return to historic policing levels and ensure a visible police presence on stations and trains.

The union says new figures show the number of full-time equivalent British Transport Police officers has fallen to just over 0.8 per million passenger journeys, down from over 0.9 per million last year – an 11 per cent drop and almost a third fewer than in 2009/10, when there were 1.2 officers per million journeys.

RMT says these figures underline the need for a strong, visible BTP presence to protect passengers and rail workers alike. The union is calling on the Chancellor to ensure funding is made available in the upcoming Budget to rebuild policing levels and restore safety and confidence on Britain’s railways. The return of the main-line services to public ownership is a golden opportunity for the government to ensure that the new “Greater British Railways” puts
passenger safety top of the agenda of the restored national network. Whether they do, however, depends on the continued support for the passenger groups and railway unions who’ve been campaigning for years against the cuts.

As for those Tories (laborists and conservatives all those who MPs who joined against of British people) who want to get rid of all the staff – drivers, train crews and platform staff – the facts speak for themselves. Computers and cameras may be able to operate some train systems like children’s train-sets but they cannot provide the safety and security that the public require and expect in this age of hi-speed travel.