Rail passenger attacked every 48 hours

From the archive, first published Sunday 15th Apr 2007.

AT LEAST one train passenger is violently attacked every 48 hours, new figures have revealed.

In the last two years, 445 victims have been robbed, sexually assaulted or beaten up at south Essex rail stations .

The shock new stats, revealed after an Echo Freedom of Information investigation, also name the Southend Central and Grays as most dangerous stations on the c2c and One lines.

Vicky Keegan, 25, of Pall Mall, Leigh, commutes from Chalkwell to Fenchurch Street, to work in central London.

She said: "I do feel a bit worried if I've been out after work.

"The last train home can be a bit intimidating, but generally the security on c2c is really good.

"You do read in the news about people falling asleep and getting happy slapped which would be incredibly frightening.

"The figure for violent crime overall is higher than I would have thought."

In 2005, 250 people were attacked compared to 195 last year.

The c2c trouble hotspots include Southend Central, where there have been 34 violent crimes in the last two years and Grays where there were 36.

On the One Railway line the two most dangerous stations were Rayleigh where there were 21 violent crimes and in Billericay where there were 18.

The Echo also revealed in March how two crimes a day are reported on the c2c network.

Peter Slattery, from the Southend Rail Users Group, said: "Every effort needs to be made to ensure the numbers continue to drop."

Bosses at the two railways said that while even just one reported crime was too much, every effort was being made to ensure customer safety.

Mike Lamport, from c2c said: "We have opened a new CCTV control centre in Barking and we have got revenue inspection officers working with British Transport Police to try and stop the bad guys getting on the trains in the first place.

"We have found that a lot of the problems have been caused by people that aren't paying for tickets.

"Therefore we are doing everything we can to stop this and we will continue to make people feel safe on our trains."

Ellen Rossiter from One added: "We are investing a great deal of money into protecting customers and staff.

"The CCTV on trains and in stations are a deterrent as our revenue protection inspectors that help with security."

The c2c line runs between Shoebury and London Fenchurch Street and the One line between Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street.