Number of race hate crimes on railways rises again

British Transport Police recorded a total of 1,468 allegations of racially or religiously aggravated offences in 2014, a rise of more than 100 compared to the 1,364 in 2013 and a slightly larger jump from the 1,351 in 2012.

The figures, obtained by the Press Association, mean the number of reports of incidents with a racial or religious element on trains or at stations increased by around 8.7 per cent over three years.

Some 232 of the suspected offences involved violence last year, including two allegedly racist attacks causing grievous bodily harm.

The figures follow a flurry of recent reports of alleged racist conduct on trains, including a number involving football fans. During one incident in February a fight broke out after three Asian women travelling with their small children were allegedly racially abused on board a Leeds-Bradford train. Three men have since been arrested.

Kevin Hylton, Professor of Equality and Diversity at Leeds Beckett University, said more analysis was needed to be sure the figures showed an increase in racial tensions, as the rise may be due to better monitoring.

But he said: “One thing that we cannot deny is that there is a problem of racial tension, whether we are talking about an increase or decrease we need to be looking at it seriously.

“Nearly 1,500 allegations being made on the train system in a year, whether that is an increase of two or one a week is neither here nor there, there are still nearly 1,500 allegations, that for me is the big story.

“I travel reasonably frequently on the train and I see fewer guards on trains. If that is a fact and there are fewer staff on trains, some people will perhaps be a little bit more confident in being anti-social and confident that they can get away with it.”

BTP said it was working to tackle “abhorrent” racially aggravated incidents.

A spokesman said: “It is always disappointing to see any rise in crime, though it should be noted that the rise in this case is just eight per cent, which equates to just two offences each week.”