CCTV on trains is being linked directly to police so footage can be viewed live. Train operator Northern said its on-board camera systems are being aligning with those inside British Transport Police control rooms.
The move, announced on Monday, is likely to prove a huge asset to crime detection, evidence gathering and, ultimately, prosecutions. Northern, which operates services across Greater Manchester and the north, also confirmed the start of new technology for its trains once used by space agency NASA in the US to map the surface of the moon.
Light detection and radar (LIDAR) scanning technology is being installed across the company's fleet of 345 trains in a development bosses said would make journeys by railway safer and more efficient.
