Reported assaults on Great Britain’s railways rise by fifth in a year

British Transport Police funding cuts ‘have been disastrous’, said the general secretary of the RMT union, Eddie Dempsey. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

The number of reported assaults on Great Britain’s railways has risen by a fifth to a record high of almost 25,000 incidents in a year.

Unions said the “horrendous” figures showed the need for more staff and policing, as the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) revealed a sharp increase in assaults on the travelling public and on railway staff last year.