Kids are young as 14 have been branded “feral” by fed-up passengers for making their lives a misery on Ayrshire train services.
And it’s been claimed that on one occasion, a woman was spat at during a confrontation with two delinquent girls on a train through the region.
Multiple passengers have come forward to catalogue a trail of frightening confrontations with out of control youths.
Now, as the Scottish Government prepares to take the railway into public ownership on April 1, calls have been made to beef up security.
One passenger described an incident where he was pestered by two youths who openly ground down cannabis resign and tobacco, while throwing discarded cigarette paper at him.
He said: “It’s an unpalatable subject that seems to need addressed, the behaviour of teenagers on our local public transport.
“On a train coming home from Glasgow, I had a couple of boys throwing bits of balled up paper at my head.
“Both were around 14 or 15 and clearly high. They were openly grinding cannabis and tobacco.”
Another concerned commuter said: “I’ve witnessed young girls spit at an older woman who asked them to stop swearing. And I’ve got a recording of a young guy claiming he’d been stabbed and had stabbed others. I’ve seen open drug use regularly. It’s all getting quite feral.”
Another passenger said ticket inspectors are virtually powerless.
They revealed: “A conductor spoke to me and they freely admitted that this feral behaviour is an escalating problem. They claimed it is often pointless contacting the police — it usually takes 30 minutes for a response.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “Anti-social behaviour is entirely unacceptable and all passengers and staff have the right to feel safe on our rail network. It is reassuring that recorded anti-social behaviour offences and violent crime on the rail network are both showing a decreasing trend each month.”
Steven Elliot, ScotRail Security and Crime Manager, said: “ScotRail works very closely with British Transport Police to ensure that Scotland’s Railway is a safe environment for our customers, and our own people.
“Anti-social behaviour, whether that’s physical violence, verbal abuse or any other form, is completely unacceptable and we do everything we can to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.”
A British Transport Police spokesperson said they work tirelessly to deter criminality and anti-social behaviour on the railway network.
The spokesperson added: “We have been increasing patrols on the Ayr, Largs and Ardrossan lines using targeted operations to deter offending.”
Text 61016 if you experience anti-social behaviour on your train journey.
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