Translink has stressed that it will seek to prosecute when appropriate after a spike in anti-social behaviour on public transport in recent months.
Recent incidents have been filmed onboard Translink Gliders and trains, and subsequently shared widely across social media. Police have been made aware of a recent video which showed an incident on a Glider in West Belfast and are investigating.
David Cowan, Director of Commercial Operations said the safety of passengers and staff is their top priority. A Translink reward scheme pays out up to £1,000 to anyone who witnesses and gives evidence of any incident of trespass, vandalism or assault that results in a successful conviction.
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"We carry over a million passenger journeys on our bus and train services every week and operate over 12k services every day with the majority of passengers experiencing a safe and comfortable journey without incident," David added.
"Anti-social behaviour is a societal issue for many frontline public sector workers, and we take all incidents extremely seriously whether this is verbal or physical abuse against our employees or passengers. To maintain our high safety levels, we have measures in place including CCTV at stations and on buses and trains, body cameras for staff and additional security personnel are at main stations and present on busy services when required.
"We continue to work with our trade unions, and colleagues across the industry to explore new methods and actions to stamp out this behaviour. We work closely with the PSNI and their Safe Transport Team and encourage individuals to report incidents either to Translink, Crimestoppers or PSNI so we can take preventative measures and the strongest penalties are brought against offenders.
"A reward scheme pays out up to £1,000 to anyone who witnesses and gives evidence of any incident of trespass, vandalism or assault that results in a successful conviction. We promote clear messages to the public through the media, online and poster campaigns that violence and abuse towards any Translink employee or fellow passenger is unacceptable.
"We also work closely with youth groups, community groups, local representatives and Youth Conference to engage with young people helping them understand the importance of public transport to their wider community."
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