Transport Safety Officers to tackle anti-social behaviour

The government has announced plans to roll out transport safety officers (TSOs) on public transport in four English areas in an attempt to tackle anti-social behaviour on buses, trains and trams.

TSOs will patrol targeted routes and locations, working in co-ordination with local police forces and the British Transport Police. They will work to improve safety with an emphasis on engagement and education, however, they will also hold the power to issue fixed penalty notices in response to certain antisocial behaviour.

Following the successful trial of a TSO scheme by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), £2.5 million in funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) will see TSOs rolled out in: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; Lancashire; Stoke-on-Trent; and Thurrock (in collaboration with Essex and Southend-on-Sea councils).

Local authorities will be able to develop and implement approaches that react directly to the specific needs of their local area.

The announcement is part of wider plans to improve public safety.

Transport Minister, Richard Holden, said: "Anti-social behaviour is completely unacceptable – I want to see it eradicated from our public transport.

"As part of the government’s anti-social behaviour action plan, these new specially trained officers will help drive offenders off local networks, so that people can travel on their local train, tram and bus with peace of mind.

"The pilot will also give us a greater understanding of what works when it comes to tackling antisocial behaviour, enabling us to continue improving journeys for passengers in the future."

Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, said: "The vast majority of public transport journeys in our region – millions each week – are without incident but one bad experience for a passenger is one too many and risks putting them off public transport in future.

"That’s why we’re always looking for new ways to improve safety and security. Working through our Safer Travel Partnership, we developed the new role of Transport Safety Officers to deal with anti-social behaviour and provide visible extra assurance to the travelling public.

"TSOs have proven to be very effective and today’s visit shows that what we’re pioneering here in the West Midlands has been noticed by government. We’re now looking forward to helping other regions to develop their own teams of TSOs and learn from our experience."