Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of reported crime on the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway.

The British Transport Police (BTP) are responsible for policing the rail network across England, Wales and Scotland. They recorded the following number of incidents at stations on the Salisbury and Yeovil railway line: 2020/21 58, 2021/22 55, 2022/23 87 and 2023/24 83. The increase from 2021/22 is in line with increasing passenger numbers on the rail network following the easing of travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Along with data from the rest of the railway, the BTP will continually review crime trends and patterns from the Salisbury and Yeovil line, and gather intelligence to inform their daily operational deployments, including both uniform and plain clothes officers.

If passengers see or experience crime on the rail network, they should report this to BTP using the 61016 text service, via the Railway Guardian app or online. In an emergency, they should always call 999.