Rail cameras to combat crime

RAIL operator One, which runs services from Ely, has fitted more than £4 million worth of CCTV cameras to its trains across East Anglia as part of a major crackdown on rail crime. The special equipment has been fitted to 138 trains to boost passenger secu

RAIL operator One, which runs services from Ely, has fitted more than £4 million worth of CCTV cameras to its trains across East Anglia as part of a major crackdown on rail crime.

The special equipment has been fitted to 138 trains to boost passenger security.

The project was jointly funded by One and Transport for London and comes on top of the security cameras already in place on 21 trains.

Now the rail operator plans to upgrade CCTV cameras in its stations over the next 12 months.

During the last year a total of 7,998 malicious acts on the railway were recorded, but the figures were 20 per cent down on the previous year.

Despite the improvement, vandalism still accounts for almost half of all reportable train incidents.

Footage collected from security cameras is monitored by One, British Transport Police and the police.

One hopes the additional security measures will deter crime and solve it as well as making travellers feel safer.

Dominic Booth, One's managing director, said: "We are committed to providing our passengers and staff with a safe travelling environment and this £4 million project vastly improves on-board security arrangements, with new equipment providing high quality images which will assist in the prevention and detection of crime on our trains.

"We will continue to take action to improve safety and security on our trains and at our stations.