ScotRail trains gripped by rising anti-social behaviour amid staff cuts, warn unions

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scotland's railways are gripped by a rising tide of anti-social behaviour which could be made worse by cuts to staffing at stations and on trains, unions have warned.The RMT and ASLEF spoke out ahead of the second anniversary of ScotRail being brought back under public control. "Anti-social behaviour is a growing concern that must be tackled", Kevin Lindsay of ASLEF said in a written submission to MSPs this week."Staff assaults and assaults on passengers come against a context of cuts to British Transport Police (BTP) budgets over recent years, more lone working on trains and unstaffed stations."Already this year we know that the number of assaults on railway workers already exceed thresholds.

We also know that passenger on passenger assaults are stubbornly high, as is general anti-social behaviour on trains."Considering these figures as a whole suggests that Scotland needs more BTP officers, more staff and every train having a safety critical guard on board. "This means greater staff and BTP visibility on our trains, which would make them safer and ultimately more attractive for passengers particularly women and disabled people."ScotRail, which operates the vast majority of passenger services in Scotland, is directly answerable to SNP ministers for its performance.But the network has struggled to return to its pre-covid performance levels after repeated lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 saw passenger numbers plummet.

A temporary ban on drinking alcohol on ScotRail was introduced in late 2020 as a covid safety measure and remains in place despite many passengers choosing to ignore it on evening and weekend services.The RMT, which represents train guards, ticket examiners and other station staff, has called for a halt to