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From House of Commons
Hansard 2nd May 2006
Oral Questions to the Secretary of State for Transport
Mr. Sadiq Khan: What
recent representations he has received expressing passenger
concerns about personal safety on railways.
The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Alistair
Darling): The Public Accounts
Committee and Select Committee on Transport have both
recently examined aspects of personal safety on the railway.
The Department has, of course, received a number of
approaches on the subject from hon. Members and others.
Mr. Khan: I am grateful for that
answer. Balham station in my constituency has the sixth
worst crime figures out of all the stations run by Southern
Railway. My right hon. Friend is aware of the excellent
safer station campaign begun by my hon. Friend the Member
for Brent, South (Ms Butler) and the Evening Standard.
In light of the failure of train operating companies to
provide fully staffed stations, and bearing in mind the huge
success of British Transport police in making passengers
feel safer and in actually making stations safer, what plans
does he have to review both the powers and the numbers of
British Transport police?
Mr. Darling: As the House is aware,
we are considering how best to focus the BTP's activities,
primarily with a view to improving safety on stations. My
hon. Friend and his colleagues have rightly drawn attention
to the importance of making sure that stations are as safe
as possible. I think that I am right that Balham station is
staffed for the time that it is open, but I hope that the
additional BTP officers that we have funded over the past
couple of years will also help, as well as the increased use
of closed circuit television on both trains and stations. He
is right that we should continue to do everything that we
can to make stations as safe as possible.
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