The recent knife attack on the train from Peterborough has understandably shaken public confidence in the safety of trains. Though such incidents remain mercifully rare, they remind us that violence and abuse, whether directed at passengers or the dedicated staff who serve them, can never be tolerated. Violent attacks are awful crimes against innocent individuals, of course, but they are too an assault on the shared trust that makes public life possible.
When the ceremony of innocence is drowned, the unspoken contract which keeps society afloat is punctured, as someone attacking a member of railway staff simply doing their job, tears at what holds us together. For public transport staff are not faceless employees; they are the human presence that civilises travel, offering advice, service, and reassurance. That is why it is vital that any such crimes are investigated swiftly, but thoroughly and prosecuted effectively, with penalties that reflect the seriousness of the offence. Respect for others must once again become a protected value.
As a former Transport Minister, I supported strongly the last Conservative Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which made assaults on public-facing workers a ‘statutory aggravating factor’, facilitating tougher sentences. Now, as the RMT union’s recent Action Against Assaults campaign makes clear, we must go further. Their call for a specific new offence of abusing or assaulting a public transport worker deserves support and it has mine, for it would send a clear national message: protecting those who protect us is a moral duty, not a legislative burden.
To which end, I have asked the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she will take to tackle violence and verbal abuse towards public transport workers, particularly in rural areas such as Lincolnshire. People to and from towns like Spalding deserve the same sense of safety and reassurance as those travelling in major cities. National laws must have local impact.
The safety of our transport system depends not only on enforcement, but on human presence. A friendly face at the ticket office, someone who knows the passengers, a member of staff who can offer advice or a word of reassurance: these things create an environment where civility thrives and fear recedes. That is why I was proud to lead the successful campaign to keep staff at Spalding Railway Station. When plans were announced to close ticket offices and replace staff with machines, thousands of my constituents joined me in petitioning against it. We made clear then that our railway must serve people, not replace them. Any future attempt to automate our station must and will be stopped.
Proponents of automation claim nebulous efficiency, but it can never replicate empathy. For the elderly, the disabled, and the anxious traveller, a human presence is not merely convenient but essential. That human element is inseparable from the ethical one: treating others as persons, not problems.
Buses and trains are the lifeblood of our towns and villages, connecting people to work, education, and opportunity. In which spirit, the campaign to re-open Littleworth Station in Deeping St Nicholas continues and I am pleased to say that the County Council’s new leader has given me his enthusiastic support. Such transport links are a mirror of who we are as a society. If we wish our journeys to be safe, our conduct, and our care for one another, must be safe too.
The common good demands that we put people first by protecting those who serve the public, safeguarding those who travel, and ensuring that our stations and trains remain places of welcome, not fear.