Follow up

One of the aims of the meeting was to produce a set of high-level principles to take forward the above 10 recommendations from the report. These principles are derived from points of consensus shared at the meeting (summarised in Section 2.3). The principles set out above are designed to provide an agreed reference point for a range of stakeholders and organisations concerned directly and indirectly with ensuring women’s safety on public transport.

Keeping Women’s and Girls’ Safety on the Agenda

There are a range of actions being taken forward by the Scottish Government to maintain focus on the issue of women and girls’ safety on public transport. These include:

Transport Scotland officials will continue to work with colleagues across Government to ensure that specific actions in development to tackle antisocial behaviour on bus take into account the safety of women and girls.

ScotRail, Network Rail and British Transport Police work together with stakeholders to deliver a wide range of activity to reduce anti-social behaviours across the rail network. For example, ScotRail established a “Travel Safe Team”, made up of 24 officers and 3 supervisors, in 2023. The team work mainly across the central belt and in the southwest and ScotRail are looking into how it can be expanded. The team promote safe behaviours as much as challenge bad behaviour. They engage closely with customers and staff to identify issues; this is then followed by targeted engagements e.g. they will spend time talking with (and maybe travelling with) people to explain the importance of buying tickets and the benefits of considerate behaviour to everyone.

All ScotRail train carriages are fitted with CCTV. All but two ScotRail stations have CCTV. The two stations without CCTV are on private land and legal issues are currently being worked through. Of the ScotRail stations that have CCTV 246 are monitored continuously within control centres. Waverley has its own CCTV system and control room. Glasgow Central has plans to update its CCTV, which is out of date, but it does not have a dedicated and staffed control room for monitoring it.

ScotRail are investing in increasing numbers of body worn cameras and encourage staff to wear them. They are working to persuade Trade Unions in particular of their benefits.

Advertising campaigns and literature on board trains and at stations highlight ways to report incidents to the British Transport Police, for example via the Text 6-101-6 service or by reporting via the Railway Guardian app. 

Transport Scotland is writing to Scottish Rail Holdings to draw attention to this report and the research recommendations, and asking that the recommendations be taken forward. Transport Scotland will also circulate this report and the research report to bus and ferry operators to highlight the recommendations. Transport Scotland will publish a page on the Transport Scotland website which will feature the Principles that have emerged from the stakeholder event and provide links to other relevant information produced by Transport Scotland and partner organisations.

Transport Scotland will report on progress of the research recommendations on an annual basis to coincide with 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, and also as part of reporting on the National Transport Strategy.

Transport Scotland will continue to work with Violence Against Women and Girls colleagues across the Scottish Government to support the sharing of good practice in relation to progress on the principles.

Transport Scotland will also publish research which explores literature around the use of personal safety apps for use in public spaces, particularly on public transport.