Rail unions are warning that staff and passengers are being put at risk by repeated budget reductions which have left fewer British Transport Police officers.

The British Transport Police Authority meets in two days from now, when members will be told that the number of officers on patrol has fallen by almost a third since 2009, and that more than 500 posts are currently set to disappear by the end of the current financial year.

Crime, meanwhile, is rising. Violent offences against staff rose by 35 per cent in last year, and recorded crime in general is up by 5.4 per cent. Anti-social behaviour requiring an urgent response is up by 9 per cent, offences of violence by 14 per cent, and violence against women and girls has increased by 12 per cent.

In a joint letter to the Authority the RMT, TUC, ASLEF, TSSA and Unite say years of cuts have pushed the number of BTP officers to ‘the limits of safe headcount reduction’.

It is true that more officers were in evidence on the railway in reaction to the Huntingdon train stabbings on 1 November, but the unions say that was achieved only by arranging 12-hour shifts, increasing overtime and pausing work on the preparation of prosecution cases, which they quote the Chief Constable as saying is ‘not sustainable for long’.

The letter also points out that the Force had asked for a 9.8 per cent budget increase in the current financial year, but received just 4.6 per cent, leaving a funding gap of £8.5 million.

Around 1,000 additional officers are believed to be needed, and the unions are criticising proposals indicating a potential settlement of 8 per cent, 5 per cent and then 1 per cent during the next three years. They believe a settlement of 1 per cent would force further reductions in staff.

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: ‘Cuts to railway policing have gone too far and are putting staff and passengers at an increasing risk of violence.

‘The BTP is being left understaffed, overstretched and unable to sustain the policing presence our railways urgently need.

‘We need to be serious about a safer railway, and that requires a proper multi-year funding settlement. Anything less will leave police numbers falling further, crimes going unanswered and railway workers and the travelling public left to fend for themselves, which is unacceptable.’

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