A third of women face sex assault on railways

MORE than a third of women have been sexually harassed or assaulted while travelling on the British rail or Tube network, a new study shows.

-  Jon Austin

The survey, commissioned by British Transport Police, found that in more than half of cases passengers tried to help, but only one in five of those who witnessed sexual harassment reported it to police.

The study also revealed most of the offences were carried out during the evening rush hour on busy trains, with incidents including leering, catcalling, touching, pressing, upskirting or indecent exposure.

BTP is using the data to target patrols by plain clothes officers to identify offenders. Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Furnell said: "Our figures show that it's most likely to happen at the busiest hours when carriages are most full.