[title]
Pretty much every Londoner has seen it happen. The tube doors are bleeping, there’s a lightning flash of movement, and a thief has squeezed their way out to the platform and away – with someone else’s smartphone in their hand. Venture underground and it seems like you've escaped burglars on bikes, but you're still at risk of having your stuff snatched,
Transport for London (TfL) says that theft is the commonest crime on London’s transport network, making up for 60 percent of recorded offences on tubes and 40 percent at stations.
Tube crime as a whole went up by 13 percent last year, according TfL's new report, which also named and shamed the riskiest stations and lines.
Total crimes committed on the Underground network between January and August 2024 reached 16,288, and 17 percent of them were committed on the Central line . The Northern line ranked next with 1,320 offences, while the Waterloo and City line recorded the lowest number of reported incidents (with just three).
In terms of individual tube stations, King’s Cross was the most crime-ridden stop, followed by Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Stratford and Finsbury Park.
The report also revealed that 50 percent of crimes occurred on trains, and 47 percent at stations.
Don't despair, though: TfL is fitting CCTV cameras to all 94 of its Central line trains as part of its £500 million improvement project (find out more about the line’s refurbished trains here), and it already staffs all of its stations from the first train through to the last. A total of 4,500 TfL staff and 200 enforcement officers are on hand to help customers, as well as the British Transport Police.
Data for crimes on buses was also revealed. Bus crimes are down one percent, with thefts the most common form, but hate crimes have risen from 621 offences to 801. Islamophobic and anti-Semitic attacks have been particularly rife, leading to TfL stationing staff at faith schools and places of worship near transport hubs.
The borough with the most bus-based crimes was Ealing with 158 offences occurring between January and August 2024, followed by Lambeth and Westminster.
TfL rightfully points out that millions of journeys take place on the network each day, and the crime rate on its network is low at just 13.3 per million journeys.
Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Director of Security, Policing and Enforcement, said: ‘Working with the police, our priority is protecting our customers and staff from serious harm. Significant effort is underway to tackle serious violence, sexual offences and harassment, robbery, and hate crime. As part of this, we have been encouraging and making it easier for customers and colleagues to report incidents so action can be taken. We will continue to work closely with the police to ensure that our transport network remains a safe environment to work and travel.’
If you witness crime on the tube, you can always contact the British Transport Police on 31016. The number you need for incidents on buses is 101 for the Met Police, as well as reporting incidents to TfL staff. In an emergency, always use 999.
Find out which boroughs have the highest and lowest crime rates here.
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.