Action bid over train security

Shelley Atlas, who chairs the group, said rail bosses should put emergency communication cords in toilet compartments, where a number of victims have been violently assaulted. She said: "It's all very well for passengers to be told to stay in carriages with other people, but anyone using the toilets is at risk. "There are emergency alarms in the carriages, but not in the toilets, which makes people very vulnerable." Aspokesman for Connex South Central said the company was examining a number of new safety measures on its London to South Coast services. Spokesman Simon Eden said: "Emergency cords in toilets are something we will be looking at, but that is not all. "We are looking at safety measures being used by other operators, and we already have plans to increase the number of Customer Action Teams on our London to the South Coast services. "We are looking to employ another 20 staff for these teams, who will be on board these services. "If we win our 15-year franchise, we will also be looking to replace all our slamming door stock with modern sliding door trains with on-board CCTV." There have been five serious sex assaults on Sussex trains this year. Afemale Czech student was left for dead in a train lavatory on the Hastings to London service; a 15-year-old girl was raped after leaving Hastings station; a 16-year-old boy was sexually assaulted at knifepoint in a train toilet between Eastbourne and Haywards Heath; three young boys were molested at Glynde station after being taken from a train by a man they approached for help when lost; last week, a girl was attacked on a train between Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath from London. Mr Eden said serious as the attacks have been, train travel is still extremely safe, with passenger journeys on Connex services up seven million a year to 90 million in 1997.

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