London Rail

Men in the railways

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This weekend’s March 8th 2026 is International Womens Day. Despite the advent of a number of equality measures the status of women is still affected by numerous obstacles in many areas of society – and that includes the railway. That because railways have always been designed by men. That has changed somewhat in the last few decades but its still not enough. And that is because men in large have little ability to fully understand the plight of women. Recently it was said that assaults upon women on public transport including the railways and London Underground were on the rise. Quite why men seem to have this thing against women is somewhat an enigma but in large it can be attributed due to a thing called patriarchy, this being the idea that men own and dictate control over women. This male dictum pervades even the home and social life, so in a sense it should not be surprising the railways do get affected too. There evidently is a long road ahead before any railway can be seen as completely safe for women.

Sometime ago an article on men who used the railways was written – that being the horrific ways to which they subjected upon female passengers. That very article featured on this blog last year began by mentioning that ‘no-one invented railways who was of the female fraternity.’ The railways no doubt employ huge measures to ensure trains are massively safe and that the operational infrastructure has little cause to fail. That too provides a level of safety for the passenger. Strangely the same cannot appear to be afforded for when the female passenger comes face to face with a male harbouring what can only be an evil intent. Distressingly there’s no fail safe mechanism of any sort and numerous CCTV cameras can only record in silence. By the time some untoward misdeed has occurred its almost always too late.

In a sense what can be called the “inside-the-train experience” (essentially “a hidden holocaust inside trains” 1) could easily be a precursor or even a reminder to what actually happens outside of a train these days even. Either way it seems there’s basically no way of escaping the clutches of certain men. Their apparent ownership of women extends to all spheres of society no doubt and its why women feel threatened even on the railway. The enclosed space of a train no doubt makes a fear considerably worse. Railways ought to be a safe haven but in practice it seems somehow impossible to achieve. One can only assume its because too many men have been at the helm in terms of railway design.

A year ago it was said on the pages of this blog:

the one thing that CANNOT be phased out from the railways… men. Its much the same as those who are in power, these ‘putrid’ leaders, always men, who call for world chaos, war, genocide, as detailed in that very article. Evidently men with evil intent cannot be phased out, not even those in charge of countries or politics, just as they cannot be from other aspects of society – including use of the railways too.

For many women their one and only ‘mistake’ is to live in a misogynistic society – one that expresses ‘a hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls, which is a form of sexism that can maintain patriarchal social roles.’

This post was begun on the fifth anniversary of the murder of Sarah Everard.2 No-one especially in the UK, should ever forget Sarah whose murder was enacted by a certain guardian – a man whose task was to protect important dignitaries such as the UK’s MPs. Despite this man honouring the Office of Constable oath3 in the course of his duties he abducted Sarah under the pretence of a search before proceeding to rape and murder her. No matter whether its in the streets or down below on a railway platform, women are just not safe from many things that have been conceived and built by men.

Should that be shocking even? Yes. The gravity of it is absolutely immeasurable. Few women can now trust the police especially male officers. There have been substantial numbers of men (including, unfortunately, officers too) who have abused or assaulted their girlfriends, wives, sisters, daughters and even strangers. Evidently its an ages old thing which somehow gets to mean the mere presence of a female requires a perverse reaction from the male. Even the streetscape can be dangerous for women.

The railways have provided much opportunity for such evil deeds by way of carriage design, station store rooms, closets, and even dodgy subway passages or stairwells. Again its perhaps that sense of ownership and entitlement men long believed they have had about women and in a way its the transport and the urban landscape that has been so poorly designed by men that provisions the necessary space some will need for their assaults on women.

The National Archives say in the Victorian era crime rose rapidly because of the railways: “with more people and goods on the move, trains and railway stations arguably, offered new opportunities for crime. The first carriages were unlit and unconnected by corridors, so there were cases of lone travellers being robbed or attacked. Railway stations were often packed and busy which made theft easier…” 4 Unfortunately statistics were not kept in those days so its impossible to know who were the most affected, but one can sort of work out that the female railway traveller would have been the easiest target for most criminals and perpetrators. Some will argue it was males in fact who were the larger tranche of victims. Yes that could well be true in terms of robbery, disagreements, punch ups etc. It would be a mad fantasy to suppose however that women in Victorian times had a far more convivial travel experience when compared to that of men.

Originally meant to satisfy the desire for comfort and privacy, isolation was often too complete not to become a cause of anxiety. The comfortable upholstered interior had its seamy side of distress… Should an emergency situation arise, the afflicted traveller was left to their own devices and they might exhort their voice in vain. It is quickly realised that on the train one has no choice but to disempower oneself, there is no way in which one can feel the master of one’s own movements… (Railways Defamiliarisation by Malgorzata Nitka 2006)

Amazingly the above quote comes from 1839! Its often cited that the first railway murder was in 1864, but there are instances that occurred much earlier that have never been cited in any journal or blog. Besides one of the earliest assaults on the railways to ever take place had been against a woman. That occurred in 1841 and that was mentioned on this blog. Those were the very early days on the railways following the Stockton and Darlington when the main lines that constituted the Liverpool and Manchester, the Grand Junction, the London and Greenwich, the London and South Western, the London and Birmingham, the Great Western and the London and Croydon had been the few systems then in operation. The tentacles of man had yet to spread far by way of the Iron Road.

Assaults on Britain’s railways a major concern up for debate in the House of Commons 1897. Google Books.

There’s no doubt the railways come complete with a violent history too. Apart from what was briefly mentioned earlier, railways had enabled world wars to proffer – war naturally being the violent man’s opium. Railways enabled the huge destruction that befell World War One. They transformed a minor conflict into what became a massively sustained war of attrition and that because they could move vast amounts of military hardware and troops.5 Not only that war throughout history has been a means of facilitating unlimited amounts of sexual violence against countless numbers of women.6

The considerable effort which constituted the transportation of around three million Jewish people in railway trucks for the final solution 7 saw many women and men, children subjected to unimaginable horrors en route. That as well as at the destination in question8 (Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen etc) where they would be gassed, shot, or dumped alive into pits. There was worse too for the unfortunate females held captive in these sordid camps before their bodies were unceremoniously dumped in pits or burnt.

One can be in no doubt the world is deemed as being one where men own and control everything. The railways have seen these last few years what can only be a steady rise in abuse and violence. The older design of carriage – including trains with single compartments that were isolated from each other only served to provide a haven for rapists and murderers. The case of Deborah Linsley9 who was murdered on a train form Orpington during 1988 being one of the most shocking cases in recent times for the reality of these male instigated motivations was brought home to many when a photograph of her bloodied body on the floor of the train happened to be published on the front page of Today, Britain’s first all colour newspaper.

The scrapping of these horror single compartment trains and the recent introduction of more spacious and cheery railway carriages (this being the perception – brighter, better and safer) including modern walk through railway stock, has seen little effect in reducing attacks on women. There is no doubt the safety issue for female passengers has never abated. In fact its even more crucial these days in the light of increased incidences. Despite every endeavour to improve the safety of women on public transport, men unfortunately find ways to compromise what could possibly be a perceived sense of safety. In 2025 and 2026 even with the use of far brighter and more spacious railway stock (including the Elizabeth line) that can be walked throughout, women still find it hugely problematic to use trains and trams10, hence substantial numbers continue to be assaulted, raped and worse.

Last year the statistics were considerably bad. The Elizabeth line, London’s newest railway, has seen one of the most rapid rises in the number of assaults against women. Since 2023 things have worsened considerably11 and during 2025 the number of assaults12 on the Elizabeth line had increased alarmingly. The recent 50% increase13 in assaults seems simply not enough for those men with deeply misapplied minds. The BTP have said one in three women will be abused while using the trains or the tube.14

Last summer The Guardian highlighted the increasing incidence of violence against women on the railways. This had risen by 50% in two years. It said the report had shown that ‘more than a third of all women commuting by rail were likely to be assaulted – predominately during rush hour’. The stats showed the ‘number of crimes against women and girls rose from 7,561 in 2021 to 11,357 in 2023, and the number of sexual offences rose 10% from 2,235 to 2,475…’ (From last year’s post on the subject.)

Up to the 1st of August 2025 (this being less than a year ago at the time of writing – March 2026) the statistics for the London Underground made for unpalatable reading. There had been substantial rises across the network for things such as mobile phones. Although it has not been said its quite possible the greater number of victims were women.

By the end of 2025 it was also known sexual assaults were on the rise everywhere across the London Underground network.

More than 1,000 assaults were recorded on each of the Central and Northern lines. King’s Cross station was the most likely place for a sexual assault to be reported (118) followed by Oxford Circus (117) and Bank (98). 15

These horrific stats come from TfL’s own data released in a FOI16 in December 2025.

The current Government seems little able to effect positive change based on what the BTP’s says about the numerous sexual offences being undertaken on the UK’s railways – for these too had reached an all time high. It was said this was in part due to the BTP facing substantial underfunding.

On a somewhat positive note its commendable that the UK’s railways have for some time been signatories of White Ribbon17 – this being a campaign to end male violence against women. Besides Network Rail the following Rail Operating Companies (not a complete list) have given support to the White Ribbon campaign and some trains can be seen adorned with the White Ribbon motto and the message ‘working to end male violence against women.’

Avanti
C2C
East Midlands Railway
Greater Anglia
London Northwestern Railway
ScotRail
Southeastern
South Western Railway
TfL
Thameslink
West Midlands Railway

White Ribbon Campaign

  1. https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781785334771-003/html ↩︎
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sarah_Everard ↩︎
  3. https://polfed.org/media/14239/the-office-of-constable-with-links-2018.pdf ↩︎
  4. https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/education/victorian-railways.pdf ↩︎
  5. https://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/railways-and-the-mobilisation-for-war-in-1914/ ↩︎
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wartime_sexual_violence ↩︎
  7. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-railways-and-the-holocaust ↩︎
  8. https://peacewomen.org/content/internationalholocaust-holocaust-womens-rape-breaks-decades-taboo ↩︎
  9. https://morbidology.com/the-railway-ripper-the-unsolved-murder-of-deborah-linsley/ ↩︎
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Iryna_Zarutska ↩︎
  11. https://news.sky.com/story/violent-attacks-against-women-on-britains-trains-up-by-more-than-50-since-2021-13196789 ↩︎
  12. https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-0099-2526 ↩︎
  13. https://www.aol.co.uk/violent-crimes-against-women-britain-050222511.html ↩︎
  14. https://www.btp.police.uk/news/btp/news/england/over-a-third-of-women-have-been-sexually-harassed-on-their-commute-to-work/ ↩︎
  15. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm21gnxyge3o ↩︎
  16. https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-3147-2526 ↩︎
  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Ribbon_Campaign ↩︎

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