GTR’s safety, health and security director Sam Facey said: “Last year we launched a £2.5m anti-social behaviour improvement plan, created following feedback from stakeholders, including the police and some of our staff and trade unions representatives.”
He said the rail company was “fully committed to tackling this issue by working closely with the unions and building on what we’ve done so far”.
More than 1,500 body worn cameras had been made available, said Mr Facey, adding that studies showed the cameras “reduce assaults by 47%” as well as gathering “vital evidence to prosecute”.
He continued: “We have also doubled the number of high-visibility travel safe officers who are deployed using data-led insight to work with British Transport Police and our teams of rail enforcement officers.
“We have also invested heavily in education projects for schools and colleges.
“But this is bigger than the railway, it is a wider, regional problem of youth violence affecting communities, particularly those on the south coast, which is why the close collaboration of the police, councils and other agencies continues to be so important in tackling this kind of behaviour.”