Alarming rise in crime on trains and stations across Europe ━ The European Conservative

In Great Britain and Germany, more crimes are being committed on trains and at train stations. However, the reactions of the authorities in these countries to this development vary considerably.

Figures obtained from German media companies NiUS expressly point out that around half of the 13,543 violent crimes at train stations in the first half of this year – that is almost 27 percent more than in the same period just two years ago – were committed by foreigners. Non-German suspects were particularly overrepresented in sexual crimes at train stations: 59 percent of these were committed by people without a German passport.

London officials, however, appear to be keen to suggest that the UK statistical increase is largely superficial. British Transport Police have attributed the more than 50% rise in violent attacks on women and girls on Britain's railways to a higher rate of crime reporting, according to The times.

Reports on British rail crimes also lack information about the perpetrators, which is likely to lend additional weight to former immigration minister and Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick's call for data on migrant crime to be published. Oxford University's Migration Observatory complained earlier this year that official data on crimes committed by foreigners was “very limited”.

The figure of 50%, which was Just The report only covers violent attacks on women, although a number of other crimes on the railways have been reported in recent months.

One notable attack occurred in February, when Kurdish migrant Brwa Shorsh pushed a stranger onto the London Underground tracks because he felt he was being “given a dirty look”. Shorsh was found guilty of attempted murder and will be sentenced late next month.

Violent crimes also appear to occur regularly at railway stations in other parts of Europe, such as France and Belgium – and especially in Brussels.

The level of crime on railways across Europe highlights the volatile nature of these systems and the obvious vulnerability of people on the platforms. It also raises questions about crime prevention efforts and the presence – or lack thereof – of police at the sites where crimes are committed.