Thousands targeted with top Travelsafe tips

Date published: 18 December 2018


Over 14,000 children and young adults have, this year, heard first-hand about the importance of behaving on public transport – as well as the dangers and consequences of committing crime and antisocial behaviour (ASB) on the region’s buses and trams.

Children from 238 schools across Greater Manchester have received input from the TravelSafe Parnership (TSP) as part of its ongoing programme of school and community engagement.

They spoke to 11,368 students, aged between 10 and 16, about important subjects such as personal safety, ticket fraud and what can happen to those caught committing offences on the network.

The TSP also organised its first five-a-side football tournament, which included a presentation event at Rochdale AFC, and visited three university fresher events in Salford and Manchester.

More than 3,000 students were given advice about personal safety and tips on how to prevent them becoming more vulnerable to theft or personal attack when drunk.

The engagement programme has been complemented by a range of enforcement activity, with officers undertaking targeted days of action and dedicated, intelligence-led operations in hotspot areas throughout 2018.

Officers have also used Restorative Justice to deal with youngsters caught misbehaving on the transport network. In June, a number of juveniles aged between nine and 15 were dealt with in this way after being caught committing a variety of offences, including throwing rocks causing danger to both passengers and the tram driver, as well as those caught ‘tram surfing’.

Chris Thorpe, TfGM’s Head of Control and Operational Support, said: “Public transport is a safe way to travel and our targeted engagement and intervention work helps keep it that way.

“We’ve been able to reach thousands of young people to make them aware of how their behaviour can impact both themselves and others."

The TravelSafe Partnership is led by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) with support from contributing operators KeolisAmey Metrolink, Stagecoach and First Manchester.

Under the TSP, a dedicated team of Police Constables (PCs), Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), Special Constables (SCs) and TravelSafe Officers (TSOs) provide regular patrols on the region’s networks.


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