Fife train stations assessed in new report on female travellers’ safety
Two busy train stations in Fife have scored highly in a report on how safe women feel while travelling.
It was conducted by Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) whose members visited hundreds of stations across to UK to present a snapshot of the issues.
The long-standing organisation, which works to help improve the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and internationally, came 25 years after a Soroptimist was attacked while travelling on a train in the London area.
This incident sparked members into action and they embarked on a campaign to investigate the standards of personal safety, particularly for women, when travelling by train. Its latest report revisits the issue to see how far standards of personal safety have improved.
It assessed stations for the prominence and visibility of railway staff, emergency help points, accessibility for people with disablities, and te overall signage and quality of information.
The stations chosen were down to individual clubs and where members live, so not all areas of the country were covered.Some larger stations were not accessible without a ticket, and the report said “some stations were not welcoming to members without one.”
Members of SI Kirkcaldy surveyed many Fife railway stations over several months contributing to the report.
Kirkcaldy station was highly rated, scoring 18 points out of a possible 19.
Only Gloucester station scored full points, while Inverkeithing railway station also came out well with 17.
Their survey revealed that despite ongoing efforts to improve travel safety, initial findings are that more than half of stations (55%) surveyed were found to lack visible security provision, only one in ten stations was staffed at all times, 48% reported no uniformed staff, and adequate lighting was lacking – with 48% of car parks poorly lit, in isolated locations or without designated “safe” areas.
In the light of these figures the level of safety at Kirkcaldy and Inverkeithing stations is commendable.
The timing of the survey coincided with the British Transport Police’s last report which stated that violence against women and girls on British railways had risen by more than 50% since 2021.
The report said: “More needs to be done, and urgently.”
SIGBI has its findings and made recommendations to the UK Government on how to improve safety in stations, claiming its approach to passenger safety in railway stations is ineffective.
It is also carrying out ‘bystander awareness’ training in communities up and down the UK, in a bid to help further identify and prevent violence against women and girls.
The report noted: “It is easy to see that the major city stations are more likely to have 24/7 staffing as the amount of footfall in later hours is still significant and staff will be in uniform.
“We realise that it would not be cost effective for railway companies to man their two platform smaller rural stations, but these are the ones that have caused our members most concern in respect of their safety. Some members tell us that they choose not to use them at certain times of day because of the risks.”
Read the full report at https://sigbi.org/railwaysurvey/