Dangerous attacks on trains operated by Northern have fallen by nearly 90% in the year, with only eight such attacks recorded during that period.

The previous year, there were sixty-nine dangerous attacks on Northern trains.

By ‘dangerous attacks’, the operator means trains being struck by objects thrown from bridges, railway embankments and stations, or trains colliding with ‘substantial items’ deliberately placed on the track.

Earlier in 2023, Northern installed six hundred new CCTV cameras, adding to the thousand-plus cameras that it already uses on its stations. The previous year, it fitted seven thousand new cameras on board its fleet of trains, which the British Transport Policy can view in real time.

The eight suspicious incidents recorded this year were:

• Manchester Piccadilly to Rose Hill Marple train, struck by stones thrown at Hyde North station
• Leeds to Skipton train, targeted with a brick at Kirkstall Forge station
• Clitheroe to Rochdale train, collided with a ‘Zimmer’ frame placed on the tracks at Hall ‘i’ th’ Wood
• Warrington Central to Liverpool Lime Street train, hit a chair placed on the tracks at Widnes
• Blackpool North train, collided with a drainpipe thrown onto the track
• York to Leeds train, struck an unknown object at Marston Moor
• Southport to Manchester Oxford Road train, struck an unknown object at Patricroft
• Leeds to Bradford Forster Square train, targeted with pellets fired from an air gun.

In addition, there were five reports of trains striking objects blown onto the track by strong winds during bad weather.

The operator encourages anyone who witnesses items being thrown at trains or someone placing items on the track to contact:

• British Transport Police, by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40
• Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

It is also encouraging rail users to download the British Transport Police ‘Railway Guardian’ app. This is an all-in-one safety app which enables users to report crimes or concerns on the rail network, share journeys with contacts and access news, guides and support. It can be downloaded from Google Play and the Apple App Store.

On Sunday (10 December), rail timetables across the North of England will change, as will those on the rest of the National Rail network. Northern is urging passengers to use the ‘Check My Timetable’ feature on the Northern website for more information about services from their local station.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “Each and every incident recorded represents a serious danger to the passengers and train crew involved and we appeal to anyone involved in this criminal activity to stop.

“Fortunately, the appetite for committing these senseless acts is clearly in decline – not least of all because the chance of being ‘caught on camera’ is now far greater.

“That said, we certainly won’t be resting on our laurels. These statistics should stand at zero and we will continue to work with community partners across the region and our colleagues at Network Rail to identify the perpetrators and support British Transport Police with any prosecutions brought before the courts.”