‘Pause’ operation of trains without carriage crew, urges Corbyn

Shabana Mahmood should look at “the very serious problem of some trains operating without any staff on at all”, Jeremy Corbyn has said, after a knife attack on a train in Cambridgeshire.

The former Labour leader urged the Home Secretary to “pause” the operation of trains without crew in the carriages.

Anthony Williams, 32, appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Monday, charged with 10 counts of attempted murder after several people were stabbed on board a London North Eastern Railway (LNER) train on Saturday.

The 6.25pm service from Doncaster to London King’s Cross came to a stop at Huntingdon after passengers pressed the emergency alarms during the attack.

Ms Mahmood in the Commons praised the “breathtaking bravery” of people on the train, including one of the staff members who was on board and confronted the attacker.

She said: “On Saturday, he went to work to do his job – today, he is a hero, and forever will be.”

Mr Corbyn, who is now the independent MP for Islington North, urged the Home Secretary to “look at the very serious problem of some trains operating without any staff on at all, some very busy trains with insufficient staff on, and hundreds of stations all over the country – particularly in the evenings – with no staff on at all, where the travelling public are obviously very vulnerable and at risk”.

He asked: “Can we pause driver-operated-only trains and look at the issues of safety of the public as a whole?”

Ms Mahmood replied: “We will be led by the operational assessment made by the British Transport policing in terms of what is required.

“And he should rest assured the Government will make sure that where we have a role to play in terms of keeping people safe on the transport network, we will do so.”

In addition to the 10 counts of attempted murder, Williams is charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article.

He is separately charged with another count of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article in connection with an incident at Pontoon Dock Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in east London in the early hours of Saturday, where a victim suffered facial injuries after being attacked with a knife.

Labour MP James Asser, whose constituency is home to Pontoon Dock, described a “great deal of anxiety and fear amongst my constituents of West Ham and Beckton”.

He asked: “What assurances can she give to my constituents on the safety on public transport, particularly in east London where we have a lot of smaller, unstaffed, open access DLR stations that are used and are essential to the daily life of my constituents?”

Ms Mahmood replied: “I can well understand why people in his constituency or those who regularly use this particular station will feel concerned.

“It is why BTP have increased patrols in order to provide additional reassurance to the community.”

Lee Pitcher, the Labour MP for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, said he used a Doncaster to London service “most weeks”, and added his constituents in the South Yorkshire city had been left “deeply shaken”.

He asked Ms Mahmood to tell the Commons about the “immediate steps that she’s taken to reassure passengers who use that line”.

The Home Secretary said the emergency services’ response “meant the attack was brought to an end as quickly as possible” with “many lives” saved as a result.

“The fact that our emergency services were able to respond so quickly I think is something that we should all be confident in and take pride in,” she added.