British Transport Police


The British Transport Police is a national special police force that polices the railway network of Great Britain, which consists of over 10,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations and depots.
BTP also polices the London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, West Midlands Metro, Tramlink, part of the Tyne and Wear Metro, Glasgow Subway and the London Cable Car.
The force is funded primarily by the rail industry.

Jurisdiction

As well as having jurisdiction across the national rail network, the BTP is also responsible for policing:
  • London Underground
  • Docklands Light Railway
  • London Trams
  • London Cable Car
  • Glasgow Subway
  • Tyne and Wear Metro
  • West Midlands Metro
This amounts to around of track and more than 3,000 railway stations and depots. There are more than one billion passenger journeys annually on the main lines alone.
In addition, BTP, in conjunction with the French National Police – Direction centrale de la police aux frontières – police the international services operated by Eurostar.
BTP is not responsible for policing the majority of the Tyne and Wear Metro, which is instead policed by Northumbria Police's Metro Unit, nor the entirety of the Manchester Metrolink. BTP also does not police heritage railways.
A BTP constable can act as a police constable outside their normal railway jurisdiction as described in the "Powers and status of officers" section.

Previous jurisdiction

BTP constables previously had jurisdiction at docks, ports, harbours and inland waterways, as well at some bus stations and British Transport Hotels. These roles fell away in 1985 with privatisation. The legislation was amended to reflect this in 1994.

History

Early days

Private British railway companies employed detectives and police almost from the outset of passenger services in 1826. These companies were unified into four in 1923 then into a single nationalised company in 1947 by the Transport Act, which also created the British Transport Commission. On 1 January 1949 the British Transport Commission Police were created by the British Transport Commission Act 1949 which combined the already-existing police forces inherited from the pre-nationalisation railways by British Railways as well as the London Transport Police, canal police and several minor dock forces. In 1957 the Maxwell-Johnson enquiry found that policing requirements for the railway could not be met by territorial forces and that it was essential that a specialist police force be retained. On 1 January 1962 the British Transport Commission Police ceased to cover British Waterways property and exactly a year later when the BTC was abolished the name of the force was amended to the British Transport Police.

Racism

In the 1960s and 1970s BTP officers led by Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell gave false testimony to obtain convictions of young men in the British Black community on the London Underground on charges such as assault with intent to rob. Eventually some of the men, who became known as the Oval Four and Stockwell Six, managed to have their convictions overturned. In November 2021, the BTP chief constable apologised to the black community for the trauma caused by Ridgewell, and said his actions did "not define the BTP of today".
In July 2021 Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Hanstock stated that a review of Ridgewell's record had "not identified any additional matters that we feel should be referred for external review", this proved not to be a reliable statement as the Criminal Case Review Commission subsequently quashed the convictions of Basil Peterkin and Saliah Mehmet, 2 of 12 men convicted on Ridgewell's evidence of theft from a goods depot in 1977. The CCRC appealed for "anyone else who believes that they or a loved one, friend or acquaintance was a victim of a miscarriage of justice to contact the CCRC – particularly if DS Derek Ridgewell was involved.",
In January 2025, following after the Ronald De Souza's case was quashed, the victim's solicitor stated "I am not confident that all his victims have yet been identified." and the CCRC issued a direct appeal for anyone convicted in a case involving Ridgwell to come forward if they believed they were a victim of a miscarriage of justice. That sentiment was echoed in July 2025 when the solicitor for 13th victim Errol Campbell's family stated that there were that "bound to be others".

Changes

In 1984 London Buses decided not to use the British Transport Police. The British Transport Docks Board followed in 1985 when it was privatised. This included undertaking immigration control at smaller ports until the Immigration Service expanded. The force crest still includes ports and harbours. BTP left the last ports it policed in 1990. The force played a central role in the response to the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Three of the incidents were at London Underground stations: Edgware Road, Russell Square and Aldgate stations, and the Number 30 bus destroyed at Tavistock Square was very close to the then force headquarters of the BTP, the latter incident being responded to initially by officers from the force.
Historically, railway policing powers were derived from a mixture of common-law constable powers, various statutory provisions, and industry agreements. In the nineteenth century, this included the use of special constables appointed by magistrates under the Special Constables Act 1838, which enabled justices of the peace to swear in and remunerate constables for the protection of public works, including railways, at the request and expense of the companies concerned. The modern position was consolidated onto a unified statutory footing—first through the Transport Police Act 1994 and then, comprehensively, through s 31 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003.

21st century

In 2010, the force's dog training was moved from a force-specific training establishment near Tadworth, Surrey to the Metropolitan Police's Dogs Training School in Keston, London Borough of Bromley. In May 2011, the Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond announced that British Transport Police would create an armed capability of its own with the added benefit of additional resilience and capacity to the overall UK police armed capability. The BTP are deployed on armed patrols using Glock 17 pistols, LMT AR-15 CQB carbines and tasers.

List of chief constables

The BTP was led by a chief police officer from its inception until 1958, when Arthur West was appointed its first chief constable.

Route crime

collectively describes crimes and offences of trespass and vandalism which occur on railway lines and can affect the running of train services. The majority of deaths are due to suicide or trespass.
Graffiti costs rail firms over £5million a year in direct costs alone. The BTP maintains a graffiti database which holds over 1900 graffiti tags, each unique to an individual. In 2005 BTP sent 569 suspects to court.
In the North West Area BTP has joined forces with Lancashire Constabulary and Network Rail to combat theft of metal items and equipment from railway lines in an initiative called Operation Tremor. The BTP established Operation Drum in 2006 as a national response to the increase in metal theft offences and also chairs the relevant Association of Chief Police Officers working group.

Passenger crime

is an initiative by BTP to reduce the number of knives carried by passengers on the rail network. This initiative came about after knife crime began to rise and also because of the murder of a passenger on a Virgin CrossCountry service travelling from Glasgow.
In 2013, in response a survey conducted by Transport for London, which showed that 15% of women using public transport in London had been the subject of some form of unwanted sexual behaviour but that 90% of incidents went unreported, the BTP—in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police, and TfL—launched Project Guardian, which aimed to reduce sexual offences and increase reporting.
In November 2016, BTP introduced the "See It, Say It, Sorted" slogan in posters and on-train tannoy announcements, encouraging passengers to report suspicious activity.
The slogan has gained wide recognition.

Hate Crimes

During the mid-2020s, BTP reported elevated levels of hate crime in London across public transport. Asked about hate crime on buses, Chief Superintendent Chris Casey of the BTP told a City Hall meeting that international conflicts were “playing out” on London’s transport network. Police linked an increase in antisemitic incidents to the Israel–Gaza conflict that began in late 2023, as well as to the associated wave of pro-Palestinian protests in London. As part of its ongoing work, BTP has collaborated with the Metropolitan Police Service, Transport for London and other partners in a multi-agency effort to manage public protests, encourage the reporting of hate crime, and support wider city-wide prevention strategies.

Funding

The British Transport Police is almost wholly funded by the train operating companies, Network Rail, and the London Underground – part of Transport for London. Around 95% of BTP's funding comes from the train operating companies. Other operators with whom the BTP has a service agreement also contribute appropriately. This funding arrangement does not give the companies power to set objectives for the BTP, but there are industry representatives serving as members of the police authority. The police authority decides objectives. The industry membership represent five out of 13 members.
The force does not receive any direct funding from the Home Office, but may apply for grants – such as for special events, like the London 2012 Olympic Games. With BTP now playing a large role in counter-terrorism on the rail network, the force also receives some grants towards its firearms units.
The police authority has agreed its budget for 202122 at £328.1million.