British Transport Police

The British Transport Police (BTP; ) is a national special police force that polices the railway network of Great Britain (England and Wales, and Scotland), 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, London Tramlink, part of the Tyne and Wear Metro, Glasgow Subway and the London Cable Car and provides the 61016 text messaging service for passengers to report non-emergency crimes and incidents.

The force is funded primarily by the rail industry.

Jurisdiction

thumb|BTP officers patrolling with dogs at [[London Waterloo railway station|Waterloo station]]

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 (Sunderland line only with the majority policed by Northumbria Police's Metro Unit)
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. BTP do not police heritage railways in Britain.

In addition, BTP, in conjunction with the French National Police (under the Border Police unit) – – police the international services operated by Eurostar.

A BTP constable can act as a police constable outside their normal railway jurisdiction in certain circumstances 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 and powers were phased out in 1985 with railway privatisation. The legislation was amended to reflect this in 1994.

History

Early history

thumb|BTP Police station "blue lamp"

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 and then into a single nationalised company in 1947 by the Transport Act, which also created the British Transport Commission (BTC). On 1 January 1949 the British Transport Commission Police (BTCP) was 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 was abolished a year later in January 1963, leading to the name of the force being 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 (Circle Line), 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 and given a unified statutory footing—first through the Transport Police (Jurisdiction) Act 1994 The BTP deploy armed patrols equipped with 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.

Arthur West (1958–1963)
William Owen Gay (1963–1974)
Eric Haslam (1974–1981)
Kenneth Ogram (1981–1989)
Desmond O'Brien (1989–1997)
David Williams (1997–2001)
Ian Johnston (2001–2009)
Andrew Trotter (2009–2014)
Paul Crowther (2014–2021)
Lucy D'Orsi (2021–present)

Crime types

Route crime

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 (an increase of 16% on 2004 figures).

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

Operation Shield 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 crime

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 (these are set by the police authority), but there are multiple industry representatives serving as members of the police authority.

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.

The police authority set the budget for policing for 202627 at £445.2 million which is allocated as follows:

A Division – £222.0M
B Division (overground) – £53.0M
B Division (underground) – £51.7M
C Division – £58.4M
D Division – £12.6M
E Division – £44.5M
BTPA – £3.0M

Operational structure

, BTP had a workforce of 3,210 police officers, 1,656 police staff & designated officers, 214 police community support officers, 213 special constables.

A Division/Force Headquarters

Based at BTP headquarters in Central London, this division retains overall control of the other divisions and houses central functions including forensics, CCTV and major investigations. , 393 police officers, ten special constables and 946 police staff were based at FHQ.

B Division

This division covers London and the South East and southern areas of England. This division is further divided into the following sub-divisions:

North
Central
South

, B Division had 1,444 police officers, 101 special constables, 191 PCSOs and 361 police staff.

Midland
Wales
Western

, C Division had 921 police officers, 127 special constables, 132 PCSOs and 180 police staff.

, D Division had 214 police officers, 24 special constables and 46 police staff.

Force Control Room – Birmingham: Based in Birmingham – alongside the First Contact Centre – and responsible for C and D Divisions which cover the East Midlands, West Midlands, Wales, the North West of England, the North East of England, the South West of England and Scotland.
Force Control Room – London: Responsible for B Division which covers the South and East of England including Greater London (both TfL and Mainline).

Both FCR London and FCR Birmingham house an events control suite, and a 'silver suite' incident control room is located in the South East for coordinating major incidents and as a fallback facility.

The Home Office DTELS callsign for BTP is 'M2BX' and their events control suite was 'M2AZ' for force-wide events and incidents and the South East, and 'M2AY' for Outer London events and incidents.

BTP also have consoles within the Metropolitan Police C3i Special Operations Room.

The BTP can be contacted for non-emergencies via their 61016 text service. In November 2024, BTP made agreements with the four mobile network operators in the UK to make the service free.

Custody suites

The force only acquired the power to designate custody suites in 2001, whereby all of the custody suites up until that point were non-designated. A non-designated custody suite only allows police to detain someone for six hours before they are either released (whether charged, bailed or released without charge) or transferred to a designated facility. The force previously ran a number of non-designated custody suites around the country, which had all been closed down by 2014.

The force retains one designated custody suite that is operational at Brewery Road in London (20 cells), where persons arrested within a reasonable travelling distance are taken, plus a temporary custody suite at Wembley Park that is used for some events.

A number of other BTP custody suites were operational in London but these were closed in 2017 due to concerns regarding the time that it took to transport prisoners there.

Specialist units

thumb|Prior to the implementation of blue lights and 'POLICE' livery, the vehicles were fitted with red and amber lights.

Emergency Response Unit

thumb|BTP ERU in police livery, on Scene of Security Alert

From 2012, as a result of a recommendation following the 7 July 2005 London bombings, BTP embedded officers with TfL's Emergency Response Unit (ERU). ERU vehicles were given blue lights and police markings, and driven by a BTP officer, to enable the unit to reach emergencies quicker. The unit carries TfL engineers to incidents on the London Underground, such as one under accidents and terrorist incidents. The vehicles are driven by BTP officers, so once at the scene the officer performs regular policing duties in relation to any crime or public safety issues. The use of the blue lights on the unit's vehicles is subject to the same criteria as with any other police vehicle. In December 2013, TfL announced that the trial of blue lights had ended, and that ERU vehicles would retain blue lights, as BTP drivers had halved the unit's response time to incidents. The use of police livery and blue lights ended in 2024 after a review determined that it did not meet national guidelines for blue-light responses.

Emergency Intervention Unit

Similar schemes have been implemented elsewhere in the country, including a partnership with Network Rail and South West Trains (SWT) in which a BTP officer crews an "Emergency Intervention Unit", which conveys engineers and equipment to incidents on SWT's network using blue lights. The scheme won the "passenger safety" category at the UK Rail Industry Awards in 2015. Another "Emergency Response Unit" was established in partnership with Network Rail in the Glasgow area in the run-up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Medic Response Unit

In May 2012, the BTP formed the Medic Response Unit to respond to medical incidents on the London Underground network, primarily to reduce disruption to the network during the 2012 Summer Olympics. The scheme was initially for a 12-month trial, and consisted of 20 police officers (18 police constables and two sergeants) and two dedicated fast-response cars. The officers attached to the unit each undertook a four-week course in pre-hospital care, funded by TfL. TfL estimated that around one third of delays on the London Underground were caused by "passenger incidents", of which the majority related to medical problems with passengers; the purpose of the unit is to provide a faster response to medical incidents, providing treatment at the scene with the aim of reducing disruption to the network. The unit also aims to assist passengers who may be distressed after being trapped on trains while an incident at a station is resolved. Its training and equipment is the same as that of the London Ambulance Service in order to ensure smooth hand-overs of patients. At the end of the trial period, in October 2013, the unit was reduced to eight officers; the other twelve returned to regular policing duties after TfL judged the results of the scheme to be less than conclusive.

Firearms unit

In May 2011, the Secretary of State for Transport announced with agreement from the Home Secretary that approval had been given for BTP to develop a firearms capability following a submission to government in December by BTP. Government stated that this was not in response to any specific threat, and pointed out that it equipped the BTP with a capability that was already available to other police forces and that BTP relied upon police forces for assistance which was a burden. Firearms officers carry a Glock 17 handgun and a LMT CQB 10.5" SBR carbine that may be fitted with a suppressor and are trained to armed response vehicle standard.

In 2014, the Firearms Act 1968 was amended to recognise BTP as a police force under the Act in order to provide BTP a firearms licensing exemption the same as other police forces.

In December 2016, firearms officers commenced patrolling on board train services on the London Underground.

In June 2017, BTP announced that the force firearms capability would be expanding outside of London with plans to establish armouries and hubs at Birmingham and Manchester. In October 2017, BTP commenced an internal advertisement requesting expressions of interest from substantive constables for the role of firearms officers at Birmingham and Manchester.

Powers and status of officers

General powers

Under s.31 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, British Transport Police officers have "all the power and privileges of a constable" when:

on track (any land or other property comprising the permanent way of any railway, taken together with the ballast, sleepers and rails laid thereon, whether or not the land or other property is also used for other purposes, any level crossings, bridges, viaducts, tunnels, culverts, retaining walls, or other structures used or to be used for the support of, or otherwise in connection with, track; and any walls, fences or other structures bounding the railway or bounding any adjacent or adjoining property)
on network (a railway line, or installations associated with a railway line)

A BTP constable may enter:

the track,
a network,
a station,
a substation,
a light maintenance depot, and
a railway vehicle.

without a warrant, using reasonable force if necessary, and whether or not an offence has been committed.

London Cable Car

BTP officers derive their powers to police the London Cable Car from the London Cable Car Order 2012.

Outside natural jurisdiction

BTP officers need, however, to move between railway sites and often have a presence in city centres. Consequently, they can be called upon to intervene in incidents outside their natural jurisdiction. ACPO (now the NPCC) estimate that some 8,000 such incidents occur every year. As a result of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 BTP officers can act as police constables outside their normal jurisdiction in the following circumstances:

On the request of a constable

If requested by a constable of:

a territorial police force,
the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP), or
the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC)

to help assist an officer in the execution of their duties in relation to a particular incident, investigation or operation, a BTP constable also has the powers of the requesting officer for the purposes of that incident, investigation or operation. If a constable from a territorial police force makes the request, then the powers of the BTP constable extend only to the requesting constable's police area. This power is used for planned operations, such as the 2005 G8 summit at Gleneagles.

Spontaneous requirement outside natural jurisdiction

A BTP constable has the same powers and privileges of a constable of a territorial police force: October 2008

Channel Tunnel Act 1987

When policing the Channel Tunnel, BTP constables have the same powers and privileges as members of Kent Police when in France, and will also be under the direction and control of the Chief Constable of Kent. and

When in England or Wales, execute a warrant for committal, a warrant to imprison (or to apprehend and imprison) and a warrant to arrest a witness (from Scotland).
When in England or Wales, arrest a person they suspect of committing a specified offence in Scotland or Northern Ireland, or the constable has reasonable grounds to believe that the arrest is necessary to allow the prompt and effective investigation of the offence or prevent the prosecution of the offence being hindered by the disappearance of the individual.

Attestation

Constables of the BTP are required by S.24 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 (and special constables of the BTP are required by S.25) to make one of the following attestations, depending on the jurisdiction in which they have been appointed:

England and Wales

[Police Act 1996, Schedule 4 as amended.]

The attestation can be made in Welsh.

Scotland

Constables are required to make the declaration required by s.10 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 before a sheriff or justice of the peace.

Status

A BTP constable does not lose the ability to exercise their powers when off duty. Section 22 of the Infrastructure Act 2015 repealed section 100(3)(a) of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 which required BTP officers to be in uniform or in possession of documentary evidence (i.e. their warrant card) in order to exercise their powers. The repeal of this subsection, which came into effect on 12 April 2015, means BTP officers are able to use their powers on or off duty and in uniform or plain clothes regardless of whether they are in possession of their warrant card.

On 1 July 2004 a police authority for the British Transport Police, the British Transport Police Authority, was created. BTP officers became employees of the police authority; prior to that, they were employees of the Strategic Rail Authority.

Rank insignia

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!colspan=11|British Transport Police ranks and insignia

!Rank

|Chief constable<br />(CC)

|Deputy chief constable<br />(DCC)

|Assistant chief constable<br />(ACC)

|Chief superintendent

|Superintendent

|Chief inspector

|Inspector

|Sergeant

|Constable

|PCSO

!Epaulette insignia

|50px|link=Chief constable

|50px|link=Deputy chief constable

|50px|link=Assistant chief constable

|50px|link=Chief superintendent#United Kingdom

|50px|link=Superintendent (police)#United Kingdom

|50px|link=Chief inspector#United Kingdom

|50px|link=Inspector#United Kingdom

|50px|link=Sergeant#United Kingdom

|50px|link=Constable#United Kingdom

|120px|link=Police community support officer

Special constabulary

Under the terms of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 under Section 25 and the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 under Section 100, BTP special constables have identical jurisdiction and powers to BTP regular constables; primary jurisdiction on any railway in Great Britain and a conditional jurisdiction in any other police force area.

BTP specials do not wear the 'SC' insignia (a crown with the letters SC underneath) on their epaulettes unlike some of their counterparts in some Home Office police forces.

As of March 2023, the BTP Special Constabulary held a headcount of just over 240 officers working across Great Britain.

In January 2022 the British Transport Police Police Federation allowed BTP special constables to join, a precondition for an announcement in May 2022 that specials would be trained to carry tasers.

As of January 2024, the need to complete a promotion exam was removed, and two ranks were removed; special superintendent and special chief inspector. It continues to be led by a special chief officer and a special deputy chief officer. Each division has a number of special inspectors and special sergeants who continue to lead and manage their teams. The BTP Special Constabulary rank structure differs from the regular officers' structure, although some are similar.

The structure is as follows:

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!Rank

|Special chief officer

|Special deputy chief officer

|Special chief inspector

(Not currently used)

|Special inspector

|Special sergeant

|Special constable

!Epaulette insignia

|50px

Special constables can progress up the rank structure. Whilst the names may be similar to other ranks (e.g. inspector), the insignia is different, so that regulars and specials can be easily distinguished.

Special constables in the BTP volunteer at least sixteen hours per month, similar to Home Office forces. They also aim to reach Independent Patrol Status (IPS) and then, if so desired, can volunteer in different departments, including:

Operational Support Unit (OSU)
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) (including Major Serious and Organised Crime, MSOC)
Civil Protection Unit
Disruption Tasking Team
Violent Crime Task Force.

For specials joining for England and Wales stations, training is completed in London, and for Scottish specials it is in Glasgow. Phase One training is 26 days, in person, with additional online training sessions. Accommodation is provided. A reduced training course is available for specials who transfer in from other police forces.

Police community support officers (PCSO)

thumb|right|A PCSO of the British Transport Police on duty at [[Newport railway station, Wales]]

British Transport Police is the only special police force that employs police community support officers (PCSOs). Under Section 28 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, the BTP Chief Constable can recruit PCSOs and designate powers to them using the Police Reform Act 2002, which previously only extended to chief constables or commissioners of territorial police forces.

The BTP started recruiting PCSOs on 13 December 2004. They were on patrol for the first time on Wednesday 5 January 2005, and mostly work in the force's neighbourhood policing teams (NPTs).

BTP is one of only three forces to issue its PCSOs handcuffs, the others North Wales Police and Dyfed-Powys Police. This also includes leg restraints. BTP PCSOs also utilise generally more powers than their counterparts in other forces.

Although BTP polices in Scotland (D Division) it does not have any PCSOs in Scotland due to the Police Reform Act 2002, the law that empowers PCSOs, not extending to Scotland. Although unlike police officers there is no formal transfer process. BTP is known to often attract PCSOs already serving in other police forces.

One of BTPs PCSOs is credited with making the force's largest ever illegal drugs seizure from one passenger when on 30 September 2009 PCSO Dan Sykes noticed passenger James Docherty acting suspiciously in Slough railway station only to find him in possession of £200,000 worth of Class C drugs. PCSO Sykes then detained Docherty who was then arrested and later imprisoned after trial.

In 2006 PCSO George Roach became the first BTP PCSO to be awarded a Chief Constable's Commendation after he saved a suicidal man from an oncoming train at Liverpool Lime Street railway station.

Accident investigation

Until the 1990s the principal investigators of railway accidents were the inspecting officers of HM Railway Inspectorate, and BTP involvement was minimal. With major accidents after the 1988 Clapham Junction rail crash being investigated by more adversarial public inquiries, the BTP took on a more proactive role in crash investigations. Further reforms led to the creation by the Department for Transport of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch which takes the lead role in investigations of accidents.

British Transport Police Authority

The British Transport Police Authority (BTPA) is the police authority that oversees and provides accountability to the BTP. The BTPA defines strategic plans for the BTP, maintains the force’s budget, allocates resources and makes senior appointments to the force to enable it to efficiently and effectively patrol the railways in England, Wales, and Scotland.

thumb|British Transport Police Authority

The BTPA chair is responsible for governance of the authority and is appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport. The current chair, Tricia Hayes, was appointed in March 2026. Previous position holders include:

Alistair Graham from its founding in 2004 until the end of 2011
Millie Banerjee from 2011 to 2015
Esther McVey from 2015 to 2017
Ron Barclay-Smith from 2018 to 2026.

Proposed mergers and jurisdiction reforms

thumb|British Transport Police safety camera van, [[Millburn, Inverness|Millburn level crossing in Inverness]]

Although the British Transport Police is not under the control of the Home Office, and as such was not included as part of the proposed mergers of the Home Office forces of England and Wales in early 2006, both the then London mayor Ken Livingstone and then head of the Metropolitan Police Sir Ian Blair stated publicly that they wanted a single police force in Greater London. As part of this, they wished to have the functions of the BTP within Greater London absorbed by the Metropolitan Police. However, following a review of the BTP by the Department for Transport, no changes to the form and function of the force were implemented, and any proposed merger did not happen.

There were Scottish government proposals for the BTP's Scottish division (D Division) to be merged with Police Scotland. However, the merger was postponed indefinitely in August 2018.

In 2007, David Hamilton MP suggested in parliament that BTP take on airport policing nationally.

In 2010, it was suggested that BTP take on VOSA traffic officers and Highways England traffic officers. It was estimated BTP would save £25million if this went ahead.

As of 2017 the government made a manifesto commitment to merge BTP, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and Ministry of Defence Police into a single "British Infrastructure Police". Originally after the 2015 Paris attacks, it was thought fully arming BTP and merging the three force would create a significant boost to firearms officer numbers in the UK and they could act as a nationwide counter terrorism force. Two options for this were developed;

Option 1: A single National Infrastructure Constabulary combining the function of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the Ministry of Defence Police, the British Transport Police, the Highways England Traffic Officer Service, DVSA uniformed enforcement officers and Home Office police forces' airport and port police units, along with private port police; or

Option 2: A Transport Infrastructure Constabulary and an Armed Infrastructure Constabulary, with the first bringing together the functions carried out by BTP, the Highways England Traffic Officer Service, DVSA uniformed enforcement officers and Home Office police forces' airport and port police units, along with private port police. The Armed Infrastructure force would be a merger of MDP and CNC.

In June 2018 it was reported that these proposals had been shelved for the time being.

Note(s)

References

External links

British Transport Police History Group
British Transport Police Authority