Fulwell station has become one of the latest South West Trains’ stations to receive Secure Station status.
Local MP Vince Cable (MP for Twickenham and Business Secretary), joined Andy Pitt, Managing Director of South West Trains on Friday 15 April to unveil the certificate and officially mark this important new security accreditation.
Awarded by the British Transport Police in conjunction with the Department for Transport, the Secure Stations Accreditation scheme is a national scheme designed to recognise measures taken to improve station security and reassure passengers and staff that consistent efforts are being made to deter crime and anti-social behaviour.
Fulwell station joins more than 100 other stations on the South West Trains network that have been accredited with Secure Station status.
This means that 95% of passengers now travel through stations that have met the strict security criteria set down through this scheme.
As part of the accreditation, Fulwell was audited by the British Transport Police. Among the measures that earned the safer station badge were:
- A £25,000 scheme to improve lighting along the station walkway
- Crime prevention initiatives and training for staff, as well as providing an efficient response to incidents
- Passengers feeling secure whilst using the station – the latest independent survey carried out by Passenger Focus demonstrated a 6% year on year increase in the number of passengers who said they felt secure whilst using a South West Trains’ station.
Andy Pitt, Managing Director for South West Trains, said:
“It’s excellent news that the improvements we have made at Fulwell have resulted in this Secure Station Accreditation.
“Although levels of crime on the railway are actually very low, we are continually looking at ways to make our trains and stations safer. Our package of station investment has delivered improvements to important factors such as station lighting and CCTV.
“These improvements, coupled with the successful introduction of our Rail Community Officers (RCOs), have resulted in a 15% reduction in crime across our network since the start of our franchise.”
