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Harassed by two males in the train


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Hello

 

I am very distressed and unable to sleep since last two nights. My partner was travelling in a train on Friday night all by her self in great western train. Two males harassed her and when she asked them not to touch her, they started verbally abusing her. There were people on board but no one even bothered to raise their voice. She was frightened and was desparetley looking for the member of the staff. But she could not find anyone. As soon as the station arrived she got off the train and found the ticket checker and went straight to her. Thats where she wanted to get off the train anyways and I was waiting at the platform to pick her up. I saw her going to the ticket checker and talking to her. She was looking very distressed and I dint know what had happened. I went to her and I was amazed that the ticket checker was being rude to my partner. He said I cant do anything you have to complain to the police. She even pointed to those males that they are the one cant you do anything. He very rudely said no I cant and you can goto police if you want to. She said I am going to complain about all this and he said, "DO WHAT EVER YOU WANT TO" and went away. Obviously, I was waiting for her to finish the conversation, to fully understand the situation from her. But by that time it was too late as those two males have left the train station as well. We then went to police station and gave our statement.

Now, I know train staff are not allowed to interfere but he was suppose to call the police. He could have seen those two males and given their description to the police as well. But instead he decided not to do anything and for no reason he was very very rude to my partner.

I am very distressed and would like to know what my options are. I want to take the Great Western Train services to court as they aide the criminals get away. They must be on some other train harassing someone else's girl friend, daughter or sister! Could you guys please tell me what are the options I have. I also emailed great western trains yesterday and described the whole situation and said I am going to take them to the court!

 

Please help, I hope you guys can imagine what pain I am going through at the moment.

 

Thank you

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I understand the frustration. Not to long ago I saw a Muslim man racially abused by two chavtastic girls on a train. I reprted it to the despatcher and the train staff as a criminal offence had occured. They did nothing at all so I put in a formal complaint.

Zippo Nothing

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Why are the station staff responsible for getting the police?

 

Anyone, with common sense, would dial 999 if they, or could see someone, were in immediate danger. Almost everybody has a mobile phone.

 

As you say, station staff cannot interfere physically, nor can they put themselves in a position of danger. They also have other (safety critical) duties to attend to, which cannot be delayed - especially in relation to train dispatch.

 

If all you expected station staff to do was to contact the police, then it is odd that you, nor anybody else, decided to do the same.

 

You aren't going to take anybody to court, and, if you do, you are going to find yourself with a very large legal bill.

 

If you didn't call the police, you are just as responsible as everybody else.

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firstclassx

When a person is being harassed and specially a woman travelling alone at night, some of them are very frigtened and dont know how to react.

 

Anyways, please I dont want any ignorant person to reply to this thread! If you think you can tell me what I can do against First Great Western, then please reply here. Else no need to reply

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Hello peace4all and welcome to CAG.

 

I can understand that you're upset and I hope we'll be able to help you.

 

Although you're feeling cut up about this, it's worth bearing in mind that you've asked for advice on a public forum. This means that you will receive a range views because of the nature of forums.

 

My best, HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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you are rite Honeybee that its a public forum. but nothing can justify the rude behavior of the train staff. And even the transport police told us that the train staff are suppose to contact the police.

But, I would appreciate if anyone can point me in the direction of how I can take an action against First Great Western.

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you are rite Honeybee that its a public forum. but nothing can justify the rude behavior of the train staff. And even the transport police told us that the train staff are suppose to contact the police.

But, I would appreciate if anyone can point me in the direction of how I can take an action against First Great Western.

 

Hello again.

 

What do you think they've done that's illegal please?

 

HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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I doubt you can take action against FGW, any crime MUST be reported to the British Transport Police, was this done? as a log number would need to be generated and then it will be investigated by the BTP who can download CCTV etc, it is not up to the staff to call the BTP particularly if the victim has not made a complaint to the police.

Views expressed in this forum by me are my own personal opinion and you take it on face value! I make any comments to the best of my knowledge but you take my advice at your own risk.

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Hi RPI

Yes, as I mentioned in my first post that we straight away went to the police station. They refered us to the BTP. Next day we went to the BTP and they took her statement. They told me that the train staff was suppose to call the police. Maybe BTP havent got the right info.

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Hi RPI

Yes, as I mentioned in my first post that we straight away went to the police station. They refered us to the BTP. Next day we went to the BTP and they took her statement. They told me that the train staff was suppose to call the police. Maybe BTP havent got the right info.

 

 

I'm sorry to hear that your partner suffered this kind of abuse, which is all too common wherever you are these days it seems , but I am sorry to say that I do take issue with what you say BTP have told you.

 

I'm afraid that I cannot see any grounds for taking action against the rail company for the reason that you suggest.

 

If the member of staff actually witnessed any assault I would expect them to call assistance of Police if they have the facility, although the attendace times for BTP can vary greatly from station to station and all too frequently a lack of resources mean no action until long after any alleged offender has left the scene.

 

We cannot really comment on the alleged interaction between your partner and the ticket collector, I'm sure that she was distressed and if your partner feels that she was treated badly by that member of staff then a formal complaint should be made to the Customer Relations department of the rail company concerned. Make sure that you report only factual matters and no matter how difficult it may be, try to avoid letting emotion take over when giving a full explanation of the complaint as any irrelevances may detract from the important substantive issue.

 

Going back to the incident itself, rail staff can report the matter in order that any CCTV footage might be preserved, but if your partner had alighted from a train and the incident occurred on train, it would be extremely difficult for a member of staff to accurately identify anyone involved. It may be difficult to identify any individual with certainty in any case unless that carriage has good CCTV, many carriages do have such equipment nowadays, however securing that evidence is not the responsibility of station staff, it is the responsibility of Police.

 

If you have made a formal complaint to the Police then it really is up to them to investigate, secure any CCTV footage that exists from the incident on train and pursue and take action if possible.

 

Such incidents are undoubtedly an unsettling and traumatic experience for anyone. Rail staff themselves often have to endure a great deal of abuse and worse, which could and should result in Court action, but so far as your partner's case is concerned, this is a serious Police matter and if properly investigated by the Police I have every confidence that the offenders could be identified.

 

It does depend on a proper investigation and not another case of 'passing the buck', which is all too frequent in these matters I'm afraid. Good luck

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Although you feel like nothing is being done, I can assure you that the BTP will be doing their best to find the two males who harassed your partner. As a member of rail staff I am continually amazed by the lengths that the BTP go to. I have even known them to catch someone through their Tesco Clubcard!

 

As Old-CodJA said, the attendance times for the BTP can vary and more than likely, even if the member of staff had contacted them for you, the two males could have been long gone before the BTP arrived.

 

If the member of staff was rude to your partner then again as Old-CodJA said, you should make a complaint regarding the attitude of the member of staff. Some sympathy and explanation of what to do only takes a few seconds and would probably have made you and your partner feel a lot better.

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Unfortunately verbal abuse is part and parcel of public transport in this country. You should definitely go on with reporting these asbos to the police. The train might have a camera fitted in.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for Poundland"

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First of all thank you Old-CodJA, moandcubs, Grotesque and san_d

 

Really appreciate your comments!

 

I have already written an email to Great Western Train and described the whole situation and said how rude the staff member was. I will wit for their reply. But as one of the member here said that I should go and see a solicitor. I am going to do that as well. I am going to take this matter as far as I can not just because of my partner but any women travelling alone at night.

 

I have full confidence in police as they were very very helpful. The police also mentioned in the statement about the rude behaviour of the staff. He also very specifically asked me to raise this issue.

 

I understand that there is no nation in the world which is free of crime and violence. Infact, here in UK we got more good people than we got bad. So its our responsibility to keep it that way and try and report any criminal activity as soon as possible.

 

As far as these train services are concerned, I am very dis-satisfied with the level of service they have given us. As my partner was their customer when the incident happened. But as I said before, I am going to see a solicitor and take it from there.

 

THank you once again

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Peace4rall, as has been said, I doubt you'll get anywhere through the courts. To be fair, even though the Ticket Checker was allegedly rude, s/he fulfilled his duties in one way or another by advising your partner to call the Police. I work closely with the BTP in my current role and would have obviously taken a different stance by contacting them myself, and maybe confronting suspects etc, but please bear in mind most staff on trains and at stations aren't trained or briefed to do so. There's no excuse for rudeness though, but I think a strong, but polite letter to FGW should suffice.

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In my experience train companies do take complaints seriously and generally respond in a measured and sensible way (with the exception of East Coast who are losing the plot at the moment and do not even respond to praise for staff).

 

If you do not get a response contact Passenger Focus.

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