South Western Railway (SWR) announced they are trialling body cams on staff in an attempt to reduce anti-social behaviour on their networks and improve the safety of staff and customers.
The trial began on the 28th June and its results will determine whether the body worn cameras will be rolled out across the whole network.
SWR trains and stations are already fitted with CCTV, however the footage from body cams will be compared to these pre-existing safety measures to see whether recordings are of better quality and provide stronger evidence for the cases which go to court.
Alan Penlington, SWR’s customer experience director, said: “While we wish that we could prevent every incident, we expect that the new footage will help authorities in any prosecutions by providing good quality evidence.”
Credit: South Western Railway
SWR hope that the cameras will deter individuals from assaulting, threatening or abusing staff.
One of the routes on which the body worn cameras will be trialled is the Woking to Waterloo network, which calls at: Woking, West Byfleet, Byfleet and New Haw, Weybridge, Walton on Thames, Surbiton, Wimbledon, Clapham Junction and London Waterloo.
Other lines the body cams will be trialled on are:
Portsmouth to Southampton Central
Calling at: Portsmouth Harbour, Portsmouth and Southsea, Fratton, Hilsea, Cosham, Portchester, Fareham, Swanwick, Bursledon, Hamble, Netley, Sholing, Woolston, Bitterne, ST. Denys, Southampton Central.
Fareham to Eastleigh
Calling at: Fareham, Botley, Hedge End, Eastleigh.
Woking to Poole
Calling at: Woking, Brookwood, Farnborough Main, Fleet, Winchfield, Hook, Basingstoke, Micheldever, Winchester, Shawford, Eastleigh, Southampton Airport Parkway, St Denys, Southampton Central, Totton, Ashurst New Forest, Beaulieu Road, Brockenhurst, Sway, New Milton, Hinton Admiral, Christchurch, Pokesdown, Bournemouth, Branksome, Parkstone, Poole.
Bedhampton to Woking
Calling at: Bedhampton, Havant, Rowlands Castle, Petersfield, Liss, Liphook, Haslemere, Witley, Milford, Godalming, Farncombe, Guildford, Worplesdon, Woking.
Guildford to Surbiton
Calling at: Guildford, Surbiton.
Featured image credit: Geoff Sheppard via Wikimedia Commons
