FOR FAR too long, transport workers have been expected to just “get on with it.” Abuse has been normalised. Threats are shrugged off. And when staff say they don’t feel safe, they’re told to fill out a form and get back on the front line.

Well, that approach has failed and it has failed in the most devastating way.

What happened in Huntingdon was shocking and heartbreaking. My thoughts are firmly with everyone affected — the workers, the passengers, their families, and the emergency services who responded. It should never have happened. And we owe it to every transport worker in Britain to make sure it never happens again.

Because this wasn’t a freak one-off incident. It was a warning my union TSSA have been shouting about for months.

In February, TSSA published our report into violence on the transport network. Ninety-five per cent — yes, 95 per cent — of the transport staff who responded told us they had experienced verbal threats or abuse. Many had been assaulted. Some faced weapons. Our members have been telling us again and again that tension and aggression are rising.

This didn’t come out of nowhere. A cost-of-living crisis has pushed people to the edge. Mental health support has been stripped back for a decade, leaving vulnerable people without help. And cuts to staffing on rail and bus networks have created unstaffed, isolated stations and routes, the perfect environment for violence to escalate.

So what do we say to the people thinking about leaving transport work because they no longer feel safe? Or to passengers who now fear stepping on a train?

I say: you deserve safety, respect and support and TSSA will fight for it.

We need a proper, serious review of safety across public transport inclusive of rail, bus, Tube and tram. Not reactive measures. Not PR statements. Real action.

Here’s where we start:

1. Fully resource the British Transport Police.
For too long, BTP’s budget has been squeezed and stretched. If you want fast, consistent responses to incidents, you fund the people who respond. Simple.

2. Properly staff railways and buses.
Empty stations and lone bus drivers are not a safety strategy. They’re a risk. Staff presence is one of the best deterrents to violence and one of the biggest supports for passengers.

3. Strengthen the law and enforce it.
Violence and intimidation on transport should carry real consequences. And yes, that means being prepared to impose long-term bans on offenders. If the government can introduce tougher protections for shopworkers, rightly, then why won’t they do the same for transport staff?

4. Support workers properly after incidents.
No-one should be thrown back onto a platform or bus alone after experiencing trauma. Workers need paid time off, counselling, and support not pressure to “tough it out.”

These are practical, achievable steps. And they don’t require airport-style security queues stretching down the street, a suggestion so impractical it would cripple the very idea of public transport. You can do that in closed systems like China, but it would be chaos here. We need real-world solutions, not eye-catching soundbites.

And they must be delivered through a joined-up strategy, unions, operators and the Department for Transport working together. Seasonal posters and body-worn cameras are not a safety plan. They are window dressing. Our recommendations are a starting point but safety should not depend on tragedy to get attention.

TSSA has been banging the drum about this for a long time. We will keep banging it until transport workers are treated with the respect they deserve and until passengers feel safe again.

Britain needs public transport  for work, for communities, for our climate. But people will only use it if they feel safe on it, and people will only work on it if they feel protected.

Proper staffing. Proper policing. Proper support. A culture that puts people before profit.

That’s how we protect workers. That’s how we protect passengers. That’s how we rebuild trust.

And that’s how we make sure Huntingdon never happens again.

Maryam Eslamdoust is general secretary of transport union TSSA.