Apart from a couple of British Transport Police officers at the entrance to Kennington tube station, you’d never know anything was out of the ordinary, that this was the scene of an horrific double stabbing the night before.
In truth, London’s weary commuters have enough to keep them occupied without dwelling on those events.
Today, it’s dealing with a persistent downpour, and hoping their tube journey isn’t delayed, or their train too crowded.
Sadly, the violent crime that has blighted so many boroughs in the Capital, isn’t just limited to the city’s streets.
Locals continued going about their business outside Kennington Station last night’s attack
GB News
British Transport Police and their colleagues in the Metropolitan and City of London forces are called out all too often to deal with the consequences of that violence on the transport network.
Some of those we managed to grab a quick word with as they arrived and left Kennington station, seemed almost resigned to the crime they’ve witnessed on their daily commute.
Brenda from Brixton told me she’d seen fights and heated arguments on multiple occasions.
“I just move down the carriage if someone’s getting too lively,” she told me.
Sue and Maggie came down from north London today. They told me that they felt a bit safer around their local neighbourhood, but even there, they rarely take public transport at night.
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Sue told GB News that she felt a bit safer around her local neighborhood in north London, but even there, she rarely takes public transport at night
GB News
Much of the violent crime on the transport network can be linked to the drug trade.
Dealers and drug mules will often carry knives and other weapons as they transit from one area to another.
Arguments and disputes can quickly escalate. And unlike the situation above ground, innocent commuters often have little opportunity to escape an incident unfolding in their carriage.
I joined British Transport Police officers in London and the Midlands recently, as they launched a huge County Lines operation.
County Lines sees criminal gangs in larger centres of population ship drug supplies out to smaller towns in the surrounding regions.
British Transport Police officers have been posted outside Kennington Station
GB News
We followed plain clothes teams as they patrolled inside multiple trains through London, Birmingham and Coventry.
Within a few hours, they’d recovered drugs, money and weapons from a number of passengers, mainly teenagers, running drugs for the County Lines gangs.
As long as violent crime continues to plague communities across the country, then sadly the transport network will not remain immune to that.
Yesterday’s horrific events, within hours of each other may be an extreme example, but violence on the transport network is all too common.
