A third of women face sexual assault on British railways

The study also revealed most of the offences are carried out during the evening rush hour on busy trains, with offences including leering, catcalling, touching, pressing, upskirting or indecent exposure.

BTP is using the data to target patrols by plainclothes officers to identify offenders.

Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Furnell said: “Our figures show that it’s most likely to happen at the busiest hours when carriages are most full.

“This means we all have a part to play in taking our heads out of our phones or newspapers and being aware of what’s going on around us – and if we see something that isn’t right doing something about it, whether that’s intervening if you feel safe to do so or reporting it to police.

“I would urge everyone to download the Railway Guardian app and let us know if you witness or experience this sort of offending.”

Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “Experiences of sexual harassment are sadly a reality for many women, but as an industry our message is clear, any form of sexual harassment on the rail network is completely unacceptable and we are working with the BTP to confront this problem.

“The latest data shows that harassment doesn’t just happen out of sight. As bystanders, we can help to confront this problem by reporting incidents or making safe interventions.

“Our campaign was created with BTP to highlight the different forms of sexual harassment and help people to think about simple actions they can take without putting themselves in harm’s way.”

She said: “Even when the public report a horrific crime like rape or child sex abuse there are less than two in every 100 reported rapes that ever reach court, so if those kinds of serious sex offences don’t get the attention or level of investigation needed, what chance does someone who has been touched on a train in getting any kind of justice?

“Increasingly the public feel that reporting such crimes is a waste of their time and will increase their trauma.”