The British Transport Police says its priority is to take "high harm, high impact offenders off the street"

Nearly two-thirds of suspects linked to robberies on Britain's rail networks are children, figures from the British Transport Police (BTP) show.

The data, published on Wednesday, shows that of the 1,680 reported robberies in the year to March, 848 were linked to named suspects, of whom 61% were aged under 18.

It also reveals that a small number of offenders were linked to many crimes, with the most common age of robbery victims and suspects being 16.

The BBC joined officers on overnight raids to detain four suspects aged 16-17 believed to be responsible for a combined 39 robberies. Police say the four all knew each other.

During the raids in London and Essex, police seized large blades from two of the suspects.

Robbery is a more serious offence than theft as it involves the use or threat of violence - with or without a weapon.

The BTP data covers incidents reported on the rail network in England, Wales and Scotland, and shows that almost a third of victims - 495 out of 1,547 - were also children. Of these, the most common age for child victims was 16. The youngest recorded victim was aged 10.

The BTP says the most commonly stolen items were mobile phones and watches. Sometimes expensive clothes were taken.

Some suspects were implicated in multiple robberies, with one child linked to 19 separate offences.

A suspect is "linked" to an offence on the police national database when they are identified by investigators as potentially being involved.

The BTP says the railway network is covered by lots of CCTV, which helps them track down suspected robbers.


More than 60 officers were deployed as part of Operation Flycatcher, led by Ch Insp Nick Brandon (pictured)

During Operation Flycatcher, the BBC witnessed officers execute search warrants on four addresses to detain some of these suspects.

The first raid took place at 02:46 in east London, where a 17-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of nine robbery offences. The team recovered a large samurai sword during a search of the property. At the same time, other teams raided two addresses in Essex. Another large blade was seized, and two teenagers were taken into custody.

We then travelled to the border between London and Essex, where at 04:00 officers had to breach the front door to take another youth away in handcuffs. Later, two other under-18s were arrested, suspected of a further 22 robberies. All have been bailed pending further enquiries.

Ch Insp Nick Brandon, who led the raids, told the BBC: "The message is quite simple: we will put the resources behind this, we will investigate this, we will identify you, we will come and arrest you, we'll search your home for all possible evidence and then we will seek to put you before the courts." He said it was "extremely distressing" for someone to be subjected to a robbery, "especially if they've been threatened by a weapon". But Ch Insp Brannon added that the number of robberies on Britain's railways equated to less an one per million journeys.

Rail replacement bus disruption 'unacceptable'



Calls have been made to address "unacceptable" issues with a rail replacement service that has left passengers stranded.

Northern is running buses instead of trains between Workington and Sellafield in West Cumbria after a survey found issues with the tunnel floor at Corkickle. The buses cannot run through Braystones and Nethertown, Northern said, leaving the villages without a service and other passengers complaining about missing and delayed buses.

Josh MacAlister, Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, wrote to Northern asking it to address the issues quickly. A spokesperson for Northern and Network Rail apologised, saying: "We understand how frustrating this disruption is."

MacAlister's letter said: "I have had reports of some buses not turning up, others severely delayed, some not stopping at scheduled stations, leaving people stranded." He added some drivers were allowing dogs, while others were not, causing confusion for passengers. MacAlister said: "The confusion and disruption is unacceptable, especially as this is going to continue for most of the year."

Northern said it planned to run replacement buses between Sellafield and Workington until 10 August. From 11 August, the buses would run between the nuclear site and Whitehaven.

Northern and Network Rail said: "From Monday, trains will run to Whitehaven on the northern side of the tunnel, and we are looking at the options available to be able to run trains to Corkickle on the other side."

But MacAlister said he had been told by "experienced engineers" there was no reason for such a large railway closure and he wanted to see just the section between Whitehaven and Corkickle closed, with buses running between the stations.



He asked the rail firm to give its "urgent attention" to implementing changes so that buses are only needed for the shorter route, meaning Braystones and Nethertown would no longer be "isolated".

Network Rail carried out survey work last week, ahead of a planned three-week closure from 30 August to replace tracks and carry out drainage works. Part of the line had been affected by contaminated water flowing from abandoned mines through Bransty railway tunnel and discharging into the harbour at Whitehaven, causing the water to turn orange.

During the survey engineers discovered further repairs to the tunnel floor were needed. Network Rail said this would likely mean a delay to the planned work.

Pecorama at Beer, East Devon.

Half price entry on Sat 13 Sept  icw it’s 50th Anniversary and also a special exhibition of working models of various stations on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.

Gartell light railway, Templecombe

Launceston Steam Railway?

Long time since I was there - I think it was called the Lappa Valley Railway back then

These are loco hauled coaches replacing loco hauled coaches, not DMUs.

Construction is due to begin in August 2025 and will be done in stages, including:

construction of the station, including footbridge and platforms
construction of the station forecourt
construction of the southern car park
improvements to Station Road including widening of carriageway and footpaths, and work to the rail access point
final works on Little Bristol Lane, including road surfacing
The new station is expected to open in spring 2027.

or possibly the artificial island on the Oresund bridge, Peberholm (if that counts?).

Starting August 1, Deutsche Bahn's 280-kilometer (174-mile) route linking Berlin to Hamburg will be completely closed for at least nine months. With up to 30,000 passengers daily, it is the most heavily used direct connection in Germany's long-distance rail transport. Around 230 regional, long-distance and freight trains travel daily on the tracks between Germany's two largest cities.

Starting Friday, the intercity passenger trains will have to take a 100-kilometer detour, while freight trains will be rerouted even further. In addition, 170 buses will be deployed daily to continue connecting the towns between Berlin and Hamburg that will be cut off from rail service. Both the construction work and the replacement transport will be complex and potentially prone to disruption.