How to Report Behaviour on a Train?

Text 61016. British Transport Police's text service covers every train and station in Great Britain, runs 24 hours a day, and exists specifically for situations where calling out loud isn't safe or sensible — you can report discreetly from your seat instead. In a genuine emergency, always call 999 first.

Include as much detail as you can: which service you're on, roughly when you boarded, and a description of what's happening. BTP's contact handlers monitor the service around the clock and can meet the train at its next stop, or send help to a station immediately. The National Rail app also has a built-in "Report an Incident" option that pre-fills most of this for you.

If you'd rather speak to someone directly, any conductor, guard or station staff member can take a report and escalate it through their own control room. For staff actually dealing with the behaviour in the moment, rather than reporting it after the fact, that same chain - radio to control, then BTP - is exactly what our Managing Challenging & Aggressive Behaviour course for transport staff trains them to use, alongside the de-escalation skills that come before it ever reaches that point.

See also: how bus drivers deal with a difficult or aggressive passenger.