South Western Railway driver describes effects of passenger abuse

Ben Waterhouse said abuse had worsened since Covid

A train driver has described how abuse from passengers effects him and his colleagues.

Ben Waterhouse, who works for South Western Railway (SWR), said behaviour had worsened since the Covid pandemic.

"People don't seem to have the patience they used to," he said. "There are moments where you just don't want to go to work."

His comments came as SWR launched a campaign aimed at stopping verbal abuse directed at its employees.

It is targeted primarily at customers who would not normally be aggressive, but who might lose their temper when things go wrong on their journey.

Mr Waterhouse, from London, said: "Most of the time is fine, but you do occasionally get passengers saying things that are directed to you that hurt more than perhaps they should.

"Some of them you can brush off, but when it happens time and time again, it can kind of get to you."

He added that "everyone deserves to feel safe at work".

SWR recently launched a campaign to stop verbal abuse directed at its employees

As part of the new SWR campaign, posters have been placed across its network reminding customers to be kind by inviting them to consider the lasting impact that verbal abuse can have on train staff.

Mr Waterhouse, who was part of the group that designed the campaign said: "I think it will help people think a little bit more about what am I actually saying? Why am I saying this? There's no reason for me to be saying this, so why am I saying it?

"If everyone's kind to each other, you'll find customers will get better customer service because everyone will be happy to be out and more visible, and generally if you're nice to people you get better answers because people are more willing to help."

Last autumn, Network Rail published statistics showing that nine out of 10 of its workers in the biggest stations in the south of England had suffered abuse.

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