Two arrests were made and 55 penalty fares were issued on just one night on the Bury tram line this week as part of an operation to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
Officers from the Bury North Neighbourhood Policing Team, together with colleagues from the Metrolink, targeted their operation between the Bury and Whitefield tram stops during the evening of Monday, October 25.
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Metro staff engaged with around 600 passengers to offer safe travel advice, boost passenger confidence and check people were travelling with valid tickets or passes, with support from police officers.
The arrests made by GMP were a man arrested for immigration offences at Bury, and another man wanted on warrant arrested at Radcliffe.
The operation on Monday was part of an ongoing intelligence-led campaign of TravelSafe interventions across the transport networks and formed part of a wider response to an attack at Radcliffe Metrolink stop on Sunday 10 October.
At around 6.45pm, at least 30 youths 'pulled out weapons on a rival group' at the tram station. Police were called to a report of 'men with weapons and a possible stabbing', with one man taken to hospital.
There have also been reports of youth-related antisocial behaviour on the Bury line in recent weeks.
Chief Inspector Jamie Collins from GMP’s Bury Neighbourhood team said: “I am keen to reassure our local communities their voices are heard; we have listened to concerns and this activity demonstrates how we are working with partners to continue to tackle ASB, and proactively target those involved.
“We will continue to have extra police officers deployed with our TFGM partners on the Metrolink line, as this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.
"We acknowledge the distress it is causing, and we will continue to take robust action against those responsible.”
As well as tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, the TravelSafe Partnership promote safe travel and engage with passengers about coronavirus rules and guidance.
Alex Cropper, Interim Head of Operations at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “TfGM takes the safety of passengers very seriously, with anti-social behaviour and fare evasion often going hand-in-hand, so we are working closely with GMP, local authorities and KAM through the TravelSafe partnership to tackle these issues together.
“We will continue to deploy TravelSafe teams across hot-spot areas as part of our programme of specialist operations in partnership with the GMP Transport Unit and district policing teams.”
