A FEMALE passenger who was targeted by a pervert on a train to Aberdeen has been left bewildered when ScotRail told her there was nothing they could do, as none of their staff had witnessed the man’s indecent behaviour.
Glasgow woman Rachel, who has asked for her surname not to be disclosed, was on a train north last month when the passenger behind her, unmistakably, started using his tablet to watch footage of people having sex.
She told The National: “I was with my colleague and we were just sitting, chatting, and there were other people in the carriage as well, it wasn’t like super busy. But there were other people in the carriage.
“We could hear these sounds, and we laughed, and my colleague said to me, ‘is he watching porn?’ I laughed because I couldn’t really tell what was happening.
“It stopped but then it would start again. It repeatedly stopped and started.
“It became obvious that he was actually watching porn.”
Rachel, who works for a non-governmental organisation, said it then became obvious the man wasn’t just watching porn for fun on his tablet, but was deliberately trying to intimidate her, she says he was looking at her, mouth open.
“I turned round and I saw the man was doing it while watching me. He wasn’t even watching his tablet, he was just watching me, while the sounds were going on.
“At that point I felt really, really scared because this situation could escalate.”
Rachel said intermittent phone reception on the train meant it was difficult to contact British Transport Police.
She left to try and find the conductor, who then promised to come to the carriage and see if he could catch the man at it.
However, the man with the tablet stopped when he saw the ScotRail staff member coming towards him.
Because he wasn’t spotted, and because he didn’t go any further, the conductor told Rachel there was nothing he could do.
Rachel says when she got to Aberdeen, the conductor told her: “Thanks for coming to tell me, there’s nothing I can do about it if I don’t witness it. It happens more often than you’d think.”
She added: “He then said it was ‘inappropriate,’ but actually, it’s illegal. It’s the same as flashing essentially, a sexual act in order to cause intimidation and fear.”
She added: “I contacted ScotRail and told them their staff need better training on what to do. They should know about the processes, and all the replies I got basically repeated that there was nothing they can do unless they personally witness something like that happening.
“And I asked what would happen if someone was punched on the train and a staff member never saw it, surely something would happen in that case.”
In correspondence between Rachel and ScotRail, seen by The National, the train company tell their passenger that as the train crew “did not witness this incident taking place... they cannot act on it.”
The letter goes on to say: “if the train crew had witnessed this taking place then they could have called on the support of the British Transport Police.
“You mentioned that if you reported someone being hit on the train, without the train crew witnessing it then there would be a course of action would be taken. If the train crew witnessed someone being hit then of course they would contact the police but they would have to witness the incident.”
A ScotRail spokesperson said: “We would encourage anyone travelling on public transport who has safety concerns to contact the British Transport Police directly using their discreet text service on 61016.”
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