Union wants action on driver assaults

Unite the Union, the UK’s largest trade union, has called on Transport for London (TfL) to do more to crack down on the ‘disgraceful’ number of bus drivers being assaulted.

New figures obtained from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request showed there had been 818 physical assaults and hate crimes on drivers in the capital — up 20.5% on the previous year.

As of mid-August, this year alone, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) says there have been 431 incidents reported by drivers.

TfL said it was ‘committed to doing all we can to protect our colleagues’, and encouraged people to report any instances of abuse.