100 violent attacks at Black Country railway stations
More than 100 violent attacks were reported at railway stations in the Black Country during the last two years, new figures have revealed.
People were brutally assaulted, threatened with firearms and racially abused as violence flared at stations.
Police were called to scores of incidents next to the railway tracks in 2013 and 2014. Of the incidents reported to the police, 38 happened at Wolverhampton train station.
These included two vicious attacks where actual bodily harm was inflicted. One victim was a 41-year-old man who was attacked in September last year.
The violence wasn't restricted to Wolverhampton. Incidents were recorded at numerous stations on the Black Country network.
A boy and a girl, both aged 17, were seriously injured after being attacked at Stourbridge Junction station on New Year's Day 2013. Three days later a 60-year-old woman was badly hurt at Walsall station. Her attacker was charged with causing grievous bodily harm.
In March 2013, police were called to Bescot station to reports of someone with a firearm.
Someone was also maliciously wounded on the railway platform at Dudley Port station in December 2013. In December 2014, two people were seriously hurt after an attack at Tipton station.
Police officers were also assaulted at stations. The figures were revealed following a Freedom of Information request from the Express & Star.
Wolverhampton councillor Zahid Shah said he believed rail passengers would be concerned. He said: "There has been two years of violent attacks but what has been done?"
The figures also revealed there were more than 100 violent incidents at Birmingham New Street station alone.
