Greater Manchester Police, Transport for Greater Manchester and other Travelsafe partners have recently conducted an operation in the pre-Christmas rush to help keep passengers safe on the public transport network. Operation AVRO took place on 14th December saw high visibility deployments in Manchester City Centre and near Manchester Airport with 28 arrests made along with 29 stop searches undertaken.
One of the targets for this operation was fare evasion on the Manchester Metrolink network with uniformed police and transport staff accompanied by plain clothes officers. In total 316 people were issued with fines for not producing a valid ticket – the cost of this penalty increased to £120 in September.
Vernon Everitt, Greater Manchester’s Transport Commissioner, said: “Everyone who travels on public transport is entitled to be safe, and feel safe, when travelling by bus, tram or train as we continue to deliver and build out the integrated Bee Network.
“Crime and antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated, and while incidents remain low, we will take appropriate action when things do occur. Operations like AVRO allow us to reinforce this zero-tolerance approach towards crime and antisocial behaviour on our network.
“As always it’s brilliant to see all the agencies within TravelSafe working together to reassure the travelling public, and operations like AVRO serve as a testament to how strong this Partnership is. But AVRO is just one piece of the puzzle. The TravelSafe Partnership works throughout the entire year to ensure that people are safe on our public transport network, and I want to thank the hardworking officers for doing such an important job.”
During 2023 the partnership have carried out 75 special operations which has seen 83 arrests and 4,370 fines dished out for fare evasion. Officers have spoken to 91,145 people to carry out ticket checks.
TravelSafe staff have dedicated more than 5,000 hours a week patrolling the transport network and are supported by 24/7 CCTV cameras (with 3,000 cameras located in bus and railway stations, tram stops and interchanges). The launch of the Bee Network in September has seen a further 30 new TravelSafe Support and Enforcement Officers being introduced onto the network.