❓WHAT HAPPENED: Data from the British Transport Police (BTP) revealed that foreign nationals accounted for 79 percent of all arrests for theft on British trains in 2025, and 40 percent of all railway arrests overall.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: British Transport Police, the Centre for Migration Control (CMC) think tank, and foreign nationals involved in various offenses.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Data pertains to arrests across England, Wales, and Scotland in 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “They have made our trains unsafe. It is the responsibility of any sane government to end immigration and begin a programme of mass deportations to protect the British people,” said Robert Bates, research director at CMC.
🎯IMPACT: The data has prompted calls for stricter immigration policies, with recommendations for immediate deportations of foreign nationals convicted of crimes.
Foreign nationals accounted for a large share of arrests on Britain’s rail network in 2025, according to figures released by the British Transport Police (BTP) following a Freedom of Information request from the Centre for Migration Control (CMC). The data shows that foreign nationals were responsible for 79 percent of all theft arrests on British trains and 40 percent of arrests overall across the railway system.
The CMC said the figures also point to disproportionate involvement by foreign nationals in other serious crimes on the rail network. According to the group’s analysis, foreign nationals made up 40 percent of arrests for drug-related offenses, 37 percent of arrests for sexual offenses, and 36 percent of arrests for violent crime. Overall, they accounted for 37.7 percent of all railway arrests. “We have imported a huge problem,” the CMC said in a post on X.
CMC research director Robert Bates blamed government immigration policy for the trend. “They have made our trains unsafe. It is the responsibility of any sane government to end immigration and begin a programme of mass deportations to protect the British people,” he said. The CMC has also called for the introduction of a visa “red list” barring entry from certain countries whose nations have high rates of criminality, similar to policies implemented by President Donald J. Trump, and for legal changes to ensure foreign nationals convicted of crimes are deported immediately.
The railway data aligns with broader crime statistics that have fueled debate over immigration and public safety. Recent analyses of conviction records indicate that migrants were significantly overrepresented in sexual offense convictions compared with Britons, with foreign nationals estimated to be around 70 percent more likely to be convicted of sex crimes during the early 2020s.
Concerns have also been raised about enforcement, with reports suggesting that staffing shortages and administrative pressures have led to some foreign criminals being wrongly released rather than removed from the country.
Similar patterns have been reported elsewhere in Western Europe. In France, foreigners were responsible for 64 percent of violent crimes on Paris public transport in 2024, with North Africans disproportionately represented. In Germany, foreigners accounted for 59 percent of sexual crimes committed on trains and at train stations in 2024.
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