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THE FIRST RAILWAY POLICE
The modern Police Service owes much to Sir Patrick COLQUHOUN (1745 - 1820) who in 1796 published a treatise entitled "The Police of the Metropolis". He recommended the creation of a centralised Police Service for the Country and the use of men specifically trained for the purpose. After much discussion and a series of Parliamentary Committees, Sir Robert PEEL introduced his famous Act of Parliament in 1829, which led to the creation of the Metropolitan Police.

When the first 'Peelers' stepped out onto the streets of London, railways were already in existence; the first Railway Act is dated 1758. Railways, however, were used to carry goods a short distance and horsepower provided the locomotion. In 1830 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was formally opened by the Duke of Wellington. It was the first public railway in the world to transport traffic (goods and passengers) by locomotive, but the occasion was marred by the first railway fatality; the Rt. Hon. William HUSKISSON disobeyed the railway companies instructions and alighted from the train onto the track. He was struck by a passing engine. This accident and the difficulties in crowd control on the day underlined the need for Policing the railway. A contemporary account of the event says "The (local) Garrison was under arms and at various points within the site of the railway…cavalry were placed. Without this display of military force there would certainly have been a breach of the Peace, the populace having taken possession of many parts of the railway".

Within a few months of both the introduction of the Metropolitan Police and the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway the first 'Railway Police' Force was formed. In November 1830, minutes of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway refer to 'The Police Establishment' and less than a year later it is satisfactory to note a pay rise was given to the Railway Police due to the responsibility of their office.

These early Railway Policemen were probably sworn in as 'Special Constables' under a statute passed in 1673 during the reign of Charles II. They were appointed to:-

Preserve law and order on the construction site of the railway.
Patrol and protect the line.
Control the movement of railway traffic.

To this end 'station houses' were placed at one-mile intervals along the line to provide shelter for the Railway Police. The term 'Police Station' used by most Police Forces probably derives from these buildings.

'The Railway Companion' in 1833 referring to Liverpool and Manchester Railway, says, "The Company keep a Police Establishment who have station houses at intervals of about a mile along the road. These stations form depots for passengers and goods from or to any of the intervening places. The duties assigned to these men are to guard the road, to prevent or give notice of any obstruction and to render assistance in the case of any accident occurring, and to do this effectively, to keep up a continued line of communication."

In 1831 The Special Constables Act was passed and Railway Policemen had jurisdiction not only on the railway but in the area in which they were appointed. The London, Birmingham and Liverpool Railway Companion of 1838 reports 'Each Constable, besides being in the employ of the company, is sworn as a County Constable; they receive the same pay and wear a dress similar to that of the Metropolitan Police, except in colour, which is green.' In the same year The Great Western Railway Police wore uniforms 'with a stand-up collar in scarlet cloth with G.W.R. and a number thereon…hats are similar to the Metropolitan Police and Inspectors are distinguished by a red stripe of an inch and a quarter on the trousers.'

Most constables carried elaborately painted truncheons bearing the crest of the Railway Company. Inspectors carried a brass or ivory 'tipstaff' surmounted by a crown.

In order to regulate trains, watches, flags and lamps were issued to each man; (The Ulster Railway Police were even issued with a shovel and a wheelbarrow to help remove obstructions from the line.) The watch was a rare item among working men at this time and was used to ensure there was a suitable delay between trains entering each section of track and thus avoid collision. The flags were red and white, the former to mean 'stop' the latter to mean 'all clear.'

If you look carefully at a £5 note you can see a Railway Policeman on horseback, carrying a flag before an early steam train.

The duties of these forerunners of the Police Service were to maintain law and order on the railways and to regulate the movement of trains. These somewhat static duties were, however, to change in the next fifty years as the railway network extended throughout the country.

THE NAVIGATORS
A huge workforce was required to build the ever expanding railway system. Thousands of men previously used to cut canals or 'navigations' were used to build stations, lay track, dig cuttings, build embankments and excavate tunnels. Many of these 'navvies' came from Ireland, Wales and even the continent to get employment.

Large shanty towns would be set up in rural areas to accommodate these men who all required food, drink and other home comforts. These armies of rough workers with their various 'hangers -on' brought fear into genteel rural Victorian England. In 1836 the inhabitants of Slough and Buckinghamshire asked for some of the newly formed Metropolitan Police to be sent to protect them from the men building the railways, 'the parochial constable being totally unable to afford any protection'.

An 1851 account of these early railway workers says, "They injured everything they approached. From their huts to the part of the railway they were working on, over corn and grass they tore down embankments, injured young plantations, made gaps in hedges with no regard to damage or the property they invaded. Game disappeared from the most sacred preserves; game keepers were defied; and country gentlemen who had imprisoned country rustics by the dozen for violating the law shrank in despair of the railway navigator".

Local justices appointed Special constables to help keep these invading armies under control but the cost, of course, fell on the local ratepayers. In consequence, on 10th August 1838 an Act was passed which required Railway Companies to pay for constables to keep the peace near railway works.

These Police Officers certainly had to work hard for their money and often could not cope with the scale of disorder that was caused. In 1839 when the Chester and Birkenhead Railway was under construction fighting broke out between the English and Irish 'Navigators' and it was four days before order was restored by a detachment of infantry.

In 1840 labourers murdered a ganger on the Edinburgh to Glasgow Railway and it required a company of the 58th Foot Infantry to arrest the ring-leaders. The perpetrators were subsequently hung on a makeshift scaffold beside the tracks.

In 1846 two navvies were arrested for stealing watches and placed in a lock-up near Edinburgh. Other navvies marched to the Police House, released the prisoners and murdered the local constable. In Swindon, the same year, navvies tunneled under the floor of the lock-up to release one of their friends.

In 1851, even Brunel himself was involved with the 'Battle of Mickleton' on Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway where the Riot Act had to be read out twice.

In 1866 the building of the railway near Tunbridge Wells was delayed following skirmishes between English labourers and foreign workers from France and Belgium who were believed to have been employed to under cut English wage rates. Houses where foreigners stayed were attacked by mobs and local shops were closed and premises boarded up until order could be restored by hastily sworn in Special Constables, and the threat of 100 infantry men who were placed on alert at nearby barracks.

This use of Special Constables was not unusual and often railway employees themselves were sworn in as 'specials.' In 1848 for example, when there was a fear of revolution in the country, the London and North Western Railway ordered 20,000 police truncheons and at the same time the locomotive Superintendent at Wolverton had the whole of his workforce agree to be Special Constables.

At this time towns such as Crewe, Slough and Swindon , which were built to accommodate railway workers were policed by the companies force. In 1846 the first Police Station in Crewe was built by the railway who also appointed its officers.

A CHANGE OF ROLE
With the advent of mechanical signaling and the telegraph to improve communication and the introduction of County and Borough Police Forces, The Railway Policeman's role 'lineside' to protect the track and regulate traffic was surplus to requirements. He found himself being called upon to prevent and investigate crime and to assist with other 'station duties.' An 1837 regulation of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway required intended passengers to apply to a 'constable' for a ticket. He required 24 hours notice and noted the 'name, address, place of birth, age, occupation and reason for the journey in his book'.
This accounts for the term 'booking office'. If the journey was considered to be for a 'just lawful cause' a ticket would be issued.

CRIME ON RAILWAY
The continually expanding network of railways gave criminals new opportunities to move around the country and commit crime. The railways were pioneers of the electric telegraph and its use often involved the arrest of criminals arriving or departing by train. On 1 January 1845 a Railway Police Sergeant became the first person to arrest a murderer following the use of an electric telegraph.

As the amount of merchandise carried by rail increased the amount of thefts on the railways rose accordingly. In 1838 Her Majesty's Mails were conveyed by rail for the first time .The first mail thefts were reported shortly afterwards. In 1848 the Eastern Counties Railway lost 76 pieces of luggage in just one day, and by the following year thefts from the largest six railways amounted to over £100,000 a year.

The goods manager at Euston wrote in 1853, 'Thieves are pilfering the goods from our wagons to an impudent extent. Not a night passes without wine hampers, silk parcels, draper's boxes or other provisions being robbed.' Thefts of goods were often committed by railway staff and in 1873 ten railmen were sentenced to 10 year's imprisonment for stealing from their employers.

The first railway murder was committed by a German, MULLER, who robbed and killed a fellow passenger on a train in North London in 1864.

The first arrest abroad by the British Police occurred in 1874 when a Metropolitan Police Inspector accompanied by a Railway Police Inspector went to the United States to arrest a former employee who had embezzled from the Grand Metropolitan Railway.

As claims for compensation for lost goods increased the Railway Companies decided to act by forming Detective Departments. The London and North Western Railway and Great Western Railway formed their C.I.D in 1863 but had used Police Officers in plain clothes to undertake special enquiries for several years before. Writing in 1894 the historian John PENDLETON said, "The men in the Detective Departments on the railway do not fall like the persons they track, into disgrace. They are patient, enduring, and smart and sometimes do clever and important work that has more than money value to the Company.

DECLINE
In certain cases, as the duties of the Police were diverted from traffic control to protective work, the control of the Force was divided and the principal departments, such as the operating and commercial department, had their own Police Establishments. This led to a decline in the Railway Police at a time when (after the passing of the 1856 County Police Act) County Police Forces were being formed and becoming better organised.

Some Railway companies such as the L.N.W.R., the Midland and the North Eastern Railway still maintained a Police Force with uniforms and Police Powers whereas others reduced their Forces, their duties being restricted to those in the companies interests. Often they had to perform non-police related tasks and one railway employed railmen unfit for normal duties as constables. In the final decades of the last century many railways relied on the new County Police to do the 'real' police work and 'hired in' detectives where necessary. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway at this time had a Police Force with fine uniforms. They had ,however, no Police Powers.

The Railway Police at the turn of the century were therefore a hotchpotch of various forces, some with efficient uniformed men but others with old and undisciplined officers, 'Police' in name only and with a variety of duties to perform. In Ilford, one poor Railway Police Sergeant was blamed for a collision, when he was dealing with a disturbance involving some trespassers, when he should have been changing some points!

A TIME FOR CHANGE
From 1900 several railway companies re-organised their police forces. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway virtually reformed their police force from scratch in that year, followed by the Great Eastern, the North Eastern and Midland in 1910, Caledonian in 1917 and lastly the G.W.R. in 1918.

As with almost all County and Borough Forces these reorganised forces were headed by ex-army officers.

One of these Railway Police Chiefs, Captain Horwood of the N.E.R. Police later became Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. The North Eastern Railway Police at this time were the first Police Force in this country to use dog patrols. The 'Penny Pictorial' in 1910 reported "The novel experiment by the N.E.R. Police of employing dogs as detectives on the docks at Hull�?consist of a number of trained Airedale Terriers which, in company with the Railway Police, patrol throughout the night and capture thieves, tramps and other persons who may be sleeping out. The dogs are trained to obey a Police whistle and to chase and stop a man who is running away." An accompanying photograph shows a sergeant with a muzzled dog.

Nearly all other police forces in the world have followed suit.

A NEW CENTURY - A BETTER DEAL
Reorganisation pulled the Railway Police with a sharp tug into the 20th century. Pay, conditions and uniforms were improved and establishments increased. One railway provided training for its constables and facilities to improve their education and Manuals of Guidance were issued. These reforms came just in time, for the Great War was to put a huge strain on the railways and their Police.

In some Railway Police Forces over half of the manpower was conscripted, the remaining officers being supplemented by Special Constables and, for the first time, female Police officers. (In 1914 the Great Eastern Railway Police recruited nine women as Special Constables, one of the first police forces to do so.) Hours for the Railway Police increased and wages dropped. Special wartime regulations gave police extra duties as the railways became targets for bombers. Several stations received direct hits including Liverpool Street and St. Pancras where there were many casualties.

BETWEEN THE WARS
After the First World War many men returned to their former jobs with the police. In 1919 the pay of all Railway Police was standardised and the Railway Police Federation was formed.

The 1921 Railways Act amalgamated over one hundred separate railway systems (of which about 20 had organised police forces) into four groups:-

The Great Western Railway (G.W.R.)
The London and North Eastern Railway (L.N.E.R.)
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (L.M.S.)
The Southern Railway (S.R.)

Each had its own police force controlled by a Chief of Police. These four forces were organised in the same way; each split into a number of Divisions headed by a Superintendent, divided into a number of Divisions Posts led by an Inspector. Detectives worked with their uniformed colleagues at most locations. Many ' non-police' duties were retained however, with officers acting as crossing keepers or locking and sealing wagons.

During the General Strike of 1926 many members of the public volunteered to work on the railway to keep it moving, and the police issued them with identity cards. Special Constables were again employed and with the threat of sabotage the Railway Policeman once again found himself walking the tracks to check for obstructions, the same duties as his predecessors nearly 100 years previously.

In 1935 Police Establishments increased. The Southern Railway transferred existing employees into the police on secondment and if found suitable they were appointed while the L.M.S. preferred ex-servicemen. The LNER Police trained their new entrants by sending them to Metropolitan Police or other Police Training centres to train with local police constables. This was, however, the exception to the rule as most other entrants got a copy of the Manual of Guidance and were ordered to attend lectures in their own time.

WORLD WAR 2
During the last war the strength of the Railway Police doubled. With many men conscripted Special Constables and Women Police were again employed. (This time female officers were here to stay)

Virtually all Officers were trained in the use of Firearms and many especially those at docks and ports carried them all the time. In many cities bombing raids took their toll and railway lines and stations received direct hits. In London 79 Underground stations were used as shelters. A bomb near Balham Station fractured a water main and 68 persons sheltering at the station were drowned. A direct hit on Bank station caused the death of 56 passengers. These were just two of the many incidents.

Large amounts of goods were carried by rail and with rationing, thefts became a huge problem. (Thieves obviously being helped by the many 'blackouts'). Between 1941 and 1952 thefts on the railway actually exceeded the total number of thefts reported by all the police forces in England and Wales combined! Police vigilance during the war was also required at the railway owned docks such as Southampton, Hull, Grimsby and in South Wales where the police also undertook duties on behalf of the War Department and the Admiralty.

One officer worthy of note during the war was Sergeant HUDDART of Leicester who was rewarded the Kings Police Medal for Gallantry after he tackled an armed man who shot at him.

UNIFICATION
During the War the Railways were run by a Railway Executive Committee who set up a Police Committee formed by each of the Chiefs of Police. This committee co-ordinated Britains Railway Police and reported to the Railway Executive.

The requirements for training were recognised and in 1945 twelve experienced Railway Police Officers from the four main companies attended a Special Home Office Course for Police Instructors. Their work subsequently led to the formation of the Police Training College which was set up in a former boys school, 'St. Cross' in Tadworth, Surrey in 1948.

The co-ordination of the Railways during the war years worked well, for in 1947 the Transport Act created the British Transport Commission which unified the railway system of this country. On 1st January 1949 the British Transport Commission Police were created, formed from the four old railway police forces, canal police and several minor dock forces. The head of this new organisation was Mr W.B.Richards who was known as Chief Officer (Police) British Transport Commission. He had six areas under him each led by a chief of police. At the time of re-organisation the police establishment consisted of 3,890 Officers. The B.T.C. police were the second largest police force in the country. (At this time the London Transport Police consisted of just 100 Officers who were to amalgamate with the rest of the force in 1960).

The Transport Act 1949 repealed legislation relating to the Railway Police and from that year all members of the Transport Police were appointed by virtue of Section 53. The Act also laid down the jurisdiction of the Force and gave extra powers to stop and search not enjoyed by other forces.

The new Force enjoyed better conditions of service, but pay was lower than that of the 'civil' police perhaps due to much non-police work still being done such as gate duties, and sealing and locking goods wagons.

In 1957, an arbitrator granted pay parity with the 'civil' police. This made such a large force even more expensive to run, and The British Transport Commission set up an inquiry to establish whether there was a need to maintain a separate police for the railway at all. The 'Maxwell-Johnson' enquiry found that policing requirements for the railway could not be met by civil forces and that it was essential that a specialist police force be retained.

THE FIRST CHIEF CONSTABLE

Arthur WEST

The enquiry also made a number of recommendations regarding the organisation of the Force which included the appointment of a Chief Constable. The first Chief Constable of the British Transport Police was Mr Arthur WEST, a former Hampshire Policeman who was previously the Chief Constable of the much bombed city of Portsmouth during the war. He has one odd claim to fame in that he is the last Police Officer to secure a conviction for the offence of Witchcraft !

Arthur West made many improvements to the force including the establishment of the first Force Headquarters in Park Royal, North West London. He also reorganised the C.I.D. appointing a Chief of Police (Crime) at his new HQ. C.I.D.duties were restricted to the investigation of crime. (Formally they dealt with much summary work including travel frauds).

1961 was a bad year for the Force when the B.T.C. Police lost pay parity with other forces, causing leakage of many good officers to other forces. Soon after, following the 'Beeching Cuts' on the railway, the establishment of the force dropped to 2,300.

In 1962 The British Transport Commission was abolished and the 'Transport Bill' proposed the splitting up of The Transport Police and it was thanks to the vigorous efforts of the Federation that prevented this. In this year 'Commission' was dropped from the title and since then the Force has been known as The British Transport Police.

WILLIAM OWEN GAY

William Owen GAY

Arthur West left the force in 1963 and a new Chief Constable was appointed. He was William Owen GAY, then Chief of Police (Crime). He had joined the Great Western Railway Police as a constable after leaving university and had steadily worked his way up through the ranks.

He was well liked and well known being a prolific writer on Police and Law subjects and a regular contributor to the B.T.Police Journal and Police Review.

The new Chief Constable's first task was to improve morale within the Force and this was done by persuading the Police Committee to restore pay parity with other forces and introduce a supplementary allowance to be paid in lieu of the rent allowance paid to Civil Police. He also introduced a Special Police Pension Scheme which had the effect of allowing officers to retire younger and which therefore dropped the average age of the force.

In 1968 new recruits were sent to District Police Training Centres to train alongside their civil police colleagues.

IMPROVEMENTS
In 1975 William O Gay retired and his duties were taken on by Mr Eric Haslem, the former Deputy Chief Constable of the Kent Constabulary. Under Mr Haslem the Force introduced new technology to assist in recording crime on the railway. A computer system (PINS) was set up at Force Headquarters to record crime reports. The B.T.P were the first Police Force in this country to use a computer to report and record crime.

In 1979 the Edmund Davies Committee looked into police pay and awarded large pay rises for 'Home Office' police forces. 'Non Home Office' forces were not included, so again the pay of the Transport Policeman fell below that of the 'Civil Police'. Once again morale dropped and many good officers left to join other forces. The Wright Committee was established to look into the pay of 'Non Home office' Forces and thanks to the efforts of the Federation and The Assistant Chief Constable (Operations) Mr basil NICHOLS, the British Transport Police were the only 'Non Home Office' Force to receive 100% pay parity with Home Office Forces.

A marked increase in offences of violence on the railway (particularly on the Underground) led to a Working Conference being held in 1980. It was jointly chaired by the Home Secretary and the Minister of Transport and the result of this conference was a government commitment for extra financial resources to provide better policing on the railways. An extra 100 officers were recruited for the Underground and 'Mobile Support Units' were established to combat vandalism and late night violence at well known trouble spots.

In 1981 Force Headquarters was transferred to Tavistock Place in Central London.

Two setbacks for the Force occurred in the mid 1980's with London Buses deciding not to use the British Transport Police in 1984, and the British Transport Docks Board making the same decision the following year.

Following major incidents in the late 1980's (particularly the Kings Cross Fire of 1987) an officer was appointed to co-ordinate Major Incident Training and British Transport Police have traveled the country giving Major Incident Training to other Force and Emergency Services.

During the late 1980's the British Transport Police realised the benefits of recruiting civilians to take over many 'non-police' roles previously done by police officers.

RE-ORGANISATION
On 1st April 1992 under Chief Constable Desmond O'Brien, the British Transport Police was re-organised and divided into eight Areas, each led by an Area Commander. 'Officers in Charge of Police Station' were appointed for each Police Station to manage policing requirements.

1992 also saw the Governments proposals to privatise the Railways and this has led to questions being asked about the future of the Force. Successive Governments have assured the Force that it will remain the National Police Force for policing the railways.

POLICING INTO THE MILLENNIUM
The IRA targeted Britains railways for the early 1990's with bombs exploding on railway stations, lineside and on trains. The problem was further compounded by numerous hoax calls. In 1991 the Force dealt with 1683 hoax calls and 1391 suspect items. The Force continues to work long hours and liaise with the security services to ensure that the railways are safe.

The opening of the Channel Tunnel saw a dedicated group of officers policing the international link to the continent. During the European Football Tournament of 1998 a British Transport Police Station was opened at Lille Railway Station in France.

Train accidents at, Southall, Paddington Hatfield and Selby in Yorkshire again thrust the work of the Force into the Public arena. Officers worked long hours both on the sites of the accidents and in the aftermath with the long and complex investigations. The work of the Force was acknowledged by, amongst others, Her Majesty the Queen, and the Home Secretary.

To assist with the increasing pressure on the Force, Special Constables have again been appointed.

The British Transport Police pedigree is traceable to the beginnings of the Police Service and it has often been in the forefront of Policing. There have been many occasions in the past 175 years where conditions, pay and morale have fallen below the high standards the Police Service demands, however the British Transport Police always act with professionalism and dedication to respond to any challenge.

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