Almost One Trespass Incident for Every Mile of Track. What Changes When Detection Happens in Real Time.

Around 19,000 trespass incidents happen on Britain's railway every year, according to Network Rail and British Transport Police, which is almost one for every mile of track in the country. Incidents rise sharply during spring and summer, with Network Rail recording a 25% jump in April alone in previous years, and a 40% rise in incidents involving children over the same period.

Most trespass isn't malicious. Network Rail and BTP's own campaigns consistently point to the same two reasons: people taking a shortcut, and thrill-seeking, particularly among younger people during school holidays. But the railway is a genuinely dangerous place to be for anyone who isn't meant to be there, and every incident carries a real safety risk alongside the disruption it causes to services.

The industry knows this. In 2025, rail operators, Network Rail and British Transport Police ran a dedicated 'week of action' across Sussex and south London after incidents of trespass and anti-social behaviour rose by 39% in just six months. Measures included increased patrols, public awareness campaigns, and drones used to locate people on the track faster.

The gap between finding and knowing

Drones and increased patrols are a direct, sensible response to a rising problem. But they are fundamentally reactive: something has to be reported or spotted first, and then a resource is dispatched to locate and confirm it. That takes time, and on the railway, time is exactly what's in short supply once someone is already on or near the track.

Continuous, real-time video analytics changes where that response starts. Rather than waiting for a report, a system watching known hotspot locations can detect a person on or near the track the moment it happens, and alert control room staff immediately, with visual confirmation attached, rather than a description that still needs to be verified.

Why this matters at the site level

Trespass isn't evenly distributed. Certain locations, a gap in fencing, a well-used shortcut, a spot near a school, account for a disproportionate share of incidents. That makes trespass a strong candidate for a focused, site-specific pilot rather than a network-wide rollout: identify the hotspots that already show up in incident data, and put continuous detection exactly there first.

SIYTE's rail safety capability, including trespass and situational awareness detection, is already trusted by organisations across the rail industry, including British Transport Police. If your team is looking at a specific hotspot or station area ahead of the next seasonal rise in incidents, we'd welcome a conversation about what real-time detection would look like at that site.