Eight youths arrested after being caught riding a tram
The group were arrested by Greater Manchester Police’s Transport Unit and charged with public order offences – among other criminal offences
A group of eight youths have been arrested as part of a crackdown on extremely dangerous behaviour involving people hanging onto moving buses and trams.
The group were arrested by Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) Transport Unit and charged with public order offences – among other criminal offences – after they were caught riding on ‘coupling units’ that connect trams together in Manchester city centre on Monday 23rd June.
All buses and trams are fitted with CCTV cameras and footage of these incidents, which are being treated as a criminal matter by GMP, is being shared through the TravelSafe Partnership.
High resolution dashcams are also being installed on trams to help identify offenders.
Between January and May this year there have been 108 reported incidents of people holding onto the back of buses or riding on automatic couplers between trams, exceeding the 80 reported across the bus and Metrolink network during all of 2024.
Daniel Vaughan, TfGM’s Chief Network Officer, said:
“We are aware of a worrying rise in reports – here and elsewhere in the country – of people, mostly youths, riding between trams and hanging off the back of buses, with footage of these reckless incidents circulating on social media.
“This incredibly dangerous behaviour could have catastrophic consequences, and these arrests demonstrate our zero-tolerance approach to crime and antisocial behaviour on public transport.
“Unfortunately, we have seen people die as a result of falling between trams having climbed onto an auto coupler, and we want to prevent this from happening again.
“We would urge parents and guardians to speak to their children about the dangers of participating in this kind of behaviour and for schools to highlight the danger to pupils. Anyone caught in engaging in dangerous activities are not only taking their own lives in their hands, but they will also face very real consequences when they are caught.”