Evaluating measures to improve personal security and the value of their benefits

Recent national passenger surveys have shown that satisfaction associated with personal security on the railways in Great Britain has been consistently lower than the overall satisfaction level of rail passengers. To address these concerns, and to improve personal security on the railways, the industry has implemented various security measures and schemes. However, in the absence of a value or a set of values to robustly quantify such measures, making a case for investment becomes very difficult. The Rail Personal Security Group asked RSSB to address this knowledge gap. To this end, the project has evaluated the Secure Station and Park Mark schemes implemented by the industry to improve personal security. The aims of the research, which have been fulfilled, were to establish whether the schemes are fulfilling their objectives and to estimate the value of the benefits accrued from their introduction. The project has quantified the schemes’ benefits through increased patronage and crime reduction, as well as identifying wider social and economic benefits. Additionally, the research has delivered a well developed and informed framework to assess the societal and economic benefits of investing in personal security, as well as recommendations on the effectiveness of the schemes. The knowledge gained through this work may be used in the Passenger Demand Forecasting Handbook, the New Approach to Appraisal guidelines; and individual train operator and Network Rail business case frameworks. The outputs will help make better investment and deployment decisions associated with personal security on the railways.