Transport For Wales launch review after women report being sexually harassed by staff

• By Jess Hope Clayton

Transport for Wales has said it is reviewing its processes after three young women alleged being sexually harassed by support staff whilst on their daily commute. 

The women, all from the Rhondda Valley, allege they were all verbally harassed by staff, believed to be agency workers, while waiting for rail replacement bus services between Pontypridd and Treherbert. 

It comes following the closure of the train line between 30 April 2023 and early 2024.

The women recall being approached by a man on separate occasions, who identified himself as Transport For Wales staff, asking questions of a sexual nature while also making inappropriate comments regarding their appearance. 

One woman, a 26-year-old, described how she was approached by a man and was asked comments about her face and body which left her “unsafe” and “extremely uncomfortable”.

She told ITV News, “At the Ynyswen bus pickup point a man who identified himself as a Transport For Wales worker asked me if I was waiting for the replacement bus. 

“He then asked me if I was currently seeing anyone sexually and continued with questions about my sex life. 

“This was followed by comments about my face and body, and then he insisted that he would like to marry me and take me home with him.” 

She recalled the alleged member of staff being “annoyed” when the bus arrived and quickly asked for her phone number, a situation she also described as “extremely uncomfortable”. 

“I couldn’t help thinking how much worse I would have felt had this happened when I was waiting for my usual replacement bus at 6am when it’s still dark.”

More than half (58%) of women aged 16 to 34 reported feeling very or fairly unsafe using public transport alone after dark in the UK . This was the highest proportion of any age and sex group according to the Office for National Statistics.

“The encounter made me dread catching the rail replacement bus again. I don’t feel safe,” she explained.   

A second woman, who is aged 22, told ITV News how the staff member made her feel “so uncomfortable” that she had to “walk away” from the bus stop. 

She alleged, “A man in a high-vis approached me and asked if I was waiting for the rail replacement bus. I thought he would just walk away after that, but he stayed next to me. The man was a lot older than me which straight away made me uncomfortable. He was really staring at me.

“I was trying to make it clear I wasn’t interested in a conversation with him but he carried on making remarks about how pretty I was. He also said that he loved the girls around the area which was making him consider moving closer.” 

Seventy one percent of women in the UK have experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public space. This number rises to 86% among 18-24-year-old women.

“He made me so uncomfortable. I’m just glad it happened during the middle of the day and not late in the evening” she expressed. 

A third woman, aged 23, also recalled a similar experience of alleged harassment.

She explained: “I was getting the bus replacement home after being out with a friend. I was stood minding my business when a staff member approached and started to say inappropriate things about my body. He also said he’d like to take me home to his and make me have his children. It felt very unsafe.”

It is unclear whether the women were approached by the same staff member. 

Transport for Wales said it takes allegations such as this seriously and apologised for the “unacceptable behaviour”. 

When asked if they had reported the alleged individual, all three women shared that they decided against notifying the authorities of the sexual harassment.

In fact, over 95% of women in the past year stated that they did not report their experiences of sexual harassment, with that figure rising to 98% amongst women aged 18-34, YouGov data reveals.

• “If I went to the authorities every time I was harassed… I’d be at the police station weekly”

One of the women added, “if I went to authorities every time I was harassed by a man in a public setting or on public transport, I’d be at the police station weekly, for potentially nothing to be done anyway.” 

According to the United Nations, 45% of women of all ages citing “I didn’t think reporting it would help” as their reason for not contacting the authorities regarding their experiences of sexual harassment. 

Debbie Beadle, CEO of Cardiff Women’s Aid stated in response: “Violence against women and girls is an epidemic problem that requires all of us to take action to eradicate thoroughly from our society.

“Women and girls have the right to use public transport without fear of abuse or harassment. Sexual harassment on public transport infringes on women’s and girl’s right to move freely.” 

Marie Daly, TFW Chief Customer and Culture Officer said in response: “At Transport for Wales we take allegations such as this very seriously and we would firstly like to apologise to the women who were victims of this unacceptable behaviour.

“There is no place for this behaviour in society and especially among those contracted to carry out work on TfW’s behalf. We want everyone to feel completely safe when using our services.

“We’re currently working with a number of agencies to help provide support for our rail replacement bus services and we’ll ensure any matters of this nature are fully investigated, and the relevant discipline procedures followed.

“Should this become a policing matter, we will support fully any investigation.

“At TfW, we follow robust processes when working with contract agencies and these will now be reviewed to ensure the safety of our customers.

“Reporting of these types of behaviour is incredibly important, and therefore, we would encourage anyone using our services to use the British Transport Police text service if they require assistance in reporting a non-emergency crime. Please just text ‘61016’ or call 0800 40 50 40.” 

In addition, British Transport Police encouraged any victims of sexual harassment to report it to them saying no incident is "too small".

In a statement, it said, "There is absolutely no place for sexual harassment on the railway network, and we are working tirelessly to stamp out this unacceptable behaviour.

"It’s vital that passengers continue to report these incidents to us for us to be able to take action – we can identify hotspot locations, target our patrols, and build useful intelligence around offenders.

“No report is too small or too trivial and we will always take you seriously. We encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses sexual harassment to report it to us by texting 61016 or via our Railway Guardian app.”

If you have been affected by anything in this article then Women's Aid can provide support and advice here.