Armed police set to patrol railways across the country

Armed officers on trains across the UK may become a more common sight, following an announcement by British Transport Police.
Specialist officers will now also have bases outside of the capital, with the creation of two new units in Manchester and BirminghamSpecialist officers will now also have bases outside of the capital, with the creation of two new units in Manchester and Birmingham
Specialist officers will now also have bases outside of the capital, with the creation of two new units in Manchester and Birmingham

Armed officers can already be seen on trains and at stations across the country - but they always return to London at the end of a shift.

However, specialist operations such as this will now also have bases outside of the capital, with the creation of two new units in Manchester and Birmingham.

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This means that these specialist officers will be able to more easily reach more of the trains and stations across the country.

The new operations will include firearms officers, specialist support dogs and behavioural detection officers.

Assistant Chief Constable Alun Thomas said: “We want the public to be reassured that wherever they go on the rail network, we have highly trained people there to protect them if needed.

"We want our officers to be highly visible, we want them to engage with the public every single day and we want people to know they are there.

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“By basing new officers in the Midlands and the North, it allows us to make that an absolute reality. We're going to be recruiting specialist officers to work in this specialist environment."

The announcement comes with the news that new firearms officers are being sought to work with the unit - anyone interested should visit careers.btp.police.uk.