Transport for Greater Manchester has been cracking down on dangerous behaviour around moving trams and buses.

A group of eight were recently arrested by Greater Manchester Police’s Transport Unit. The group were charged with public order offences following being caught riding on a tram’s coupling units on the 23rd June.

Greater Manchester transport is fitted with CCTV and has caught these incidents on camera.

All of these incidents are being treated as criminal matters, and further dashcams are being installed to help identify individuals.

Transport for Greater Manchester has stated that between January and May, there were 108 reported incidents where people were holding on to the back of the buses or trams.

Standing on the coupling units and holding on to the backs of buses is extremely dangerous and could result in major injuries, which Greater Manchester want to prevent.

“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.”

Daniel Vaughan, TfGM’s Chief Network Officer