A mum has vowed to never let her daughter ride the tram alone again after a stranger tried to drag her onto a carriage in Bury.
The 15-year-old was waiting at the Radcliffe Metrolink stop when a man approached her at around 8am on Saturday (October 15). The man, who was dressed in black, began talking to the teenager and asked her where she was going.
As the tram approached the platform, he grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her out of her seat, telling her he would take her to Bury. The teenager managed to escape and called for safety while ‘in hysterics’ and ‘shaking’.
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The girl’s mother, who did not wish to give her name, said: “My daughter managed to get away from him by walking away towards the ramp to come back home.
“He continued to shout to her to get on the tram with him but she continued to walk away. That was when she contacted me in hysterics, very upset and shaken up. My partner drove down to collect her and bring her safely back home.”
While the girl never made eye contact with the stranger, she noted he was a white man, around 5ft 10, wore a big black coat and had his hood up. It’s believed he spoke with an Eastern European accent.
“It’s absolutely shocking that this continues to happen more and more every day – especially at Radcliffe tram stop,” her mother continued.
“There wasn't a single person around at the time this happened therefore she was isolated and unsafe. My daughter usually gets the buses to where she is going. It’s safe to say she will no longer be travelling on the met on her own again.”
Victoria Mercer, Metrolink Service Deliver Manager, said: “I am sorry that this young woman felt unsafe and isolated while waiting to travel on Metrolink.
“Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) takes these incidents incredibly seriously and nobody should be subjected to this type of behaviour or feel unsafe when travelling across Greater Manchester.
“There are millions of journeys a year on the Metrolink network and while the vast majority of journeys are incident-free, one incident like this is one too many.
“I want to reassure people travelling with us that their safety is our priority and we will not tolerate incidents like this on our network.
“We work closely with the police and other partners to try and prevent incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour right across the region’s transport networks.
“Metrolink also has its own team of TravelSafe Officers that spend around 5,000 hours a week patrolling the network, which is also monitored by TfGM and Metrolink 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, using 3,800 CCTV cameras.
“All our trams and stops have emergency help points and CCTV and we will not hesitate to hand this over, and do whatever else we can, to assist the police with their investigation and identifying this individual.”
A spokesman for GMP said: “Greater Manchester Police received a report at around 9am today (Saturday 15 October 2022) regarding an incident at Radcliffe Metrolink Stop.
“Enquiries are ongoing at this time to understand the full circumstances, whilst officers continue to provide support to the victim.”
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