Hundreds of police officers have been deployed at London Underground and trains stations as part of huge anti-robbery crackdown across the capital.
Chief Superintendent Chris Casey, who leads a “robust” operation, announced plans “to make the railway a hostile environment” for criminals.
The year-long initiative – which has driven down offences by nearly 20 per cent – was revealed days after a phone snatcher punched a pregnant woman in the stomach outside East Ham Tube station.
British Transport Police arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of attacking the victim, in her 30s, after viewing CCTV and tracking the handset to an address.
The Standard was invited out on patrol with the force’s plain-clothed and uniformed units at neighbouring Stratford and West Ham transport hubs in Newham, east London.
Within an hour, undercover police spotters trained in behavioural detection detained six male suspects aged 16 to 24 in areas of the stations where offenders are known to make their escape.
Four of them were previously known to police. Two had drugs concealed in clothing close to Westfield Stratford City shopping centre and will be dealt with at a later date.
A large group boys seen wearing black balaclavas near a Subway restaurant are spoken to but not doing anything illegal. Officers drive home a 15-year-old boy from Sutton who has been missing for weeks to avoid gang exploitation.
According to new figures, there were 1,527 robberies on trains or at stations in London between April 2023 and March last year.
But that dropped by just over 18 per cent to 1,245 in the 12 months to March 2025 - but is still around three offences a day.
Knife arches and search dogs are used by BTP on occasion to combat the surge in muggings. During Operation Invert last September, 591 people were stopped and searched with 324 of those resulting in officers finding illegal substances, weapons or stolen goods.
Jayden Gambrah, 18, of Lees Road, Uxbridge, is due at Highbury Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with ten counts of robbery and possession of bladed article.
Teddy Kelt, 20, of Heaton Close, Romford, is accused of several counts of robbery and attempted robbery.
Kelt is before Inner London Crown Court on August 4.
Ch Supt Casey added: “The public’s safety is our number one priority, and we are extremely pleased to see the significant drop in robbery offences on the railway network over the past year.”
The force introduced “Grip teams” of detectives responsible for progressing fast enquiries into robbery and sexual offences as soon as offences are reported in London.
Instead of individual cases being assigned to one officer to manage and investigate, they are passed between those working different shifts. This ensures all lines of CCTV and intelligence inquiries are quicker to link perpetrators to multiple robbery offences and hotspots.
Ch Supt Casey said: “I’m extremely proud of the work of our proactive patrols and of the Grip team since their introduction.
“We recognise there is still plenty of work to be done - every instance of robbery is one too many.”
Anyone witnessing crime can contact BTP by texting 61016, calling 0800 40 50 40 or in an emergency, dial 999.
