A new safety initiative is set to provide additional peace of mind for anyone travelling by tram in the West Midlands and for the dedicated team responsible for delivering the services that thousands of people rely on every day.
Trams are already one of the safest forms of public transport, but the rollout of body-worn cameras will help front-line staff further reduce the risk of serious incidents involving anti-social behaviour and other unacceptable activity.
The cameras form an integral part of an advanced system developed by Halo, a global security firm, that stores high-resolution footage and audio recordings in the Cloud that can be shared with the police to identify any offenders and as evidence if cases are brought to court.
It also provides real-time images and GPS data to the tram control room, improving the response to incidents as they happen.
Anthony Stanley, Head of Quality, Health and Safety and Environment at West Midlands Metro, commented: “The new bodycams will provide an additional layer of security for anyone using the tram, supplementing our extensive network of fixed cameras across the network and on board the trams.
“Trials of the system earlier this year proved popular with both customers and Metro colleagues, and we’re delighted that the bodycams will be offered to front-line colleagues starting from Monday the 11th of December 2023.
“While serious incidents are fortunately extremely uncommon on the network, we hope they will act as an effective deterrent to anyone thinking of misbehaving.
“Anyone who abuses or threatens our colleagues, or members of the travelling public, will know that they have been caught on camera, and the footage will be shared with the police, who we work closely with to ensure our tram is as safe as it can possibly be.”
