Scotland’s most dangerous train stations have been revealed in a new study.
A recent analysis of UK-wide data identified the train stations across the nation with the highest crimes rates. Topping the list for Scotland is a small station near Ayr, ranking 67th out of all 2,580 terminals in the UK.
As reported by the Scottish Daily Express, Newton on Ayr was named as the most dangerous train station in Scotland. It recorded the country’s highest crime rate, at 120.8 per million passengers.
However, the station has only logged seven crimes according to figures from the British Transport Police. Five of these were violent or sex offences, one was damage, and another was a weapons offence.
Despite the low crime count at Newton on Ayr, it topped the list due to its low footfall. According to the data, the station saw just 57,950 passengers in 2024.
The second most perilous station was identified as a semi-rural village in North Lanarkshire, ranking 96 out of all 2,580 UK terminals. Caldercruix has a reported crime rate of 99.8 per million passengers, though just 70,158 passengers used it in 2024.
The crimes committed at Caldercruix included two violent or sex-related offences. Two crimes involving weapons, two for damage, and one theft were also reported.
Whinhill Station in Greenock was named the third most dangerous station in Scotland, ranking 143rd in the UK. Lochgelly in Fife followed closely, ranking 149th in the UK.
However, when considering raw numbers, Glasgow Central topped Scotland’s list for the most crimes. With a footfall of 28.2 million passengers in 2024, 351 crimes were reported.
Elsewhere, the most dangerous station in the whole of the UK was named as Johnston in Pembrokeshire. Despite this, the rural village station has recorded just 10 crimes.
Between 2023 and 2024, the British Transport Police noted nearly 80,000 offences in total. Violent crimes and sex offences in particular have reportedly reached new peaks.
A spokesperson for the British Transport Police commented: “Every offence is one too many, and while we understand the concern that we recorded more total crimes last year, it’s important to understand these figures within their context. The chance of becoming a victim of crime on the railway remains extremely low, and reports of high harm crime such as robbery and violence remain low at 2.2 incidents per million passenger journeys.
“Crucially, we know that these figures are influenced in part by more and more people having the confidence to report things like sexual harassment to us, and through the abundance of daily intelligence-led proactive operations taking place right across the railway network in England, Scotland and Wales. For example, in just one week alone in November our County Lines Taskforce arrested 65 people and seized 42 weapons through proactive deployments, and stop and search is at its highest use in BTP since 2010, with a 50 per cent positive find rate in the last nine months.
“It is also important not to sensationalise crime rate data. Stations like Johnston appear to have a high crime rate because they have a low number of crimes recorded combined with a low footfall of passengers, but with less than one crime recorded per month it’s simply incorrect to say that passengers are at greater risk of crime at these stations.”
Scotland’s 10 most dangerous train stations
- Newton on Ayr
- Caldercruix
- Whinhill Station
- Lochgelly
- Conon Bridge
- Hartwood Station
- Blair Atholl Station
- Fairlie Beach
- Ardrossan South Beach Station
- Kirkconnel Station