London train station crime revealed – Beware of travelling through St Pancras and Victoria

IBTimes UK can reveal the extent of crime at train stations in London during 2015. Across the network of Underground, Overground, DLR, and National Rail there are 681 stations. In total 15,400 crimes were committed.

St Pancras has emerged as the most crime-ridden train station in London after 840 offences were committed there. The station topped the list of offence rates, ahead of Victoria and Euston.

Liverpool Street had the fourth worst record, while London's busiest train station Waterloo was fifth on the list. Overall, 15,400 crimes were committed at train stations in the capital with October seeing the most crimes (1,448).

In contrast, British Transport Police (BTP) received just one reported crime at 51 stations, including depots in London. King's Cross St Pancras was the London Underground station with the most crime, a response to a Freedom of Information request by IBTimes UK revealed.

Victoria (165), Oxford Circus (143) and Leicester Square (115) came in behind King's Cross as the Underground stations where commuters were most likely to be targeted by criminals last year.

Check if your local station is a hotspot for criminals

More than 28m passengers either entered or exited St Pancras International last year, a rise of almost four million. It hit headlines in 2015 last year when hundreds of passengers' journeys to France were delayed when migrants blocked the tracks leading to the tunnel under the English Channel. It was also the station where Chelsea fans were heard making racist chants before their side's Champions League match against Paris Saint Germain in February 2015.

BTP said crime at train stations across England, Scotland and Wales was down to its lowest level in more than a decade and that the chances of falling victim are "minimal", especially on the London Underground where there were 12% fewer offences than during the previous 12 months.

"Currently, crime is at a low of 6.8 offences per million passenger journeys across the London Underground... an improvement on the eight offences per million recorded in 2013/14," A BTP spokesman said. "This is even more impressive when you consider the increase in passenger volume, with 27m more passenger journeys taking place than last year."

BTP added the sheer number of passengers passing through hub stations like St Pancras and Victoria meant people were more likely to be victims of crime. Some stations on the list appeared to have high numbers as they were "end of line" terminals and officers sometimes recorded crimes committed on trains under that station.