The Oldham and Rochdale Metrolink line has been revealed as the worst for incidents of antisocial behaviour.
New data from a Freedom Of Information request carried out by The Oldham Times has shown Oldham to be the worst line for incidents of antisocial behaviour.
It comes just weeks after a peak time service was pulled due to rocks being thrown at the tram door, causing the window pane to break.
The data revealed that the Oldham and Rochdale line has had 625 reported incidents of anti-social behaviour between January 2023 and the end of last month.
In 2023 alone, there were 465 reported incidents which involved anti-social behaviour on the line, compared to the second highest on the Bury line at 328- almost 30 per cent less.
This year, up until the end of June, the difference between the two lines was smaller with 160 incidents on the Oldham and Rochdale line and the second most once again being Bury, with 126 incidents.
The Oldham and Rochdale line also had 5,982 penalty fares issued last year and has so far had a further 3,086 this year.
However, it's not the line with the most penalty fares, with that mantle going to the Altrincham line last year with 9,157 and the Bury line this year so far with 4,512.
Data for the Manchester city centre area is filed separately to individual lines.
Responding to a call out from The Oldham Times on social media, multiple people claimed to have seen people openly taking drugs on the trams.
Sheron Donaldson uses the tram frequently and said: "I've seen young lads throwing stones at the tram and a few incidents where they try to stop tram doors opening/closing."
She explained the youths didn't proceed to board the tram after holding the doors, and so she believes they were doing so to simply cause a 'nuisance'.
Another user, Katherine Fallows, added: "Everyone knows not to sit outside as it slows on dog leg bend, past Werneth, as that's where it gets bricked.
"Anti-social behaviour from kids, really intimidating. I've been threatened with a punch off a guy heavily under the influence of something."
Violent incidents are not a rare occurrence on the Oldham line, with a teenager robbed at knifepoint at Failsworth tram stop in January, a 16-year-old being left hospitalised after being attacked at Freehold tram stop in February and an attempted robbery between Derker Metrolink and Shaw and Crompton Metrolink in April.
Lucy Kennon, head of resilience & business continuity, said: “There is nothing more important than the safety and security of our customers and staff and we are continuing to take action to deal with anti-social behaviour and encourage incidents to be reported.
“There are now more uniformed TravelSafe Officers, as well as additional customer service staff at stations and on the ground across Metrolink.
"The Rochdale via Oldham line is subject to special exercises involving the police as part of the TravelSafe Partnership, on top of the routine deployment of officers in the area.
“The TravelSafe Partnership also works directly with schools in Rochdale through the Foundation 92 charity.
"Over the academic year they have visited 42 schools reaching 3,500 pupils to talk about being good users of public transport and discuss the impact of anti-social behaviour on those around them.”
Bee Network also say they are "continuing to invest in more TravelSafe Support and Enforcement Officers to provide a more reassuring and visible presence on the Bee Network".
Vandalism and antisocial behaviour has been a long-running problem on the Oldham and Rochdale tram lines, with it having been the subject of debate on BBC Radio Manchester last December.
The show's host, Mike Sweeney, read out a message from Shaw resident, Glen, in which he said that he had been submitted to such behaviour.
Glen said that he had been 'repeatedly threatened' by ‘unbelievably aggressive’ teenagers when riding the tram.
Sweeney added that from his own experience, he thought the line resembled 'the wild west' at times.
As well as the Been Network taking measures against the line, Greater Manchester Police launched a special operation in December last year to tackle anti-social incidents on Oldham's public transport.
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