Bus company issues reassurance after women report sexual abuse on Birmingham bus service

A West Midlands bus operator said the company would “not tolerate” any form of abuse after female passengers reported sexual assaults.

The X2 bus service, which is run by National Express West Midlands, saw two separate sex attacks being reported to police after women were sexually abused. 

A woman was targeted by a sexual predator while she was travelling on the X2 limited bus stop service that operates between Birmingham to Solihull last Wednesday (31 May).

The shocking sex attack took place around 11am, and police officers later boarded the bus around 11am in Coventry Road.

West Midlands Police launched an appeal for further information about the attack.

There is already an existing appeal to trace a man in connection with a sex assault on the X2 service which took place on 26th April in the city centre.

A teenager contacted police last year (18th March) when a 41-year-old man allegedly exposed himself to the youngster on the top deck of the X2 bus service.

I Am Birmingham contacted the bus operator and asked what measures, if any, are being proposed or implemented to make women feel safer when travelling on a bus.

The operator said the bus company is working very closely with police, and any criminal activity is quickly logged and CCTV footage supplied to officers to track down any offenders who commit offences aboard any of its buses.

A spokesperson for National Express West Midlands, said: “We carry around 600,000 customers on our buses every single day and incidents of sexual assault on our buses are rare, however we will not tolerate anybody who does not respect the right that everybody has to travel safely, without fear of assault or intimidation.

“We, the Safer Travel team and West Midlands Police take any reports very seriously and work closely together to identify and prosecute any sexual offenders on our network. We have up to 12 CCTV cameras on every one of our 1,600 vehicles and make footage available to the police to help with any investigations, resulting in a high success rate in identifying offenders.

“Any passengers that experience any unwanted sexual behaviour should call 999 if they feel that they are in danger. Alternatively they can report any incidents through West Midlands Police Live Chat, which allows passengers to talk quickly and discreetly about what’s happened to them. It also reduces the chance of being overheard or alerting others nearby, which can sometimes be a barrier to reporting sexual offences.”