MORE staff are needed on trains to ensure passengers feel safe, according to a Derby MP and a police leader.
MP Chris Williamson said that more patrols were needed to ensure "unacceptable anti-sociable behaviour is dealt with".
And British Transport Police urged travellers to make use of a special text line to report incidents discreetly while travelling.
The calls come after an incident in which a father and his nine-year-old son were allegedly verbally abused on a train travelling from Birmingham New Street to Derby Midland station.
Mr Williamson, MP for Derby North, said: "I'm appalled by this reported incident, as any right-minded person would be.
"There should be more staff on trains to ensure that there is enough security and that unacceptable anti-sociable behaviour is dealt with.
"It is a very retrograde step to take when there are staff reductions and limits the supervision and protection of passengers.
"A reduction of staff and privatisation of the railway means that people's safety is being compromised for maximum profits."
And Mark Pickard, chairman of Derbyshire Police Federation, said: "In my view, it does not matter whether you are on a train or not, people should not behave this way to others in public.
"I am of the belief that it be would nice to have a police officer on trains, especially full trains, more often."
Hardyal Dhindsa, Derbyshire's deputy police and crime commissioner, said: "Anti-social behaviour, abuse and harassment of any kind, for any reason, is simply unacceptable – wherever it takes place.
"Those who choose to commit this type of crime need to know that there is no excuse and they will be held accountable for their conduct.
"Most importantly, I urge people to report the problem, whether they are a victim or a witness, so that the size of the problem can be gauged and the appropriate action taken."
But PC Stuart Hutton, of British Transport Police, who is investigating the latest incident, said that crime on the railway had fallen and he urged people to use the special text line to alert police if they felt threatened.
He said: "In the situation that occurred, the victim did not feel comfortable enough to call 999 or phone a member of staff because of the situation.
"We have got a special text line for people in this situation to contact us.
"They just need to text 61016 and they will get an immediate response."
PC Hutton said the force had police on trains on a regular basis and that incidents such as the verbal abuse case were "rare".
He said: "We are based at our biggest stations, which include Derby, Nottingham and Leicester in the East Midlands, and we often patrol the platforms.
"The biggest thing for us is that people make an early call when they see issues happening. As soon as we know there is an incident, we can react and get there.
"There are a number of different rail companies and thousands of miles of railway so we simply cannot be on every train.
"Ultimately, crime on the railway has fallen for the tenth successive year – so the railway is safer than ever before. Incidents such as this case are very rare, especially in front of children."
Reacting to the news that crime on the railways had decreased, Mr Williamson said: "While cold hard statistics bear out what British Transport Police are saying, there are two issues. One is how widely are crimes being reported? And another issue is that the fear of crime and actual crime are two different things.
"People feel safer when they can see police officers in their neighbourhood and no doubt they would feel even safer if there were more staff on board trains that they can call upon.
"We should be adding a comfort blanket so we can reduce problems of crime and anti-social behaviour and give people a proper public service."
