Sowerby Bridge Station so use classical music to deter anti-social behaviour

The plan follows a pilot scheme conducted at nine stations across the North of England in the past twelve months (Billingham, Shildon, Heighington North Road, Orrell, Keighley, Hyde North, Ilkley and Newton Aycliffe) which saw a significant reduction in the number of loitering, graffiti and vandalism-related incidents during the trial.

Sowerby Bridge is one of 23 new stations to take part in the scheme.

Music will only be played at certain times of the day, which will vary from station to station to have the best impact on behaviour.

Mark Powles, customer and commercial director, at Northern, said: “Anti-social behaviour is a nuisance in its lightest form and nothing short of a criminal act at its worst. Unfortunately, railway stations - like many other public areas - can attract this sort of mindless behaviour – which is unfair and unsettling to our customers.

“The classical music trials proved very interesting – and the results speak for themselves. We’ll now begin work on a roll-out programme across 23 targeted stations to spread that success far and wide.”

Anyone can report anti-social behaviour on the rail network by contacting British Transport Police via text message on 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40.

Northern is the second largest train operator in the country, with nearly 2,000 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.