12,000 Sign Petition Calling for Women-Only Carriages on the London Underground

A new petition urging Transport for London (TfL) to introduce women-only carriages on the Tube has attracted nearly 12,000 signatures, arguing that the measure—already in place in several global cities—is needed to improve passenger safety.

The campaign was launched by Camille, a 21-year-old London student, who said she started the petition in response to what she sees as a rising problem of harassment on the Underground. In her petition, she claims that TfL’s current efforts are falling short, adding: “We always see it, we do say it, but it’s still not sorted. That’s why I’m calling for Sadiq Khan to introduce women-only carriages.”

Camille said her own experiences, as well as those of her friends, compelled her to act. She described an incident at age 13 when a man approached her on the Circle Line and asked her to spend the day with him while she was wearing her school uniform. She added that it was “not a rare occurrence” for girls at her school to arrive in tears after witnessing or experiencing harassment on the Tube.

The petition proposes that TfL designate specific carriages for women, clearly marked on trains and platforms—similar to systems already implemented abroad. In Tokyo, women-only carriages operate during peak hours and are also open to young boys and disabled riders. Mexico City, which faces acute problems with gender-based violence, introduced women-only metro sections more than two decades ago.

Concerns about safety have grown alongside a rise in reported sexual offences on London’s public transport. BBC figures show that incidents on Tubes, trains, and buses have increased by more than 10% year on year. A 2023 survey by British Transport Police suggested that over one-third of women had experienced sexual harassment or a sexual offence while commuting.

Despite the petition’s momentum, TfL has made clear it does not support gender-segregated travel. Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Director of Security, Policing and Enforcement, said that while passenger safety is a priority, separating women is not the answer.

“Everyone should feel and be safe when travelling across the network, but isolating women is not the answer to tackling sexual offences,” she said. “We do not support any proposal for female-only train carriages on TfL services. Instead, we are working closely with the police to make London’s transport network a hostile place for offenders, including through intelligence-led policing and targeted operations in hotspot areas.”