British Transport Police want to speak to a man who got off at Orpington after the alleged assault on 15 October. They believe he may have information that could help the investigation.
British Transport Police (BTP) have released a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to in connection with a sexual assault on a train leaving London. Detectives say that at around 7.10pm on Thursday 15 October, a man boarded a London Bridge to Sevenoaks service, sat next to another man, spoke to him and then sexually assaulted him. The man then got off at Orpington railway station. Detectives believe the man pictured may have information that could help their inquiry.
The appeal
In a statement, BTP said: “Detectives have released an image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with a sexual assault on board a train heading out of London.”
Anyone who recognises him is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40, quoting reference 336 of 20 October. Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
The appeal was published at 1.53pm on 12 November, nearly four weeks after the reported assault. The man in the image has not been publicly identified as a suspect, and no arrest or charge has been reported. BTP has not said why the reference is dated 20 October, five days after the incident.
What police have not said
The police statement does not describe the train as busy, and neither it nor the Evening Standard’s report of 13 November gives passenger numbers or witness accounts. BTP has not published the train’s exact departure time, headcode or carriage number, or said where the CCTV image was taken. It has not disclosed whether other passengers saw the assault, or given any information about the victim’s condition or the support he has received.
Sexual offences on the railway
BTP recorded 2,198 sexual offences across its policing area in the year to March 2026, down about 0.8% from 2,216 in 2024/25, according to published performance data. These are recorded offences across the network, not on this route.
A parliamentary written answer from the Department for Transport on 11 December 2025 gave a different BTP series. It showed reports of sexual offences on trains rising from 2,251 in 2022/23 to 2,433 in 2023/24 and 2,655 in 2024/25, a rise of about 17.9%. The department cautioned that higher passenger numbers after the pandemic could explain some of the increase. It recorded 26 crimes per million passenger journeys in 2024/25, against 26.8 in 2023/24 and 24.4 in 2022/23. That covers all crime types. The two series should not be combined.
BTP recorded 614 arrests linked to sexual offences in 2024/25, 573 in England and Wales and 41 in Scotland, according to a freedom of information response. It warned that an arrest is not evidence of guilt.
BTP’s measures
On 16 June, BTP launched a campaign called “Think Again”, warning offenders that they can be detected by plain-clothes officers and through more than 150,000 CCTV cameras across the network. It said it has strengthened its capabilities through a specialist taskforce on sexual offending, though it has not said whether that unit is working on this case. The force said it receives more than 250,000 texts a year on its 61016 service, with reports rising year on year.
A new offence of sex-based harassment came into force on 1 April. BTP announced its first charge under it, against a 43-year-old man from Maidstone, over an alleged incident on a Hastings to London Bridge train on 3 April, and said in June that it had secured its first conviction. That case is separate from the October incident.
