A call has been made for women-only train carriages to be introduced in an attempt to cut down on the number of sexual assaults on public transport.

The idea was proposed by shadow fire minister Chris Williamson, and follows reports of a a 17-year-old girl being sexually assaulted twice, by two different men, on a train journey between Newquay and Plymouth as she made her way home from the Boardmasters festival.

Mr Williamson said creating separate travelling arrangements for female passengers might offer "a safe space" for women as sexual offences on trains have more than doubled in the past five years, reports Devon Live .

Some 1,448 offences were reported in 2016/17, compared with 650 incidents in 2012/2013, British Transport Police figures show.

Woman at a train station
Woman at a train station

The idea was initially suggested by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during his 2015 leadership bid, but the plans were dropped after attracting criticism, including from prominent female Labour MPs such as Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.

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Mr Williamson (Derby North) was drawn into the debate when he retweeted an article by left-wing blog Skwawkbox, which pointed to official figures showing a rise in sex attacks on public transport.

He told PoliticsHome: "It would be worth consulting about it. It was pooh-poohed (when Jeremy Corbyn suggested it), but these statistics seem to indicate there is some merit in examining that.

"Complemented with having more guards on trains, it would be a way of combating these attacks, which have seen a very worrying increase in the past few years.

"I'm not saying it has to happen, but it may create a safe space. It would be a matter of personal choice whether someone wanted to make use of it."

Female-only carriages on trains have been tried in countries such as Japan, Brazil and Mexico.