Train criminals have been told where to get off - as crime on the railways plummets by more than a quarter.

Latest figures from train operator Southeastern has shown a drop in reported crime of 25.7 per cent over the last four years.

But bike crime has shot up by two thirds in the same period.

Headline figures include:

* Robberies down from 629 between 2004 and 2005 to 145 last year - a drop of 23 per cent.

* The number of violent incidents has fallen by 24 per cent from 749 to 570 last year.

* Sexual offences were also down by 27 per cent , from 106 to 77 , and passenger thefts showed a 36 per cent drop from 1,392 to 890.

But those taking their bikes on board had better beware! There has been a 68 per cent increase in bike crime, up to 461 cases, a 55 per cent increase in drugs offences, rising to 221 across the region, and smaller rises in public order and fraud offences.

In all, crime on the tracks has fallen from 6,546 in 2004-5 to to 4,866 in 2007-8.

Chief Superintendent Steve Morgan, British Transport’s Police London south area commander, said: “These figures are extremely pleasing. Crime continues to reduce across the board, while we continue to solve a larger percentage of those crimes that do occur.”

The overall cut in crime is due to the close partnership between the BTP, police and Network Rail and improved CCTV surveillance and growing use of the company’s own Railway Enforcement Officers.

There are now 60 REOs in Ashford, Chatham, Dartford, Margate and Orpington, plus a small team working alongside a BTP neighbourhood policing unit at Lewisham.

Chief Superintendent Steve Morgan, BTP’s London South Area Commander, said: “These figures are extremely pleasing. Crime continues to reduce across the board, while we continue to solve a larger percentage of those crimes that do occur.”

Factfile:

Govia, which owns Southeastern, is the UK's busiest rail operator

It is responsible for 28.7 per cent of all UK passenger rail journeys through its rail firms Southern, Southeastern and London Midland

Southeastern runs services into London from Kent and East Sussex, operating some 1,750 trains a day

More than 400,000 passengers are carried each day across 182 stations