A group of foul-mouthed teenagers sparked a terrifying brawl inside a London train carriage after a middle-aged passenger asked them to stop vaping – as Sir Sadiq Khan faces accusations of failing to clamp down on crime.
Video footage showed commuters trapped on the Elizabeth line carriage travelling through a tunnel before the brawl spilled out onto the platform at Stratford.
The exchange started when one girl wearing a baseball cap ignored a man’s request for her to stop vaping and instead exhaled smoke towards his direction.
The man said ‘don’t smoke in the middle of the train’, but she carried on and told him to ‘f*** off’. They continued to exchange words and she appeared to spit at him.
The group the woman was with then started to shout abuse towards the man while still on board the train, before the fracas continued on the platform.
The girl was held back on the platform by her friends while other members of the group continued yelling insults and making offensive hand gestures.
Crime on the London Underground network is increasing under Mayor Sir Sadiq – with more incidents of violence, public disorder and a huge rise in vandalism.
Some 12,951 offences on the Tube were recorded between July and December 2025 – an increase of 2.7 per cent from 12,606 in the same period in 2024.
This included a 152 per cent rise in offences of criminal damage, up from 947 to 2,390 incidents amid an ongoing graffiti epidemic on the Underground.
Some 24,565 offences were recorded across all TfL services in July and December 2025 – up 57 on the 24,508 in the same period in 2024, a 0.2 per cent rise on 2024.
A British Transport Police spokesperson said: ‘We’re aware of a video showing an altercation on a train. Enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with information should text BTP on 61016, or call 0800 40 50 40, using the reference 134 of 20 March.’
Smoking is prohibited on Transport for London (TfL) trains and stations, and carries potential fines of up to £1,000. It has been banned since the King’s Cross fire in 1987.
A TfL spokesperson said today: ‘We prohibit smoking and vaping across all of our services and premises. Everyone has the right to travel safely and we encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses a crime or antisocial behaviour on the Tube or on our rail services to report it to the British Transport Police by texting 61016.’
