The UK government will refresh its controversial "See it. Say it. Sorted." rail security campaign, introducing a range of new audible messages and posters while providing nearly £17 million to improve police access to station CCTV, the Department for Transport said on Tuesday.
The department said the update — the first significant refresh since the campaign was launched in 2016 — will roll out from 16 September 2025. New announcements and clearer wording aim to provide more variety and examples of what passengers should report, while posters will display the British Transport Police's 61016 text number more prominently. The words of the slogan and the frequency of its broadcast on trains and at stations will remain unchanged.
The campaign was introduced in November 2016 with a focus on counterterrorism, urging rail users to report anything unusual to the British Transport Police (BTP). The BTP's 61016 text service predates the slogan, having been introduced in 2013; the department said more than one million texts have been sent to the number since then. It also said the annual number of messages to 61016 has risen eightfold to 255,088 since the campaign began.
Transport minister Lord Hendy defended the refresh as necessary to sustain the campaign's public-safety role. "'See it. Say it. Sorted.' isn't just an earworm that's been the soundtrack to our trains for nearly a decade now — it's a really important security and public safety campaign," he said in a statement, adding that the changes "will help spread its message to even more people."
Lucy D'Orsi, chief constable of British Transport Police, said the refresh and the funding will strengthen an existing reporting system. "Our officers are out across the railway network 24/7 working to keep the public safe — but 'See it. Say it. Sorted' reminds us that passengers and rail staff also have a vital role to play in being our eyes and ears," she said. "Our pioneering 61016 text service is a simple and discreet way to report crime across the rail network."
Critics and some rail commentators say the repeated announcements have become background noise for passengers. Tony Miles, a rail journalist with Modern Railways magazine, said many travellers treat the slogan like routine pre-flight safety briefings and no longer pay attention. "You see people are deliberately looking away now. I've got a feeling it's probably washing over a lot of people," he said, adding that reducing the frequency of the messages might be worth considering.
The department acknowledged the campaign has become a "cultural phenomenon" and said the refresh responds to public feedback asking for more variety and clearer examples of concerning behaviour, such as unattended bags or members of the public entering private areas. The updated audible messages are intended to be clearer and less repetitive, while the posters will make the 61016 texting option more visible.
The additional nearly £17 million in funding will be made available to Network Rail to improve police access to station CCTV systems, allowing officers to view more real-time footage from across the rail network, the DfT said. The department said that greater access to live images will support faster and more effective policing responses.
The campaign's refresh comes amid continuing public debate about how best to balance persistent security messaging with maintaining passenger attention. Officials said the changes are aimed at improving clarity and reporting rates without changing the core message that members of the public should report suspicious activity to BTP via 61016 or by other means.