British Transport Police (BTP) is one of the oldest police forces in the world. Our history can be traced back to 1826 when a mention is made of a police establishment on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, pre-dating London’s Metropolitan Police by three years.

BTP has a history of ‘firsts’ within policing. In 1845 we made the first ever arrest using information technology when Sergeant Williams of the Great Western Railway Police, a forerunner of BTP, arrested a murderer after a description of the man was passed to him by the newly invented electric telegraph.

The railway police was also one of the first police forces to recruit women to its ranks, and another forerunner to BTP, the North Eastern Railway Police, pioneered the use of police dogs in 1908.

Take a look at the rest of the history pages to find out more about policing the railways over the last few hundred years and see some photos from our archives.