Dog patrols have joined security teams at London’s Waterloo Station for the first time.
Cocker spaniels Riley, 11, and Buster, nine, and labrador Flo, 10, are professionally trained to detect hidden threats, patrol large areas and apprehend suspects.
Introduced earlier this month as part of a trial, station manager Dan Harrison said it was hoped they would serve as a visual deterrent as well as helping maintain a safe environment for staff and customers, adding the move was not a response to any increased threat.
London Waterloo is thought to be the first major station in Britain to regularly deploy dogs as part of a wider security programme, South Western Railway (SWR) said.
Harrison said it was hoped the dogs’ presence would provide “more visual deterrence” and offer “customers some additional reassurance”.
“In the same way, we recently equipped all our colleagues with new hi-vis tabards to make them more easily identifiable to customers in the station who might need their help,” he said.
This will be the last deployment for the canine colleagues before they retire, SWR added.
