"No railway station should ever be left unstaffed while it is open to the public," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today, welcoming the Greater London Assembly's call for 'stricter standards' for passenger safety at rail stations.

Bob Crow said: "We need adequate uniformed and safety-trained staff on every station all the time they are open and properly trained guards on all trains.

"Station staff and guards have been cut for financial reasons by companies more worried about their bottom line than about the safety of passengers and rail workers - and that is a direct result of privatisation and fragmentation.

"Passengers want to see more visible station staff, not fewer, particularly in today's climate, and our members should have the right to work without constant fear of assault and abuse.

"The GLA transport committee's report is a welcome step, and it is all the more baffling why some of its members saw fit to attack members of RMT for taking action to maintain safe staffing levels on Tube stations," Bob Crow said.