Drink 'fuels transport violence'

And British Transport Police has said it has "serious concerns" about extensions to the licensing laws, in light of the statistics.

Overall, the number of offences police dealt with was down 2%.

But it said the rise in violent crime, with an 23% increase in Wales and a 11% increase in England, was worrying.

But Clive Williams from the Rail Users' Consultative Committee suggested that the higher figures for Wales reflect an actual improvement in the situation.

"There's a much greater priority in Wales where we engage with the CPS and impress on them the seriousness of these attacks and how they deter people from using public transport," he said.

In the whole of Wales last year there was less than one violent crime a day and the 23% increase is, in fact, 44 crimes British Transport Police chief constable Ian Johnston

"We have had magistrates attending meetings in north and south Wales and I think it has pushed railway crime higher up the agenda," he added.

Also reacting to the figures, British Transport Police chief constable Ian Johnston insisted that public transport was still a "very safe" mode of travel.

""We're actually dealing with very small numbers so you get very big fluctuations in the percentages," he said.

"In the whole of Wales last year there was less than one violent crime a day and the 23% increase is, in fact, 44 crimes.

"Obviously it's 44 too many, but the whole thing needs to be kept in perspective.

"You've got to see the picture in the round. In fact robberies are down by 13% in Wales...

"We flag crimes which have an alcohol connection. So if somebody is assaulted and the person who did it is clearly drunk we tick our records - and this shows broadly about a 30% increase."

The figures for Wales are worse than the rest of the UK. In England there was an increase in violent crime of 11%, while in Scotland, there was a drop of two per cent.