ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan spoke out about passenger safety yesterday, warning police at railways need more resources to tackle drug gangs.

The train drivers’ union leader made the comments ahead of a briefing by the National Crime Agency (NCA) about the so-called county lines epidemic.

The NCA, set up in 2013 as a non-ministerial government department replacing the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Child Exploitation, warned yesterday that criminal gangs are exploiting thousands of children as young as 11 to run drug networks that rake in hundreds of millions of pounds a year.

The scheme involves city gangs taking trains to rural areas to sell heroin and crack cocaine, with youngsters often selected as the couriers to move the drugs.

Up to 10,000 children may be caught up in the network, with gangs profiting by an estimated £500 million a year.

Thousands of pounds can be made by a single daily delivery, law enforcement chiefs believe, with rail networks from London, the West Midlands and Merseyside among the most popular routes.

Mr Whelan warned: “In the light of the recent increase in knife crime and assaults on Britain’s trains, we believe that the safety and security of our railway has to be improved for the travelling public and for staff.

“That’s why we are calling, again, for all trains and all stations to be properly staffed. And calling on central government to invest the necessary resources both at local level and in the British Transport Police to ensure that everyone can travel safely at any time of the day or night.”