2025 Cambridgeshire train stabbing

On 1 November 2025, a mass stabbing occurred aboard a London North Eastern Railway (LNER) train in England that had departed from Doncaster and was heading for London King's Cross. A man boarded the train at Peterborough railway station in Cambridgeshire at approximately 19:30 GMT, then began attacking passengers indiscriminately.

Within fourteen minutes of the train leaving Peterborough and within five minutes of the first call to emergency services, the train made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon railway station. It was met at 19:44 by armed police who arrested two men, one of whom was released the following day without charge. Ten people were taken to hospital, nine of whom were believed to have life-threatening injuries.

The next day, the police ruled out a terrorist motive and said that the attacker had acted alone. He was charged with eleven counts of attempted murder, one of which related to an incident at a London station on the morning of the same day.

Incident

The attacker boarded the train at Peterborough railway station, and the stabbings began shortly after the train left the station at 19:30 GMT. At 19:39, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, whose headquarters are close to Huntingdon railway station, received the first 999 call from a passenger on board the train, with the British Transport Police being alerted at 19:42. The police declared the situation to be a major incident, using the code word "Operation Plato", which is designed for use in "marauding terror attacks". This was rescinded when it became clear that the incident was not terror-related.