STOCKHOLM, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- All subway trains in Stockholm will soon be monitored with live CCTV cameras, reported Swedish news SVT on Friday.
Security cameras have already been installed on station platforms across the network, and authorities hope installing live security cameras on all 271 Stockholm subway train carriages will further decrease crime.
"The crime rate at stations has fallen since we got surveillance cameras," regional traffic councillor Kristoffer Tamsons told SVT.
"Now we can catch those who commit crimes inside the train carriages in the act. If a perpetrator jumps on a train, you lose the ability to keep track of what's happening. You shouldn't need to wait until the next station or look through pictures after the fact."
Currently, all Swedish public transport authorities are required to seek permission to install surveillance cameras anywhere the public has access to, but the subway system has an exception.
According to Tamsons, the government wants to abandon the current obligation to seek permission altogether, making it easier for other public transport authorities to extend their surveillance systems.
"A bill from the government to parliament is ready that will remove the distinction between traffic type or municipality," Jenny Bard, lawyer at the Swedish Data Protection Authority, confirmed for Swedish newswire TT.
