I've travelled Huntingdon train line 100s of times - attack was disaster waiting to happen

The Huntingdon train stabbing incident on Saturday night was truly horrific. Almost everyone will regularly travel on trains in the UK but the sense of dread and fear is higher when you hear of an attack of this magnitude on your own commuter route. Although news of a stabbing was truly disturbing, as someone who has travelled on this route hundreds of times in the past decade, sadly I have to say that I am far from surprised.

The East Coast Main Line is one of the most popular train routes in the country, with LNER data showing over 24 million passengers use their trains every year. The 393-mile route services some of the UK's key locations from London to York, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

I'm a regular traveller on the southern end of the route, taking the trip between Peterborough and London Kings Cross most weekends when at university and now to commute into the office. UK railways do not have extensive security measures in place, and it's going to be almost impossible to stop someone walking on with weapons hidden in their bags.

Ticket checks are the only line of defence from stopping just about anyone walking on a train, but I've noticed these are also falling by the wayside. The lack of checks at ticket barriers has recently become a concern, it now seems almost common for the gates to be wide open and freely accessible at stations across the line at non-peak times.

If the gates are working, there will always be a disability gate left wide open, with seemingly no one checking the steady stream of passengers using this route instead of scanning tickets. The vast majority will have paid, and simply use the open barrier as a way to not have to open up their phone or dive into their wallets for their tickets, but some are surely sneaking on with absolutely no checks in place whatsoever.

This is better at London Kings Cross, but again, at busy peak times the policy seems to be to throw open the barriers and let everyone embark to avoid a build-up. One passenger recently told me he never pays for tickets and has mastered a secret entrance to jump on any train absolutely free of charge.

Many of these mainline stations are serviced by nearby rural routes, which have an even laxer approach. It would take someone 15 minutes to drive to Stamford where it's easy to gain access to the platform without passing a ticket barrier, from there you'll be in the middle of Peterborough station and able to board a train without being checked. If I've thought of the loophole, someone hoping to abuse the system surely has too.

Despite having a ticket, on occasion I have travelled from London Kings Cross to home and back again on the same day without being asked once to show any proof I actually paid. The lack of staff is also a major worry. On my last visit to Grantham station, there appeared to be no more than three staff operating the entire station.

At more rural stations such as Huntingdon, Sandy and Biggleswade, there appeared to be even less. Although LNER does still staff its trains, many of the slower services along the route do not offer the same service.

It's not uncommon for me to travel an hour and a half on a Great Northern or Thameslink train without seeing another member of staff. At night, especially after departing Huntingdon station, I can sometimes be the only passenger in the carriage. It's off-putting for me, let alone a more vulnerable member of society.

After seeing news of other knife attacks in recent years, I've often considered how much damage could be done if someone decided to try it in a train. I never thought it would happen so close to home.