The decision to arm officers has not come from a specific threat
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond announced the British Transport Police (BTP) will have its owned armed capability. Until now officers have not carried weapons.
He said armed patrols would be "deployed as appropriate in response to the terrorism threat level at any given time".
Armed police from other forces sometimes patrol stations and trains.
In a Commons statement, Mr Hammond said the training BTP officers in the use of arms would "equip them with a capability already available to other forces".
But he stressed it would not be a daily occurrence to see armed officers at stations as they would be deployed "according to operational need".
Mr Hammond confirmed the timing of the announcement was "not as a result of any specific threat: it is a sensible and pragmatic approach to ensuring that our police forces have the right resources to be able to respond as and when needed to protect the public".
BTP Chief Constable Andy Trotter said: "I welcome the decision for BTP to have armed officers at mainline stations during times of heightened threat of terrorist attack.
"BTP officers have an excellent working knowledge of the railway which will enable them to respond quickly to any incidents."
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