‘Passengers used phones to record rape’ on US train without intervening

Police do not believe a single witness on the train just outside Philadelphia dialled 911

Septa Transit Police Chief Thomas Nestel III, seen through window at left, stands by following a news conference on an El platform. Picture: Tom Gralish/AP

A man charged with raping a woman on a commuter train just outside a US city harassed her for more than 40 minutes while multiple people held up their phones to seemingly record the assault without intervening, authorities said.

More than two dozen train stops passed as the man harassed, groped and eventually raped the woman, the police chief for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority said at a news conference.