'Bad passenger' blitz on Sydney trains

Sydney train passengers who litter, get drunk, swear and jump ticket barriers will be targeted in a month-long blitz.

The crackdown will involve about 600 police officers and 250 transport officers across all major train lines, with police citing a steady rise in the number of passengers carrying knives and other weapons among their chief concerns.

Assistant Commissioner Max Mitchell of the NSW Police Transport Command said most of the low-level offences attracted fines in the vicinity of $500.

"What the general public needs to understand is when we focus on these minor offences, the strong likelihood is we're making a very strong impact on stopping more serious crime from occurring," he said on Tuesday.

Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins said the operation coincided with one of the busiest times of the year.

"February is the month where we're seeing record numbers of people on our network - over a million journeys a day on the Sydney network," he said.

"We're talking about basic manners that not only make train journeys more pleasant for everyone, but also helps avoid train delays caused by people not being able to board and alight quickly."

Since the beginning of the crackdown, 10 people have been arrested and charged with minor offences and more than 500 infringements have been issued.