[Melb] Security guards on trains after 9pm / more staff on trains

["Daniel Bowen" <dbowen@custard.REMOVE.net.au>]

http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/0007/11/A65399-2000Jul11.shtml

Security guards for late-night trains

Source: AAP|Published: Tuesday July 11, 8:36 AM

Security guards will patrol late-night trains in Melbourne in a bid to
ensure passenger safety.
Bayside Trains communications manager Dean Souter said the company had
launched a trial with security staff from Chubb Security to patrol all nine
of their lines from 9pm until the last train each evening.
"They are not armed and they are instructed to deter, certainly their role
is not combative," he told Melbourne Radio 3AW.
"Increasingly our customers are perceiving that it is unsafe on our trains
and that is because they're faced with more and more slashed seats and
graffiti on the walls of the trains.
"We're providing security staff as an effective deterrent to these would-be
vandals," Mr Souter said.
Mr Souter said the higher security would not lead to an increase in fares.
The first squad of eight guards began patrolling train lines in the western
and south-eastern suburbs last night.
Bayside operates Melbourne's Werribee, Williamstown, St Albans, Pakenham,
Cranbourne, Frankston, Sandringham, Broadmeadows and Upfield lines.
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http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/0007/11/A65535-2000Jul11.shtml
Vic Govt to put 100 extra staff on trains

Source: AAP|Published: Tuesday July 11, 11:29 AM


MELBOURNE: The Victorian Government had allocated $20 million to put 100
more staff on Melbourne trains in a bid to help passengers feel safer,
acting premier John Thwaites said today.
'We committed that in the (May) budget and we're now negotiating with the
private operators of the trains so we can have those staff in place later
this year,' Mr Thwaites told radio 3AW.
The extra staff would patrol trains and stations.
'There's no doubt that people need to feel secure if they're going to travel
on public transport, and we want to promote public transport,' Mr Thwaites
said.
Mr Thwaites said restoring guards to trains would be unlikely to alleviate
passenger safety concerns if guards were merely placed at the back of the
train.
Having security buttons for passengers was not a solution either because by
the time passengers used them they were probably already being threatened.
'The key is to have (security) people moving around,' Mr Thwaites said.
A private train operator has already introduced security guards to patrol
late-night trains in Melbourne in a bid to ensure passenger safety.
Bayside Trains' communications manager Dean Souter said the company had
launched a trial with security staff from Chubb Security to patrol all nine
of their lines from 9pm until the last train each evening.
'They are not armed and they are instructed to deter, certainly their role
is not combative,' Mr Souter told radio 3AW.
'Increasingly our customers are perceiving that it is unsafe on our trains
and that is because they're faced with more and more slashed seats and
graffiti on the walls of the trains.
'We're providing security staff as an effective deterrent to these would-be
vandals.'
Mr Souter said the move would not lead to an increase in fares.
The first squad of eight guards began patrolling train lines in the western
and south-eastern suburbs last night.
Bayside operates Melbourne's Werribee, Williamstown, St Albans, Pakenham,
Cranbourne, Frankston, Sandringham, Broadmeadows and Upfield lines.


--
Daniel Bowen, Melbourne, Australia
dbowen@custard.REMOVE.net.au
http://www.custard.net.au/bowen/daniel/