Re: Railway Security---North Sydney Station.

[craigd@lios.apana.org.au (C. Dewick)]

"ERIKA" <Erika@nospam.net> writes:

>Again we find the security at railway stations in Sydney being non
>existant.Two nights ago my son went to the pictures with his girl friend and
>they were waiting for a train at North Sydney to go to Chatswood.Up
>approaches two asocials looking for cigaretts but went to rifle the girls
>bag and my sons pockets.Only for another traveller they would have.The
>interesting thing was that in the intervening period a trian pulls in on the
>same platform--terminating.My son explains the train driver must have seen
>what was going on.He sought the help of the trains guard but was told "Is
>not my job to do anything in this regard--were going off"
>He then went to the station staff and reported the matter.Well Cityrail
>watchers you wont be suprised---Cityrail has no record of the incident.Well
>why do you bother youselves all coming to work?

I'm very sorry to hear about this Erika - that's a pretty disgusting display
of customer service... The driver and guard, who were the first point of
contact, should have immediately offered their help - besides, at the end of
the shift it's all overtime, but despite that, it's their duty of care to
offer any help required, or contact emergency services if needed (like
police, ambo's, etc.).

I'm not concerned whether the crew concerned have done the two-day "POT"
(Pre-Olympic Training) course at Petersham, which actually includes about
half a day of basically b/s-like PR brainwashing, but common sense tells you
that if someone comes up to you asking for help, you help!

Doesn't matter if it's the start, middle, or end of your shift, but you damn
well help! Your son must have struck a couple of the "We're only here for
the money" people. Unfortunately with such a high proportion of new intakes
a lot of them are just here for the money and don't care about customer
service.

I am still waiting to be rostered for "POT", but I would not 'pass the buck'
if someone asked me for help at any point during my shift - it could save a
situation from turning ugly. The damned security guards are not going to
help - they are mostly incredibly useless (but that's partly because they
legally have so few powers of arrest, etc.) and like you have found out, are
not always there when you need them.

The old adage of the customer always being right is not the correct way to
approach customer service, because sometimes the customer is wrong (like
when they abuse us for not letting them on a train when we're departing
late), but it's a gut-feeling thing - you know if something doesn't feel
right. At least you should know. 8-)

Some staff only care about what does on inside the cab, and if something
happens on a platform, etc. they feel their duty of care doesn't extend to
any immediate surrounding area. It'd look *real* good in a coroner's court
if a passenger is assualted, stabbed, whatever and the person dies later on
as a result of the injuries and/or illness sustained, with the only people
who had a direct view at the time the incident took place being a driver and
guard, who did nothing to help because "it's not our job"... 8-)

Regards,

Craig.
--
            Craig Ian Dewick            |       Stand clear - jaws closing
 Send email to craigd@lios.apana.org.au |  Visit my Australian rail transport
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