Re: Whats it like in Melb?

[Michael Kurkowski <mk@netstra.com.au>]

Hi,

>> > Are the trains safe day or night?
>> 
>> Day, certainly. Night... perhaps a little intimidating, but generally
>> safe.
>
>Is anyone able to say why the trains are "intimidating" at night? 

Depends what line youre on, I find the Broadmeadows and Hurstbridge lines 
pretty tame at most times anyway, but the intimidation is more due to the 
undesireable types that use the public transport system. Those not really 
like your drunk party person, but more the druggos and people who boast to 
their friends who are also with them about things like "ooh i got him good 
i did, i put him in hospital". 

Even on my own, at most times because there are plenty of people within the 
carriage(s) i find the night trains to be safe. Particularly, i find the 
best on most occasions is the second last and last trains which i catch 
frequently due to after-work gunzelling (i finish work at 9pm). 

Once again it looks like a media beat up to obtain yet another story so 
they can make their money. Unfortunately with stories like that trains are 
totally unsafe to use and to avoid them at all costs are derogatory and 
only giving public transport a bad name, hence moving people away from it.

For one thing, my parents are totally shitscared when I catch a train at 
night, because the way the media portrays it is a dark dingy dungeon like 
environment where youre surrounded by freaks and murderers. Maybe that is 
an exaggeration, but it does make one wonder at times...



>It's a good few years now since I have been on a night train in
>Melbourne, as on my frequent visits "home" I have usually used the trams
>at night and always found them safe.


Ironically when we had the nightlink trams 18 months ago i found them to be 
rather intimidating to be on. Main reason being was that they were not 
highly patronised, and you find yourself often sitting only among a group 
of drunk/rowdy people and the poor driver just trying to do his job. In 
this case security guards / rent-a-cops / etc would have been a good idea.

A side note, Flinders Street station would be a bad place to be on a 
weekend night, at least being on platform 4+5 anyway, because this platform 
is shared with some of the lines that lead to the absolute bottom of 
Melbourne's dregs. In particularly i am thinking the Werribee line and less 
so, the St Albans line. Often you see people who could be considered 
violent standing on platform 4+5.

Regards,
Michael.