Article: Railway assaults on the rise at Citytrain stations

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Railway assaults on the rise at Citytrain stations

Railway assaults on the rise at Citytrain stations
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Ursula Heger

December 23, 2009 12:00am

THE southeast's Citytrain stations have been hit by a surge of violent crimes despite security upgrades costing more than $9.5 million last year.

While crimes such as armed robbery, weapons offences and other nuisance problems are down, there has been a spike in the number of reported assaults and sexual offences at some stations.

The worst is Brisbane's busiest station, Central, where reported assaults have doubled in the past two years.

It comes ahead of a holiday blitz by the state Railway Squad to quell violence on the network.

Figures released to The Courier-Mail show 245 assaults were recorded across the network last financial year, up 5.6 per cent on the previous year.

Sexual offences across the network increased from 14 to 21 at the same period, while unarmed robbery increased slightly.

Brisbane's inner-city stations were worst for violent crimes, with Banyo, Toombul and Northgate stations in the city's north the worst outside of the city centre.

Across the network, Central, Roma Street, Banyo, Fortitude Valley, Northgate, Toombul, South Brisbane and South Bank all recorded at least eight assaults during the year.

An attempted murder was reported at Lawnton station, while a woman at Robina Station was abducted during a domestic dispute.

Queensland Police said yesterday they were preparing to launch special operations on the rail network.

"The Railway Squad will be undertaking a number of proactive operations throughout this period, all of which will complement the QPS whole-of-service approach to assault reduction and suppression of alcohol-fuelled offences," a spokesman said.

Officers have already moved to target public order offences on the rail network, such as urinating on the trains.

The spokesman said the rates of violence on trains was much lower than across the community.

Queensland Rail passenger executive general manager Paul Scurrah said security was constantly reviewed, with plans to roll out real-time security cameras across the network next year.

"We are dedicated to improving passenger safety and security throughout the network, measures to combat crime and antisocial behaviour are constantly being reviewed and, where necessary, updated to meet the changing security environment," he said.

"Because of these initiatives, the rate of criminal activity remains significantly lower on QR property than across the general community."

Blogg comment:

The rate of criminal assaults is MUCH lower on rail property than compared to the general community.  It is actually safer to be on railway property, fact.  Relax, have a happy holiday folks.

[ozbob]

Minister for Transport
The Honourable Rachel Nolan
22/12/2009

Figures show big drop in rail crime

Figures released today by Queensland Police show a 12 per cent drop in crime across the Citytrain urban rail network in the last financial year.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said reported incidents fell from 3704 in 2007-08 to 3268 in 2008-09.

"Overall, offences against the person stood at 373, representing less than 0.006% of the 65 million passenger journeys," Ms Nolan said.

In the wider community, 705 offences against the person are reported per 100,000 people whereas only 5.7 offences per 100,000 people were reported on the rail network.

Ms Nolan said she was encouraged by the figures but noted the need for ongoing vigilance.

"While we would always like the figures to be lower, they indicate the rail safety and security measures are having an effect," Ms Nolan said.

"As a woman who travels on public transport, I understand the importance of providing a secure environment," Ms Nolan said.

"With these figures showing a very low crime rate across the rail network, I will certainly continue to feel safe when travelling both by day and night."

Ms Nolan said current safety and security measures included:

    * More than 6000 CCTV cameras across the network.
    * 110 transit officers and 54 dedicated rail squad police conduct random patrols, with an increased presence on weekend services.
    * Purpose-built police outposts at key locations across the network to assist in the deployment of railway squad police.
    * "Guardian Trains" on about 40 per cent of services after 6pm which carry private security guards.
    * Core safety zones, marked with blue and white striped lines, are located on most station platforms. These zones have an enhanced level of lighting, are covered by closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) and have an emergency help phone in close proximity.
    * In addition to emergency help phones on station platforms, multiple emergency phones are available on board all QR interurban rail services.
    * Help phone buttons are located near the doorways in every carriage and throughout the carriage in some newer models.
    * 34 stations on the suburban network have an After Dark Security program involving a night time staff presence until the last train, on selected days.

Ms Nolan said QR were currently evaluating proposals for a 'real time' camera system which would allow the onboard cameras on trains to be viewed remotely from a control centre.

"All 4000 cameras at railway stations can be viewed in real time locally at attended stations and 24 hours a day from the control centre," Ms Nolan said.

"The 2500 cameras on trains can currently be viewed in real time by drivers and guards on that service but this system will allow them to be viewed remotely from the control centre."

==============================================================

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail 23rd December 2009 Editorial click here!

Safety, reliability not on track

Safety, reliability not on track
Article from: The Courier-Mail

December 22, 2009 11:00pm

TRAIN ticket prices are, unfortunately, not the only thing on the rise in southeast Queensland. Violent crime across the region's rail network is also climbing.

One is not the cause of the other but they are nonetheless directly related.

Public transport users will, from next month, find themselves paying an additional 20 per cent or more for the privilege of catching TransLink's trains, buses and ferries. By 2014 they will be paying twice today's fares. The State Government insists the increases are necessary "so we can keep rolling out more and better services".

It promises that every cent collected from the new fares will be pumped back into public transport, a commitment it will need to live up to.

That is well and good – assuming it actually lives up to that promise – but in the meantime if public transport is to deliver on its potential to be one of the keys to solving southeast Queensland's growing congestion problems, then it has to be, first and foremost, safe and reliable.

The cost of a ticket is only one element in the public transport equation but, until the Government can deliver a system that is consistently reliable, safe and easy to use, southeast Queensland's bus, train and ferry travellers will have every reason to feel less than happy about paying more for a system that remains overcrowded, unpredictable and, on the latest figures, increasingly dangerous.

Figures released to The Courier-Mail show that reported assaults rose by almost 7 per cent last financial year to a total of 245. Sexual offences also increased from 14 to 21 during the same period.

It could be argued that, despite the percentage increases, the overall number of violent crime incidents is relatively low given the large and growing number of people using public transport.

But that is barely the point. If the Government wants people to use trains in preference to private transport it must prove that each trip is worth the rising price. And to do that it must, among other things, make sure crime rates are falling, not rising.

This is, granted, no easy task and has long been the subject of attention by Queensland Rail and the police. In the past year alone the State Government spent an additional $9.5 million improving rail network security, including increasing the number of transit officers and CCTVs. These are logical, and expected steps, but clearly more needs to be done.

Many of the reported crimes last year occurred at city, or near-city stations, among them Central Station, Roma St, Fortitude Valley and South Bank. This is simply unacceptable. The Brisbane of the future, we are increasingly being told, will require higher density living in and around the city and near public transport – they even have a name for it, "transport-oriented development". The idea is sensible enough; get people to live near train stations.

But the concept becomes self-defeating if would-be users of public transport become uncertain about their personal safety, particularly late at night.

This is more than just a public safety issue. It also affects the long-term future of Brisbane itself.

[ozbob]

Mr Scurrah, EGM QR Passenger will be interviewed on 612 ABC Brisbane shortly,

My tweet:

Robert_Dow
 
@612brisbane Teenagers travelling to the City are far more likely to be assaulted in the City than they are on the trains .... reality ...

[#Metro]

I don't know.
It might be intimidation or other things, and not all of it is reported.

IMHO a lot of it has to do with the surroundings, and the way they look (ugly).
It might not be at the station- but in graffitied alleys or walkways which lead up to the stations.

Making the stations look better and better design/lighting is one way.
Murals to cover the graffiti and music at the station to deter loiterers is another.

Sigh. If only rail stations looked more like busway stations.

[O_128]

I don't know.
It might be intimidation or other things, and not all of it is reported.

IMHO a lot of it has to do with the surroundings, and the way they look (ugly).
It might not be at the station- but in graffitied alleys or walkways which lead up to the stations.

Making the stations look better and better design/lighting is one way.
Murals to cover the graffiti and music at the station to deter loiterers is another.

Sigh. If only rail stations looked more like busway stations.

Varsity is step towards that. but of course the workers in translink wouldnt like that as they would rather duplicate jobs then have one team design stations.

[Jon Bryant]

Surrounding our stations with large, dark car parks (a.k.a. Ferny Grove and the new Richlands Station as just 2 examples) is only going to make this problem worse.  We need to have active, vibrant, mixed use, well patronised Transit Oriented Developments around our stations so the surroundings are safe to walk in at all hours of day and night.  Even Roma Street, Central and Fortitude Valley do not meet these criteria with the surrunding development being very inactive after the peak hour.

As I have posted previously

Park and Rides are an inefficient strategy at encouraging public transport because:

- there is never going to be enough -  1000 spaces even at 2 people per car is only 2 and a bit trains.  This means that the passengers on all other trains are discouraged from travelling;
- they are expensive to provide - on average almost $20,000 per space if an open car park.  Multi-storey is significantly higher;
- they are contrary to good land use planning - they displace other, more useful commercial, residential and community activities. They also force these activities further away and thus increase urban sprawl;
- they places pressure on car parking in surrounding areas/commercial centres - because there will never be enough car spaces to accommodate all train users, giving people no alternative than to drive to the station means that pressure is inevitably placed on parking in surrounding areas including nearby shops;
- they assume everyone has access to a car - park-and-rides require even regular public transport users to have access to a cars and has nothing to offer the 47% of our population than do not have access/or cannot drive a car; and finally
- they undermine public transport use - one of the biggest problems with the idea of driving to public transport is psychological. Once you've started your journey in a car, you've got little reason not to drive it all the way to your destination; a fact not lost on public transport users themselves. Further they entrench driving for local trips purposes by undermining local public transport use.

Feeder bus services provide a far better option as they have useful functions other than conveying train passengers to railway stations. Half of all our journeys are local trips, with the origin and destination within the same suburb, and when such journeys are made by car they also contribute disproportionately to pollution and congestion. A comprehensive bus network is essential to making public transport attractive for these local trips. But as suburban activity centres and railway stations should be found in the same locations (TOD) the same buses that are useful for local travel are also useful as feeders to stations. Toronto provides an excellent example of feeder services to their local railway stations with over 70% of passengers arriving at their train station by bus or tram.

[ozbob]

From the ABC News Online click here!

Opposition demands tougher security at rail stations

Opposition demands tougher security at rail stations

By Emma Pollard

The Queensland Opposition says there has been an unacceptable rise in assaults on the rail network in the state's south-east.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Fiona Simpson says police figures show an increase of 5.6 per cent, compared with the last financial year.

Ms Simpson says violent crime has increased at busy stations in the south-east.

"With the violent crimes you're seeing - there's been something like 5.6 per cent increase on the previous year of assaults across the network - now that's quite significant," Ms Simpson said.

"In places such as Central Station [in Brisbane], there's been a reported increase - a doubling - in the last two years of assault.

"T'hat's completely unacceptable."

Ms Simpson says better security measures are needed.

"We must see more police put in place so that there is a pro-active strategy to prevent this," she said.

"Simply having cameras to tell you who did the offence is not enough - you want to prevent these offences in the first place."

But Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan says the overall number of crimes has dropped by 12 per cent.

"What these figures that the police have released show is that the rail network broadly is safer than the wider community," Ms Nolan said.

"As someone who travels myself, I take some heart from that and I think that people who rely on the system should do too."

[#Metro]

What? "Tougher security?"
What do they want- call in the military and surround the place in guards and put an X-ray machine at the front of the GoCard gates?
They are going to turn the stations into jail-like places, and the offenders thrive on that.

There are cheaper more effective solutions.
Better surroundings- assaults and abduction on the busway is unheard of.
Lighting
Murals to cover graffiti
Piped classical music (laughable, but it works very effectively)

[longboi]

The perception of crime in proportion to actual crime occuring on public transport is always ridiculously high. We can all thank articles like this which are churned out regularly in every Aussie capital city with a rail network.

From someone who has worked alone at some of the more undesirable stations at night; Keep to lit areas and in view of CCTV and you will have little problems. Travel carriage behind the guards compartment at night and let a staff member know if you see something going on.

[verbatim9]

Daylight Saving is a cheaper alternative and crime preventative on Public Transport during early evenings in Summer.  South East Queensland has plenty of light to move from 4am in the morning to the evening. Advocates should support the move and test the waters. Join or help ds4seq http://www.ds4seq.org.au , follow them on twitter http://twitter.com/ds4seq or join the facebook group search ds4seq.

[Jon Bryant]

Sigh!!!! The TOD is the self-correcting not self-defeating.  No research done by the reporter.

[ozbob]

Opposition Statement

http://www.fionasimpson.com.au/Pages/Article.aspx?ID=630

More police, not cameras, needed to stop train violence

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

The Minister for Transport has her head in the sand if she believes an increase in violence on trains is not a problem, the LNP said today.

Shadow Minister for Transport Fiona Simpson said dramatic increases, including a 50 per cent increase in the number of sexual assaults and double the number of assaults at Central Train Station, indicated the Bligh Labor Government had not done enough to ensure commuters' safety.

"The number of police officers patrolling the Citytrain network has not changed since 2006 — despite increases in assaults and the number of services running.

"Queenslanders want a safe, reliable and comfortable train system, they do not want to be worrying about being assaulted on their way home from work.

"We must see more police officers on our trains so there is a proactive strategy to address this violence.

"Simply having more cameras to tell you who committed an offence is not enough — we need to prevent these offences from happening in the first place."

[Jon Bryant]

Double sigh Prevention is always better than a cure

[#Metro]

What does FS want?
Police on every platform? Security escort for all passengers?

Central is already saturated with guards, CCTV and all manner of security.
I don't know if there is much more one can do...

[verbatim9]

Enjoy safer public transport for evening travel in the summer months make #daylightsaving happen www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Sacked QR guard says passenger violence harming staff health

Sacked QR guard says passenger violence harming staff health

    * James O'Loan
    * From: The Courier-Mail
    * June 25, 2010 11:37PM

A SACKED train guard who says he's saved 20 passengers from getting bashed during his career claims the mental health of QR staff is in crisis as violence plagues the Citytrain network.

The Courier-Mail can reveal QR-appointed psychologists have conducted 16 sessions in the past 11 months just for staff affected by assaults, and 424 for all work or non-work issues.

Latest figures show a staggering 1117 reports of disorderly conduct on Citytrains last year, with 236 reported assaults.

Jon Stankevicius was dismissed in 2009 after 12 years as a Citytrain guard when he "snapped" at Bundamba station; kicking a teenager who had spat at him and challenged a passenger.

The same youth and his brother had previously pelted Mr Stankevicius with either rocks or full soft drink cans on two separate occasions when the guard tried to stop their rampage.

And while repentant for his last act, Mr Stankevicius has urged QR to better physically and mentally support all guards, drivers and platform staff facing violent and boozed passengers - particularly on Friday and Saturday nights - entering the city and Fortitude Valley.

He also took a swipe at QR's uniform non-intervention policy during disputes, which protects staff but lets passengers get attacked while guards watch and wait for police or security backup.

It was rarely an option for a man who stood up to the bullies but paid for it with his job and health.

"I thought I was in a war zone for a while," said Mr Stankevicius, 48, who suffers anxiety. "And part of the reason I'm talking to you is for the other staff.

"There have been that many marriage bust-ups and (mental) breakdowns - stacks, and a lot of (workers) fall back on alcohol.

"I spoke with my manager about the number of assaults on the trains and she sent me to a confrontation manager (who) I had a coffee with.

"She said I was morally correct and QR were the ones with the problem not dealing with the assaults."

Other QR staff approached by The Courier-Mail about escalating violence and the adequacy of support declined to comment on the basis they feared they might lose their jobs.

QR cited confidentiality when it refused to state how many staff had sought counselling because of passenger violence at work.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

26th June 2010

Greetings,

Problematic behaviour on our public transport is an issue that requires a whole of community approach.

The Courier Mail today has highlighted the effects of criminal acts on rail staff (Sacked QR guard says passenger violence harming staff health).  As a commuter group, we have consistently suggested that there are approaches to work towards community education and changes in unacceptable attitudes and behaviours (27 Aug 2009: SEQ: Our trains, our buses!  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2653.0 ).  It is interesting to consider Melbourne.  They did away with staff on railway stations as part of the failed privatisation and franchise approach, and set up a climate of lawlessness on the their rail system as a consequence.  Now, they are putting staff back on the stations and in effect reclaiming lost ground at a great cost.  We do not need this failed social experiment repeated in Brisbane do we?

Recent highlights of problems of out of control behaviour on buses suggest that there is a need to address behaviour on public transport urgently.

QR Passenger have placed security guards on Friday and Saturday night services, and has a coordinated approach to safety generally ( http://www.citytrain.com.au/about_your_trip/security_safety/overview.asp ).  There are additional safety features help promote safe travel.

We do not want the situation to deteriorate though to the point that security guards are needed in every carriage, bus and ferry do we?

This is why we think a special task force of key stakeholders needs to be formed to address this issue.

Solutions will be multi-layered and considered.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

=================

Media Release 27 August 2009 re-released 26th June 2010

SEQ: Our trains, our buses!

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has called for a concerted effort to combat vandalism on our public transport. RAIL Back On Track members and public feedback have reported many instances of vandalised trains.  This is a constant problem for the operator and is disheartening for all to continue to have to cope with these wanton acts of destruction.

Robert Dow, spokesperson for RAIL Back On Track said:

"It is heart breaking to travel on our public transport and see scratched windows, damaged seats, and graffiti masquerading as art on rolling stock and line side structures. The community has become detached and desensitised to many of these effects.  The costs of the vandalism to transport operators must be considerable.  Public transport staff are frustrated and often feel not appreciated, and this in turn affects the morale of everyone."

"We continue to see more attempts at enforcement and regulation which is necessary but that is surely not the only answer.  How about we try a stepped up preventative approach?  Educate the community, bring people on board, encourage respect for property and person. Set up local volunteer groups that can keep stations clean for example.  I am sure there are people who would be happy to be part of a local group that helps make public transport facilities attractive.  These things used to be done once, but we became too focused on fares, enforcement and rationalisation."

"Public transport belongs to the people. This point is seldom reinforced but it is a good start point.  Our transport, our City!  Let's look after it!  Bring back weekend family/group tickets for our public transport.  This can work as a valuable education tool as it encourages adults and children to get out on their public transport and shows them what a valuable asset it is. It will help endear respect.  Step up the ongoing promotion of public transport in the schools, encourage students to look after their trains and buses."

"Engage the wider community.  Focus on the broader positive social aspects of public transport, make public transport first choice, not last choice!"

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org