Article: Connex raises alarm about safety

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From Melbourne Herald Sun click here!

Connex raises alarm about safety

Connex raises alarm about safety
Article from: Herald Sun

Mary Bolling

October 23, 2008 12:00am

TRAIN passengers worried about safety on dark and deserted platforms should carry a personal alarm, according to new Connex safety advice.

Commuters have slammed the suggestion as a joke, saying that providing staff at stations would be more effective than a tiny alarm.

The advice, on the Connex website, is part of a new safety campaign.

"If you regularly travel at night, it might be worth purchasing a personal alarm for added security at stations and also on the journey home from the station," information on the website reads.

Yesterday, Traralgon passenger Juliette Klauer said Connex were "away with the fairies".

"How is an alarm going to help if there's no one there to hear it?" she said.

"I can see why you'd be worried waiting at a dark station with no one around, but I don't see how this will protect you."

Personal alarms, which cost about $10, sound a 100dB siren when activated.

The advice comes just weeks after Connex described the system as "extremely safe", in response to a campaign by the rail union to add staff to unmanned stations.

Rail Tram and Bus Union Victorian secretary Trevor Dobbyn said the alarm suggestion was ridiculous.

"How can Connex repeatedly tell us the system is safe, then be telling people to go out and, at their own expense, buy a personal safety alarm?" he asked.

Connex spokesman John Rees said the suggestion was about making people feel more secure.

"We're not suggesting that an alarm is the last line of defence. Because perceptions of safety are so important, this might help people feel safer," he said.