Article: Fears over night train passengers being stranded in the 'burbs

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Fears over night train passengers being stranded in the 'burbs

Fears over night train passengers being stranded in the 'burbs
Aja Styles
November 11, 2011

The taxi industry wants more prominent cab ranks at suburban stations to help improve the flow of passengers getting home after a night of clubbing in response to concerns about the new night trains launched this weekend.

The Public Transport Union has pointed out that passengers aboard the new 4am trains will be left stranded in the suburbs after a Facebook campaign drove Transport Minister Troy Buswell to commission more trains for nightclubbers who party into the early hours of Saturday and Sunday.

The campaign for hourly trains on Friday and Saturday night by Facebook page creators Seb Brodie and Scott Brosens attracted 38,000 members.
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It was praised on both sides of government and by the WA Nightclub Association and the Taxi Council, with nightclubbers now provided the opportunity to take a 2.15am train and 4am train on each rail line for free.

Mr Buswell said the 4am trains would be trialled for six months at a cost of more than $1 million.

But PTU State Secretary Philip Woodcock described the spend as "ludicrous" when it was catering for a minority group of non-taxpayers, rather than getting a jump start on the state's 2020 public transport plan.

"We do have sympathy for students who are on P-plates but you are not getting value for money when there is more demand for train carriages and rail extensions," he said. "It's ludicrous."

He said Perth was not a big enough metropolis, like Sydney or Melbourne, to warrant the service and not enough resourcing had been put into backing the idea.

"We'll see how the trial goes but we're not confident it will last," he said. "If there's any incidents [to drivers' safety], we'll look at every incident."

But Mr Buswell disagreed saying there would be enough security staff to manage the new service.

"The same security arrangements that apply to the 2.15am service will apply to the four o'clock service in terms of security on the train, and also security at the stations. So I'm confident that we can do that," he said.

"There aren't any significant security issues on the two o'clock service, I don't think there will be any on the four o'clock service.

"I know there are some people who may be a little full of excitement after a late night out but I think the vast majority of people will appreciate the service we are putting on and I would like to think that they'll do the right thing."

One Facebook member agreed, saying: "think an important part of this is not to be to rowdy on the train and be decent to the train guards, if they see that drunk kids are giving problems to the transit guards then its (sic)not going 2 go far."

Mr Woodcock said his concerns extended to passengers, especially those who could find themselves stranded outside the city centre.

"We do have concerns about the destination point and what's going to happen at the end stations," he said.

"There's going to be no further transport for them to get home, no extra buses or taxis and if they catch the Mandurah line by the time they get to Mandurah there will be very little taxis available because they will be dealing with the peak of the pubs and clubs' closures."

He said already taxis were struggling to keep up with demand and this would only disperse people into the suburbs.

Taxi Council CEO Olwyn Williams denied there was a shortage except for between midnight and 5am on Saturday nights and it was matter of working out what kinds of services and vehicles were needed.

Mr Buswell admitted travel from the stations could be an issue since no buses would be put on to cater for the extended services.

"But ultimately at some stage in the transport journey home, people have to take responsibility for getting themselves home," he said.

"We think the trains will get them out of the centre of Perth more quickly, the service is free; how they then get home really becomes their responsibility."

He said train-goers would simply have to catch a taxi.

"Clearly we have a surge in demand for taxis at certain times particularly on Friday and Saturdays," he said.

"Forty per cent of our usage happens on Friday and Saturday night.

"The taxi industry is very supportive of this initiative because it will help take the pressure off taxis and for a person who is out for a night out, it reduces a costly element for a good time and people won't have to wait for cabs."

Ms Williams applauded the government's decision, saying taxis had been thought of as the only night-time transport option for too long.

She said the industry's biggest concern for increasing train services or expanding the network as proposed in the 2020 plan was the lack of planning for taxi spot locations.

"One taxi bay, I think is not enough," she said. "We have had conversations with the minister and he has listened to our concerns regarding what kinds of transport networks are required and commented on these issues at length, a number of times to government and the Department of Transport."

She said often planning authorities suggest putting new ranks at the back of the stations or the spots are blocked from sight by trees on the roadside, but she argued that for them to be effective they needed to be in convenient, easy to see locations.

Ms Williams said in the meantime the council would overcome some of the concerns regarding the lack of taxis for the new 4am trains by sending out a train schedule to all taxi drivers, like they do for the 2am trains.

"I think most drivers would prefer working from railways stations where passengers have already had preapproval to travel at the stations that it would be driving back to Northbridge," she said.

She said the extra trains may reduce fare evasion and potential violence experienced by taxi drivers after passengers realise they can't afford the fare home. However she said that there may need to be an increase in penalties for those who commit such offences when there was free travel on offer.

"Perth is still the only capital city that doesn't have multiple routes offering hourly services between midnight and five to 6am each morning," she said.

"In addition to this only one mode basically in Perth, really, of the transport available is taxi."

Police Transport Division's Inspector Jo McCabe said police patrols would be rostered to monitor the stations during the trial.

"Police Transport Unit support the PTA and the community by providing high visibility patrols, respond to and investigate crime and ensure a no tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour in and around the rail network," she said.

"To ensure we continue to provide this support, the Police Transport Unit will roster police to assist with the 4am trains during the trial."

Although Mr Buswell said the extra train service was a positive outcome, he took a wait-and-see approach about what degree of patronage would be required to make the service a permanent fixture.

Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/fears-over-night-train-passengers-being-stranded-in-the-burbs-20111110-1n9oh.html