Line’s bad rap

By Glen Atwell
A RAP sheet of public transport assaults, obtained by the Herald Sun under Freedom of Information laws, has revealed Casey train lines recorded the highest number of offences in Melbourne.
But Connex has labelled the article “misleading”.
A Herald Sun investigation claimed that in the past three years, 1293 assaults occurred on public transport, mostly on trains.
The City Loop was the most trouble-plagued place to catch a train, followed by Pakenham, Cranbourne, Werribee and Frankston. The Pakenham line runs through Hallam, Narre Warren and Berwick.
One of the incidents reported on the Cranbourne line involved a woman who was spat on, after refusing to give money to a beggar.
Connex communications manager Kate De Clercq said the Herald Sun article was misleading.
“The article implied a great number of the crimes were violent incidents, but many involve incidents of anti-social behaviour which includes graffiti, swearing, and intoxication,” she said.
“Pakenham is one of the busiest lines on the network … It is also a very long line with a lot of stations.
“You would expect the line to have more incidents than the much shorter Alamein line,” Ms De Clercq said.
However, others were less willing to disregard the figures. President of the Public Transport Users Association, Daniel Bowen, said crime was more likely to occur at stations with no staff present.
“The Pakenham line has a lot of un-staffed stations and an increase in crime is a result of that,” he said.
President of Casey-Cardinia communities for Public Transport Alex Makin believes long wait times on the Pakenham line contribute to crime rates.
Mr Makin travels on the Pakenham line every day.
“The Pakenham line continues to be rated as one of the most unsafe lines in the state,” he said.
“We need staff at stations. The majority of crime occurs while people are waiting for services. We need more frequent services. If someone is waiting for up to an hour for a train it can get quite intimidating.”
“The Pakenham line has some of the most infrequent services in Victoria.
“ Nowhere else do you have to wait up to an hour for services in the evening,” he said.