Call for station staff- Shadow Minister for Public Transport Terry Mulder was on a train headi

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
UPWEY and Tecoma train stations will continue to be left without staff, despite unruly passengers causing delays and frightening other passengers late at night.
From July to December 2009, there were at least four incidents of unruly passengers causing delays on late night trains between Upper Ferntree Gully and Belgrave, according to documents from Public Transport Safety Victoria.
These unruly passenger incidents do not include other categories of alleged offences such as assault and robbery.
Late night workers at Tecoma’s Saffron Cottage restaurant are reluctant to take trains when their shifts finish because of safety fears.
Restaurant owner Nikky Salgadoe said she has even had people seek refuge in her restaurant after running away from incidents at the station.
“I want the station to be improved, it needs to be manned and have more lighting,” she said.
Belgrave police agree a well-lit station would help night patrols.
Sergeant John McKenzie said it would be great if every station could be manned.
“They need to have someone with some sort of authority to keep an eye on things during peak periods at least,” he said.
Under current plans, Metro has identified 22 stations it is planning to staff, a condition of its contract with the state government.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union have joined with the Police Association to demand more stations be staffed and more ticket inspectors and transit police employed.
But neither the 22 stations on Metro’s list, nor the 48 stations the unions want to be staffed, include stations between Ringwood and the end of the Lilydale/Belgrave lines.
The Victorian Coalition would commit an extra 100 transit police and 940 Victoria Protective Services Officers, with two officers to be on every railway station from 6pm until the last train. The Greens have backed the public transport union’s initiative to commit $54 million for staff and infrastructure upgrades at the 56 stations most in need in the first year, then $18 million annually to employ 290 extra staff.
Member for Monbulk James Merlino said more than 500 authorised officers are employed across the Victorian public transport network.
“Victoria Police and metro continue to work together to identify and target hot spots across the rail network and the Victorian Transport Plan sets out a further commitment to engage 50 new transit police,” Mr Merlino said.
“Although we’ve seen an increase in public transport use by more than 50 per cent over the past 10 years, the crime rate has continued to drop.”