Off the rails

By Casey Neill
UPWEY’S Mark Rigaldi has vowed to boycott Melbourne’s trains following a violent Belgrave line encounter last week.
Mr Rigaldi was met with a fist-fight when he boarded a train at Bayswater station about 8pm last Wednesday (5 August).
The boys involved left the carriage but two girls held open the doors as the violence continued on the platform, preventing the driver from leaving the station.
“I’d had enough by this stage,” Mr Rigaldi said.
The 50-year-old moved one of the girls away from the door and tried to pull it shut.
The perpetrators returned to the carriage before the train pulled away.
Mr Rigaldi said the group of up to 10 teens drank alcohol, swore and climbed on seats before getting out at Boronia station. “I muttered something about scum or good riddance,” Mr Rigaldi said.
He did not realise three members of the group remained on board.
One yelled out to her friends on the platform and pointed to Mr Rigaldi, indicating he had insulted them and encouraging them to remonstrate. “And that’s what disgusted me,” he said. “It was just the tone and the aggravation they were causing.”
He said the group intimidated other passengers. “They were too scared to look up,” he said.
Mr Rigaldi reported the incident to Connex. He said the violent clash was the tip of the iceberg.
“It’s been ongoing for a while, just the odd incident. It just pushed me over the edge,” he said. “I just don’t want to be subject to that after eight hours of work.”
Mr Rigaldi does not own a car and for more than two years has caught the train from Upwey to Bayswater for work.
“To be subjected to that is pathetic,” he said. “I deserve better. I think we all deserve better than that. I’m looking for a car now. I’m out.”
Mr Rigaldi called for a greater security presence in station car parks and on platforms to intercept intoxicated youths before they boarded trains. “There never seems to be police or Connex around,” he said.
“More people would use public transport if they could get their act together.”
La Trobe MP Jason Wood echoed Mr Rigaldi’s calls and suggested education and youth programs to encourage young people to respect others.
“If they don’t then we should then take them on with the full force of the law,” he said.
Mr Wood said the train station environment was also conducive to anti-social behaviour and authorities needed to remove rubbish and graffiti. “It just looked like the Bronx. It’s disgraceful how bad the stations are,” he said.
Connex spokeswoman Lanie Harris said more than 300 authorised officers patrolled the rail network to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour.
Ms Harris said Connex last February introduced pro-active authorised officer deployment based on customer feedback and incident reports and had since noted a significant decrease in anti-social behaviour on trains and at stations.
She said Connex was working to increase the number of authorised officers and staffing levels at manned stations.
“And we regularly undertake joint operations with Transit Police to target particular behaviours or specific areas, and we liaise closely with police to maximise our coverage of the network,” she said.