The Public Transport Authority has a zero-tolerance approach to violent or antisocial behaviour on our train network; the personal safety and security of everyone – passengers and staff – on our system is paramount. We invest heavily in ensuring our network is as safe as possible for the people who use it, and pride ourselves on offering the best security system on public transport in Australia.
Our bus and train stations are designed with passenger security in mind, and all have high-level lighting. All major stations are staffed, with a particular emphasis on security after 3pm.
We have thousands of CCTV cameras across our network, on fixed infrastructure as well as inside buses and railcars. Footage from all train and bus stations (including car parks and bike shelters) is monitored at our CMR (central monitoring room), a state-of-the-art facility which is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Footage from railcars and buses is recorded and available for use if needed.
A fleet of 32 patrol cars (ten operated by transit officers covering the rail system, and 22 operated by contracted security officers covering the bus and ferry systems) provides a fast and effective response to any incidents of antisocial behaviour.
All railway platforms have an emergency call button, which links directly through to an operator inside the CMR, and two transit officers are assigned to every train after 7pm.
The following figures are based on action reports submitted by transit officers who, while on PTA property, have powers similar to those of police.
The Public Transport Authority reports total train
line incidents per million boardings, however individual train lines display
raw figures. This provides the PTA with greater insights into trends across the
network.