英语一日谈：你觉得晚间坐火车安全么？Do you feel safe on Melbourne's trains late at night? - 2010.1

floraz

An online poll shows that 86% people think it's not safe on Melbourne's trains late at night.
CEO of Metro Trains, Andrew Lezala, on Tuesday 5 Oct admitted that he sometimes feels intimindated when riding the railways.
Lezala said "40 per cent of the people who use Melbourne's railway system felt unsafe ''at certain times of day'', and he kept going ''We have a number of issues with youth gangs, with people who are intoxicated and some people who have got some mental issues. I've seen it first-hand.''
He said crime statistics showed there were seven ''crimes against the person'' per million boardings in Melbourne. ''As railways around the world goes, it's fairly average, so it needs to be improved.'' (source: http://www.theage.com.au/victori ... 005-1664r.html#poll)

So do you feel safe on public transport late at night?
Have you seen or experienced anything that you feel uncomfortable on a train?
What do you think needs to be done to improve safety on trains and on railway stations?

[ 本帖最后由 floraz 于 2010-10-7 09:17 编辑 ]

floraz

When Lezala was talking about safety issue, I think he's giving lip serivce.
I am not a regular train commuter, but I still sometimes feel unsafe or uncomfortable on a train. I have seen with my own eyes, a coupe of years ago, a knife-wielding guy being pinned down on the ground by police at the South Yarra station. Though at that time it probably was Connex not Metro who was operating.
I have to say putting police officers on every railway station in Melbourne after 6pm may be a good idea, at least may give people some peace of mind.

[ 本帖最后由 floraz 于 2010-10-7 12:54 编辑 ]

bulaohu

Do Melbourne has train guards like Sydney do? Sydney has train guards who dress up quite like police and patrol the night trains.

astina

I personally hate public transport and haven’t taken a single ride on train for many years, let alone night trips.

However, I do believe that public transport is the best way to take off pressure from roads for an ever-expanding city like Melbourne whose population has been increasing steadily in the past decade. And what makes people give up the comfort of their own car to go for public transport? I believe the answer lies in punctuality, cleanliness and safety. After all, what is the point of investing in more trains if there are dangerous incidents being reported now and then?

To have more stations staffed may be a good start and to put security guards on train, especially after afternoon peak hours may also help.  Costs may blow up in the short-term but once people find train ride a safe and more convenient way to travel, hopefully tickets revenue should boost which in turn may justify the extra costs being proposed in a longer term.

bulaohu

I've been to Zurich twice, and now I'm 100% believing in public transport. Their public transport is so convenient, reliable and efficient, most people don't even consider owning a car.

I do drive a car to work nowadays though, simply because public transport is hardly available between where I live and where I work.

But I used to use Sydney's cityrail a lot. And yes, there was some scary/weird experiences, including a six-feet tall muscle guy get down on his knees to beg for coins. But things do get a lot better after they hired an army of train guards.

Also, there are designated "safe carriage" for night trains in Sydney. It's marked with a blue light, and if you sit in there, normally guards are around all the time.

Not sure how's Melbourne like?

floraz

原帖由 bulaohu 于 2010-10-7 11:02 发表
Do Melbourne has train guards like Sydney do? Sydney has train guards who dress up quite like police and patrol the night trains.

That's probably what we need in Melbourne too.

floraz

原帖由 bulaohu 于 2010-10-7 11:49 发表
I've been to Zurich twice, and now I'm 100% believing in public transport. Their public transport is so convenient, reliable and efficient, most people don't even consider owning a car.

I do drive a  ...

Is that right, the night safe trains? Very interesting to know.

I haven't taken trains that often now and all the differences I see is much higher ticket price, oh and, modern looking trains with much less room......

[ 本帖最后由 floraz 于 2010-10-7 13:08 编辑 ]

sofiwy

(monkey19) seems ok lo.. not club type anyway....
when i was a kid in NY, i felt that was the end of hell...(monkey1)

astina

原帖由 bulaohu 于 2010-10-7 11:49 发表
I've been to Zurich twice, and now I'm 100% believing in public transport. Their public transport is so convenient, reliable and efficient, most people don't even consider owning a car.

I do drive a  ...

Public transport in Europe is quite a different story. I don't think Switzerland is comparable to Australia on this aspect.

bffbffbff

It is the same (or probably even worse) In Sydney.
At night time especially after 11pm I don't feel really safe and comfortable on the train in spite of there being some so-called guards/transit officers occasionally patrolling. And honestly they don't really help much other than being the expert at issuing infringement tickets.

floraz

原帖由 bffbffbff 于 2010-10-7 15:12 发表
And honestly they don't really help much other than being the expert at issuing infringement tickets.

I see....
We are never short of this type of so-called train guard in Melboure, I guess....

iami

no its definetly not safe to catch a later train

and yes i did confront some psychos on the train. one in the night and another one was later in the afternoon. i handled them well

the solution i believe can take effect is to invest on the general safety and security system, not just those cctvs, security cameras, but the real human police even security guards can serve this purpose. but the question is how much budget the government is able/willing to spend on this? i hight doubt its nearly nil.

so live it  and learn to survive unexpected events

floraz

原帖由 bffbffbff 于 2010-10-7 15:12 发表
It is the same (or probably even worse) In Sydney.
At night time especially after 11pm I don't feel really safe and comfortable on the train in spite of there being some so-called guards/transit offic ...

原帖由 iami 于 2010-10-8 14:51 发表
no its definetly not safe to catch a later train

and yes i did confront some psychos on the train. one in the night and another one was later in the afternoon. i handled them well

the solution i bel ...

Thanks guys for sharing
Will add points when they are back

bulaohu

原帖由 astina 于 2010-10-7 14:43 发表

Public transport in Europe is quite a different story. I don't think Switzerland is comparable to Australia on this aspect.

You care to tell me why?

heroxk

avoid taking night train ride alone

floraz

原帖由 iami 于 2010-10-8 14:51 发表
no its definetly not safe to catch a later train

and yes i did confront some psychos on the train. one in the night and another one was later in the afternoon. i handled them well

the solution i bel ...

Mind sharing your experience?

floraz

原帖由 heroxk 于 2010-10-8 15:08 发表
avoid taking night train ride alone

But sometimes it's unavoidable, especially I don't believe cab is any safer than train......

astina

原帖由 bulaohu 于 2010-10-8 15:05 发表


You care to tell me why?

With their relatively compact size and higher population density, it is more cost-effective for European countries to invest in public transport infrastructure which in turn attracts more people to use the system. Generally speaking, it is safer to be in a compartment full of passengers than in a one with only a few drunken teenagers, isn’t it?

bulaohu

原帖由 astina 于 2010-10-8 15:34 发表

With their relatively compact size and higher population density, it is more cost-effective for European countries to invest in public transport infrastructure which in turn attracts more people to u ...

true, but Sydney & Melbourne are populous enough as well; and if there are genuine efforts made by the government to prop up public transport, a lot more people will start using it and it will get safer and tidier.

Icebreaker

That'd be a good news. Then the roads would be a little better for people who still continue using cars haha.

Unfortunately with the current government I don't think they bear any fruit.

ghrong

I am a bit worried about this lately. Because I will be probably doing a late shift work from 12-9PM. I am concerned about safety issues of taking the late train back home.

Icebreaker

原帖由 ghrong 于 2010-10-9 02:46 发表
I am a bit worried about this lately. Because I will be probably doing a late shift work from 12-9PM. I am concerned about safety issues of taking the late train back home.

But you still haven't explained why you are concerned. Too many hoodie-wearing robber-look-alikes?

iami

原帖由 floraz 于 2010-10-8 03:17 PM 发表

Mind sharing your experience?

long story short.

the first guy approached me with a weird way of greeting me first. then we started talking the usual bs, but expectedly he moved the topics to his breakup with his girl and ill treated experience from his parents. he started shouting and crying, and slapping his thighs heavily and repeatedly. it was obviously he reached his breakpoint.

cos it was in the night. me and him were sitting in front of the cartrige. two or three old guys were sitting at the other end of the same level. when he started yelling and crying. the talking among the other end stopped. i quickly jumpted to the conclustion that this guy must have sorta of mental issues. so i used a very affirmative tone forcing him to talk something else. as he was holding a book at that time. so i moved to the topic to the book, subject author etc. to distract his attention from the bad memory. and the strategy worked, he started to calm down and talking the book.

and the rest of journey is quite uneventful really. about 5min later, he got off at his stop. and i continued my trip back home.

azurechris

somehow never get fresh air in the train, driving is worse, you run faster than sitting behind the steeringwheel...

but trains are fine until you have to confront some exhibitionist dressed in night gowns lol, like in the news

bulaohu

ya, sometimes a train ride is like a freak show.

bulaohu

well this reminded me one particular website:

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

genuinely a freak show. Australia at still slightly better than the US of A if solely judged by this.

iami

sorry off the topic, but u got a nice profile photo

bulaohu

ya, Matrix was at its coolest that very moment