Too dangerous at night

574M · Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 8:14 pm

I did get that feeling when I read it.

Johnmc · Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:16 pm

per1 · Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 2:33 pm

The immigration minister has a lot to answer for. We now have getto's in Melbourne, and no-go area's.

Deep Throat · Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 2:53 pm

Whynot just be honest and say "All them chinks and darkies scare me, so they must be violent"?

Anonymous - and proud of it.

574M · Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:08 pm

route14 · Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:31 pm

I think patroling every train at night is a necessary measure to boost security.

Not the black cat
nor the white cat
but the right cat

Knowitall · Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:13 pm

Comeng353M · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:38 am

after visiting melbourne many times i have developed a theory
Provided you keep to yourself and be wary of your surroundings
you will be fine 99% of the time
Having said that i have seen violence on the trains and at stations
for instance during a visit in 2004 i went to my friends church on a sunday evening my friend dropped me @ hoppers crossing in time for the 21:05 up service i sit in the front car (444M) put my walkman on and off we go
Around newport 3 guys board the second car and start punching the crap out of eachother they finally get out at footscray i was unaware of this untill we got to flinders st where i saw the blood allover the floor in the middle carridge......
During my last visit in 2007 i saw a brawl at dandenong police were there soon after

We have simular problems in adelaide one incident that comes to mind
3 weeks ago My friend (bus driver) was doing a 232 to the port
an Aboriginal man starts abusing 2 korean men on the bus by the time the bus reached arndale it was on the 2 korean men gave this aboriginal man an absolute pounding there was blood all over the bus and all over the aborignal man yet none on the 2 korean men.....
i heard about this incident via the bus 2 way radio i was on another bus at the time of this incident

One ive seen was 2 months ago i was on a friends bus doing a 182 we pick up 3 guys 2 girls all were drunk and suspected to be on drugs
the guys thought they could be heros and were mucking ab\round my friend stops the bus and tells them to sit down and behave
a bit later another guy boards the bus and sits at the back all seems ok for about 6 stops next thing we know these 3 guys start beating up this other guy at the back of the bus my friend tells them to stop they keep going in the end i got up and yelled at them "GET OFF THE BUS NOW!!!!
they got off

not to mention the many stories i could tell of drivers being assulted rocks thrown at buses and trains and alot more
So violence can happen anywhere at anytime in any city

Batman1988 · Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:53 am

Excuse me, but might I offer my own sixpennith worth? (It's a bit of a long post, so forgive me.)

In the eighteen or so months that I've been studying in Melbourne, public transport has become a central foundation of my day-to-day life. Whether it be getting to campus, going to work or just indulging in a spot of gunzelling, public transport exposes me to all sorts from all places.

Living in the western suburbs, which has earned a bit of a bad name (including from some on this board), has been almost entirely a positive experience from the point-of-view of personal safety on PT. In particular, Footscray railway station. You wouldn't know it by the attitude of the media or the high-and-mighty living in Melbourne's East. (braces for hordes of protests)

Now before you start sharpening the pitchforks, let me say more. I have had, until recently, the necessity to travel from Ringwood to Glenferrie by train after 8:00 to 8:30 on Friday and Saturday nights, so as to attend work (I am, by trade, a security guard). Due to car-sharing with my father and his own nessecity to hold onto it for his job, I have had to use the train (not under sufferance, I might add. You'll find no bigger PT fanatic than me, except maybe at the Daniel Bowen Social Club... Smile

).

Anyway, let me paint the journey. The journey from Ringwood to Glenferrie takes exactly half an hour. At that time of the night, platform 3, which is closed, is surrounded by badly dressed "gangstas" and their "hos" (their slang, not mine), forcing me to use the ticket machines on platforms 1 and 2. Not too much of an inconvenience, but slightly intimidating when you see these people "play-fighting" each other and yelling obscenities.

Whilst waiting for the train, the platform is usually littered with empty glass alcohol bottles (some are broken). Seemingly THOUSANDS of teenagers (some SURELY not over 16) all shout and carry on and yell obsenities and drink some grog. Some hoist whole slabs on tghier shoulders. Behind the station ticket office, away from prying CCTV cameras, half-pissed macho guys (the blonde, heavy-tanned, pink shirt bruiser types) urinate as they take another swig of their Jim Beams.

As the train arrives, all pile in from the platform to the train, swearing and carrying their alcohol as they go. Station staff are either oblivious or apathetic (mind you, being outnumbered the way they are, I couldn't blame them for not challenging these people). The carriages are packed as the train leaves Ringwood, and overflowing by the time that they leave Blackburn, all full of these ferals.

All the way to Glenferrie, they shout and swear and drink grog. When they need to, ahem, relieve themselves they use their empty bottles, 7-Eleven cups or (if they are in a Comeng) go between carriages. They are certainly not above abusing other passengers who mind their own business, myself included.

When the train reaches Glenferrie, all the ferals pile out into the station to go play in the Glenferrie Road entertainment district. I then continue on to my work, just down the street. Later, I will see many of these train travellers puking and boozing outside my workplace. Police are often called to deal with troublemakers.

For these reasons, I had taken to alighting at Box Hill and taking the 109 tram to Kew Depot, then walking up Barkers Road and down Glenferrie (although Box Hill isn't the safest station on the network either). In all the time that I have used Ringwood, and compared to the amount of times that I have used Footscray at the same time of night, I have never felt for my safety at Footscary. I have, however, always feared for my safety at Ringwood.

Too long? A bit of a rant? Too much East bashing? Maybe. But with this talk of safety, I thought it only fair that I be able make a contribution. Alas, I no longer work at this place on Glenferrie Road, so I no longer have to suffer the antics of the ferals from the Maroondah area.

Please understand, I'm not picking on people just because they wear Pippy Longstocking tea cosies or live in Ringwood. I'm just relating my experiences. Make of them what you will.

“Those ticket inspectors are trying to kill us.”

“I know, dad!”

“It’s a new experience for me…”

“Happens to me all the time!”

Greatfox · Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 2:05 am

Batman, I totally agree with you, and I almost use the eastern lines exclusively. The amount of times I've got on a train bound for Glenferrie either from Alamein or Ringwood that's been full of drunk (and some underage) teenagers and young adults has been too many, the trains are littered with broken bottles, empty cans and spilt drinks, yet not even the connex goons come on during that time of night...

per1 · Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 9:08 pm

I dare someone, to have their 17 year old daughter travel to Noble Park at night alone! No problem in Europe. The Immigration Minister has a lot to answer for.

fcic0rscvgs0 · Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 9:25 pm

I visited my Aunt in Sydney last weekend, and she insisted on driving me all the way back to Central (I was staying at the YHA there) instead of dropping me off at Croydon (the station nearest her place), saying that the suburban stations can be really dangerous at night.

thadocta · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 5:10 am

route14 · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 9:05 am

Croydon is en route to Rooty Hills, isn't it.

Not the black cat
nor the white cat
but the right cat

thadocta · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 2:51 pm