Safely train-ing

PUBLIC safety on trains and at stations within the City of Casey is the aim of a new campaign.
The community safety and crime prevention awareness campaign will involve representatives from the City of Casey, Casey Cardinia Transport Connections, Victoria Police and Metro visiting Casey railway stations this month and encouraging commuters to be vigilant with their safety when travelling on trains.
Berwick, Cranbourne, Hallam, Merinda Park and Narre Warren railway stations will be targeted as part of the campaign, with the representatives from all four organisations offering practical tips and advice to commuters about maintaining personal and vehicle safety.
Metro CEO Andrew Lezala said Metro was working hard to address the perceptions of safety on the network.
“Since taking over the network late last year, we’ve added nearly 100 more staff at stations, helping to increase our human presence at stations,” Mr Lezala said.
“We’ve also recently announced an extra 22 currently unstaffed stations that will receive staff by October, bringing the total number of staffed stations to nearly two-thirds of our network. On top of this we have 350 authorised officers operating across the network and working alongside police to target crime and anti-social behaviour.”
Mr Lezala said it wasn’t just staffing that Metro was focussed on.
“We’re also improving our graffiti prevention and removal, and a recent CCTV upgrade now provides us with higher quality digital recording across all 211 of our train stations,” he said.
Victoria Police transit safety division Sergeant Colin Huth urged Casey commuters to make sure their cars were locked and personal property remained out of sight.
City of Casey community safety manager Caroline Bell said the council was proud to be assisting commuters to recognise areas where they could improve their safety when travelling on public transport.
“The safety and well-being of the community is of paramount importance and this community safety campaign aims to raise awareness of the actions commuters can take to improve their safety,” she said.