Melbourne’s second-busiest and arguably most-maligned train station, Southern Cross, has reinstalled rubbish bins on its platforms, more than 10 years after they returned to other inner-city stations.
It’s a small win for commuters that also raises the question: what took so long?
Bins are back at Southern Cross Station. It only took 10 years. Credit: Paul Rovere
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen says he suspects it is because Southern Cross is the only privatised train station in Victoria.
“Southern Cross was always the exception – they removed the bins completely, and it’s not until now that they’ve bothered to put anything back,” he said.
Commuter Erin Steele uses the rubbish and recycling bins at Southern Cross Station.Credit: Paul Rovere
Terrorism and other security threats have made bins a tricky problem for transport operators, given their potential to conceal bombs and other dangerous devices.
London transit authorities removed metal bins – which can turn into shrapnel and make a blast even deadlier – from the city’s railway stations after the Irish Republican Army planted a bomb inside one in a fatal 1991 attack.
Victoria replaced its metal bins with transparent plastic ones at inner-city stations in the lead-up to the 2006 Commonwealth Games. But even those plastic tubs were deemed too risky and were ripped out amid heightened terrorism threats in September 2014.
Metro Trains installed new bins six months later based on a design now used on the London Underground, consisting of clear plastic bags hanging from metal hoops.
Southern Cross put bins on its concourse, but its 16 platforms remained inexplicably binless – until last week.
Erin Steele was transferring between train lines at Southern Cross on Wednesday, and happily dumped an empty soft drink can in one of the new recycling bins.
Credit: Matt Golding
“[Without them] you have to find places to put your garbage, you have to shove it into your backpack, or you need to double back outside the platform and gates to find a bin,” she said.
“It’s probably a big part of why there’s been so much rubbish left on trains.”
Bowen said passengers often left rubbish piled up on top of utility boxes and other structures on the platforms because there were no bins, contributing to a poor experience for the nearly 20 million passengers who use Southern Cross every year.
“It’s a small win, it’s a good win, but there probably are other more serious issues at Southern Cross,” he said.
“There’s ongoing reliability problems with lifts and escalators; the diesel fumes are an ongoing issue; and the information screens provided for passengers are a different style to every other station and often not well located.
“There are inconsistencies there, and I assume that is related to Southern Cross being privately managed,” he said.
Civic Nexus, an arm of industry superannuation funds management giant IFM Investors, won a contract to redevelop the former Spencer Street station in 2002 and will own and run it until 2036.
A spokesperson for Civic Nexus said the new rubbish and recycling bins would “enhance the amenity of the station and be welcomed by our commuters”, but wouldn’t be drawn on why customers went so long without them.
A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said maintenance and daily upkeep of the bins was part of Civic Nexus’ obligations under its contract.
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