Report the Rail Grubs: Daily Telegraph campaign to help police clean up Sydney’s public transport

‘A GROUP of gross men ogling me — they whistle, leer and won’t accept the word NO’. Laura Sullivan reveals what it’s really like for a young woman on Sydney’s worst train route.

Laura Sullivan says trains are scary places to be for young women. Picture: Brianne Makin

I AM on the train from Penrith to Central.

Across from me are two mid-30s men in grubby fluorescent work uniforms.

They’re examining my body from head to toe like they’re grading a piece of meat. And then one of them wolf whistles at me. Now I’m their dog.

The pair nod egotistically to one another — egging themselves on.

“Damn girl,” one says. They cackle. “I’m feeling cheeky today,” one calls out after me as I move to another section.

But they follow me, taking seats just a few rows away. Now they want to know my name. I decline, so one moves even closer.

“I’m not single,” I say sternly. Thankfully we’re at their station, St Mary’s.

I spent a day on the western and inner northern rail lines as part of The Saturday Telegraph’s campaign to help police clean up Sydney’s public transport.

Laura Sullivan has had men move to sit near her more than once. Picture: Brianne Makin

The state’s top transport cop, Assistant Commissioner Max Mitchell, this week described these routes as the worst in NSW — where grubs are routinely caught assaulting women, attacking passengers and even exposing themselves.

The Saturday Telegraph recently revealed how the problem of sex ­offenders on trains and buses has become so bad Mr Mitchell launched a ­covert operation dubbed ­Artemis. Police have now charged 60 people since August.

However, Mr Mitchell has warned that’s just the tip of the iceberg — as not enough commuters report issues to authorities.

My run in with the creepy duo happened just a few hours into my assignment — but it wasn’t the only incident.

At Doonside station a man with dirty blond hair sat right next to me — even though the carriage was empty. He even flipped over the seat in front of me to get as close as possible.

The truth is when you’re a young woman on a Sydney train (I’m 22) you’re constantly wary. You hold your phone in your hand in case you need to ring for help. You know exactly where the emergency call button is. You loathe travelling alone. And you even try to cover up your legs or arms.

My time on the train this week was during the day, but it recalled another recent incident. This was during a busy evening on the western line and I was sitting with my partner. It was about 8.30pm when a group armed with bottles of booze clambered on.

“What the f... are you looking at you skinny b....,” one of them yelled before running towards us, stumbling with bottle in hand.

A man on board filmed the ordeal and called the police. If only more people would report the grubs, as the NSW Police are calling on commuters to do.