Melbourne train station crime: Southern Cross tops the list
Horrific bashings and robberies have plagued Melbourne’s most crime-riddled train stations, with new statistics revealing our 10 worst commuter hubs for incidents. See which ones are the city’s most dangerous.
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A major Melbourne CBD train station has taken the top spot as Melbourne’s most crime-riddled transport hub.
The annual total of offences recorded at Southern Cross went from 382 in 2015-16 to 636 in 2018-19, falling to 538 between April 2019 and March this year, according to new Crime Statistics Agency data.
Property and deception offences (257) accounted for most of the crime, followed by public order and security offences (91) and crimes against people (90).
In June, a young girl was allegedly set upon in a violent gang attack as she waited for a train at Southern Cross in broad daylight.
Footage of the vicious incident, where the 16-year-old is punched and kicked multiple times, went viral on social media
In May, a woman was also spat on during a brazen alleged assault on a train at Southern Cross.
Flinders Street, which came in at second had 533 offences, compared to a whopping 701 the previous year.
Dandenong’s notorious reputation as the most dangerous station in suburban Melbourne remains with 301 offences, despite hitting a five-year low.
Crime spiked at Sunshine station with 266 offences, compared to 193 in the previous year.
Frankston (164), Footscray (143), Ringwood (138) and Springvale (123), were also among the top 10 most crime-riddled stations.
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said PSOs should be deployed at the most trouble-plagued stations at all times.
“We know from past studies that a number of these incidents do occur before 6pm when PSOs may not be around,” Mr Bowen said.
He said there had been calls from the community for Dandenong station to undergo a revamp.
“Better design could help with reducing crime including improving sight lines and visibility for staff to be able to see around station,’’ Mr Bowen said.
“It would also be beneficial to have more CCTV and brighter open spaces and to have PSOs there all day,” he said.
Greater Dandenong councillor Tim Dark said crime at Dandenong station was “extremely concerning”.
“The whole station needs to be demolished and rebuilt and there’s a lot of blind spots, which have raised serious crime concerns,” Cr Dark said.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said as of March 2020, there had been a decrease in the total number of incidents recorded at Flinders Street, Southern Cross and Dandenong Railway stations when compared to previous years.
Transit Safety Division Superintendent Andrew Humberstone said there would continue to be a highly visible presence at these busy stations and surrounding areas.
“In the time prior to coronavirus restrictions, major metro and suburban stations such as Flinders Street, Southern Cross and Dandenong saw large numbers of foot traffic and we tasked our officers to patrol accordingly,” Supt Humberstone said.
“PSOs were at these stations from 6pm until the last train at night supported by police officers. These deployments continue today,” he said.
Supt Humberstone said the Integrated Transport Security Model ensured patrols by PSOs supported the mobile deployments of police to public transport hubs and on trains and trams.
“Transit police alongside PSOs and local officers, will continue to focus on these stations and the surrounding areas and their highly visible presence deters those who come to these stations to commit opportunistic crime and do the wrong thing.”
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