By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
THE State Government’s failure to budget for PSOs at Hallam train station during the upcoming 24-hour Homesafe trial will put local commuters and property at risk, according to Opposition Leader Matthew Guy.
A Liberal spokesperson said Hallam Station was ranked in the top five stations in metropolitan Melbourne for crimes against property.
Under the government’s Homesafe trial, which will launch on 1 January next year, commuters will have access to all-night public transport on weekends.
PSOs will be on duty all night at the 78 locations dubbed by the government as ‘premium stations’.
Mr Guy visited Hallam station last week, which is not a premium station, and voiced concern for local commuters who will use the train overnight during the trial.
“There needs to be PSO officers when they put on a 24-hour service … this will endanger people at non-premium stations,” Mr Guy told Star News.
“How can you call a policy ‘homesafe’ when you’re taking security off the railway stations?”
Mr Guy also voiced concerns for Sandown Park and Yarraman train stations, which a Liberal spokesperson said were in the top 10 for criminal incidents and both non-premium locations.
But the government hit back at the Opposition, with a Labor spokesperson noting that a mobile squad of transit police will patrol all 15 train lines during the Homesafe trial, which includes the non-premium stations Hallam, Sandown Park and Yarraman.
The spokesperson said the government consulted carefully with Victoria Police in preparation for the trial.
“Homesafe is about getting people home safer and sooner on weekends, whether they’re out for a movie or finishing a shift at work,” the spokesperson said.
“The extra funding we have provided means Victoria Police have the resources they need to keep people safe.”
