MAINLINING - A NEW THREAT ON TRAMS AND TRAINS

Illicit drug use was becoming a problem on trains and trams on some
routes in Melbourne, a public transport lobby group warned yesterday.

The Epping line, the Dandenong line, the St Albans line and the number
86 tram were identified by the Public Transport Users Association as
the worst-affected routes.

Drug users were spotted injecting in trains and trams, and syringes
were found on seats, the group said.

A public health body yesterday called for an inquiry into drug use on
public transport.

A spokeswoman for Vic Health, Trish Cotter, urged transport companies
to look into the problem.

"It is disturbing to know these people are shooting up in public,
whether it be on a train, tram or a beach," she said.

And the chairman of the drug policy expert committee, David Penington,
said anecdotal evidence of drug use on trams and reports of overdoses
on country trains were not uncommon.

"This is a risk to drug users, and a real offence to the public," he
said.

"It is just an extension of injecting on the streets. We have to find
ways to help those in need and reduce this public nuisance.

"Injecting facilities are an important step in this
direction."

The executive director of Youth Substance Abuse Service, Paul
McDonald, said that having more public transport staff would improve
passenger health and safety.

"Automation has made people very unsafe," he said.

PTUA secretary Vaughan Williams said that the gradual removal of tram
conductors, station staff and train guards over the past 20 years,
coupled with the growing heroin problem, had made Melbourne's public
transport system a target for illicit drug use.

He said two of the three train routes - the Epping line through
Collingwood, and the Dandenong line through Springvale - and the
number 86 tram route along Smith Street, Fitzroy, ran to or through
areas well known for high public illicit drug use.

Yarra Trams, which runs the number 86 tram along Smith Street,
conceded yesterday drug use was a "big issue" that the company was
tackling with police.

Bayside Trains also confirmed that syringes had been found in
carriages along the Dandenong line.

A Yarra Trams spokeswoman, Christine Buckingham, said tram drivers had
called ambulances to treat overdose victims several times in the past
year.

In September, Yarra Trams plans to introduce a special revenue
protection unit of 30 officers to look for fare evaders, vandals and
drug users.

Also, trial security cameras in refurbished trams could soon be
installed throughout the Yarra Tram fleet.

Yesterday, Bayside Trains announced that eight unarmed Chubb security
guards would patrol late-night trains in a trial to crack down on vandalism.

Bayside communications manager Dean Souter said: "If drug users
thought it was a safe place to inject, they won't be now. The guards
will be instructed to tell them of the consequence of the law."

But the PTUA said that part-time patrols would not stem the alarming
increase in drug use and vandalism, and called for the return of
full-time tram conductors and guards.

The State Government has promised $20 million for an extra 100 staff
to patrol trains and stations.

Acting Premier John Thwaites said that restoring permanent guards on
trains would be unlikely to alleviate passenger safety concerns.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union will hold stopwork meetings today to
protest against the use of outside security guards on Bayside Trains
rail network.

Union state secretary Trevor Dobbyn said a "private army" of security
guards was no way to ensure passenger safety, and was a "cheap way out
of their responsibility to passengers".