Still Game

So have been reading a lot of reports (probably an element of truth in there somewhere) about how bad the trains in Perth are. Fighting, huge overcrowding and hugely overpriced, no train guards, sexual assaults etc...

Have heard the Midland / Freo line are the worst. Is it really as bad as all this? Every train?

spouse of scouse

No. They're the same as trains in every city, you get a few idiots on them now and then. I don't know what media outlet all those reports you've read come from, but if the situation was anywhere near that bad I think we'd all know about it. Plus I would have been dead, sexually assaulted and broke numerous times.

Still Game

Yah, I was a bit tongue in cheek with the 'every train' part; but it did seem pretty much every news report lately (plus comments from commuters) seems that the level of safety etc.. had gone downhill dramatically since I left 15 years ago.

Good to hear from someone who uses the trains regularly and finds them ok.

spouse of scouse

I'm living in the UK now, but up to 8 months ago I used the train fairly regularly for meetings in the city. I can only recall one 'bad' experience, when a young woman sitting opposite yelled at me 'what are you looking at?'. I just replied 'not you, that's for sure' and she shut up

Amazulu

Rubbish

Not saying that there's not any problems but on the whole, Perth trains are pretty good - and it's expanding to the airport and beyond. Ever tried to get a train to Tullamarine?

Expensive? I think it's $3.30 from Midland to Perth. How can that be expensive. Drive and park or get an Uber and see how expensive that is

Usually punctual - and pretty regular

I've never seen a fight on a train but you do get the occasional asshole

Overcrowded? Maybe at the peak of peak hour but have you ever been on a tube in London at 8 in the morning or tried to get on a train at Charing Cross to London Bridge at 8:30?

More hater nonsense

Still Game

from me??

Still Game

good response! good to hear you found the ok

Amazulu

Not at all

Your sources

Still Game

I've read various reports on four different news sites, not sure they're all 'haters' but conscious things can be sensationalised.

I'm wary of anyone calling anyone a 'hater' anyway... from real life experience it's usually just when someone doesn't agree with what someone else believes. Thus I wanted to check.

Good to see there's probably a bit of sensationalism going on.

northernbird

Are you moving to Perth, will this be of concern to you?

Still Game

Most likely and yes.

Dorothy

I take the train and a bus every day both ways to and from work. Twice in nearly 9 years of daily commuting have I had a problem on the train. Once about 5 years ago when a bunch of drunks got on at Leederville and one of them sat on my lap. A man standing up told him to move and the drunk guy tried to take a swing at the one who told him to get up. Turns out standing man was an off duty cop. The whole episode lasted less than a minute and they were all off at the next stop. The only other time I've had any kind of trouble was last week when a group of teenage boys was on my evening train and they were acting like asshats. I called the security number for TransPerth and by the next station there was a cop waiting to talk to them. They didn't behave any better so I rang back and again the TP security couldn't be bothered to get on the train. There were however 2 transit police at the station where I got off who made sure I got to my car ok.

It's not terribly expensive when I consider how far I travel every day. It's nearly 75 minutes each way and I pay $110/fortnight. I have a Smart Rider card so there's a discount. Mind you, it's a corporate card (check if your employer participates) so my discount is 25% instead of the 15% for a regular card.

As for the Midland and Fremantle lines being a problem, I've been on both loads of times both for work and on weekends and never seen anything even remotely violent or unsafe.

Still Game

Thanks Dorthy, I always enjoy your honest straight forward posts.

BadgeIsBack

And exactly the same in Melbourne where the trains get crowded in rush hour as you'd expect...but by and large it's another system which works for thousands.

All perfectly doable and as Zulu says amazingly cheap too: almost too cheap. In Melbourne its 7bucks a day...ands that's at the less economical rate buying by the day. Imagine doing Maidenhwad to London for GBP3.50..return!

the troubadour

Know much about trains/public transport outside of rush hours do you??


Not rubbish. Certainly not haters, a term you use with frequency to most any comment that doesn't reflect your views on Perth.


There has long been issues with safety on the trains for decades. Obviously most the trouble is after dark, usually later in the night. As a user of trains for several years returning often on the second to last train on the Armadale Line and witnessed as well as on a few occasions involved in incidents.


It is purely wrong in the extreme to suggest otherwise. To label alternative views from the wise as anything approaching hatred is pure folly.