WA: Security heightened for bus drivers after attacks

AAP General News (Australia)
08-03-2009
WA: Security heightened for bus drivers after attacks

By Andrea Hayward

PERTH, Aug 3 AAP - Security measures will be introduced to protect Perth bus drivers
against increasingly prevalent brutal attacks, the Public Transport Authority (PTA) says.

Drivers threatened to boycott dangerous routes and have foreshadowed industrial action
after two particularly violent attacks last week.

Perth bus driver Gerrard Sin, 59, risks losing the sight in his left eye after being
smashed twice in the head with a lump of concrete on Friday evening.

Earlier the same day, a female bus driver was bashed on board a bus in the Perth CBD.

The Transport Workers Union, which had said it would call a mass stopwork meeting for
later this week, met with transport industry representatives on Monday and will meet with
the PTA again on Wednesday.

PTA spokesman David Hynes said Monday's meeting with the union, police and bus and
security contractors had been "highly productive".

Police have said they will begin a blitz at problem bus stations and all buses used
after 7pm (WST) will immediately have security grills fitted to protect drivers, Mr Hynes
said.

He said security grills had recently been fitted to buses used after 8pm.

"We are immediately having to bring that forward to 7pm at night with a view to looking
at logistics to bring it in at sunset or earlier," Mr Hynes said.

"There has been no need identified to have them during the day."

A redesign of the security grills would also be considered because some drivers did
not like the grills, Mr Hynes said.

The level of security at bus terminals and mobile security teams would be increased
immediately in response to the recent attacks, he said.

Mr Hynes said Wednesday's meeting with the union and other representatives would look
at the logistics of introducing the increased security.

AAP ah/was/jfm

KEYWORD: BUSES

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