Metrolink’s danger zone
Passengers say they don’t feel safe after series of violent incidents on trams, writes
LAST Sunday night a 15-year-old boy was attacked at a Metrolink station. He had been assaulted with a sharp weapon, causing a deep cut to his head, in a disturbance involving two large gangs of youths.
Seven men have now been arrested following the incident.
It has been described as ‘targeted and isolated incident’ by Transport for Greater Manchester.
But just last month a 17-year-old boy was repeatedly beaten by a gang of youths on the Bury line – getting off at Radcliffe to escape the assault.
And in August, ‘mindless vandals’ smashed up windows of a tram in the town.
In response to these incidents, the M.E.N. took a trip to the Radcliffe ask passengers one simple question: Do you feel safe getting the tram?
Heather Kaye said she’s not felt safe using Metrolink for years – not just months.
“I don’t like it. I feel intimated and I’ll be glad to get home,” she said.
This is particularly the case in the evenings. “I don’t go out when it’s dark. The past few years I’ve not felt safe,” she added.
But for others, the incidents of the last few months have taken an extra toll on them.
“I don’t really feel safe at all because it’s just me travelling alone every day,” said Rebecca Jayne, a student. “Being a woman you’re worrying anyway - alongside everything like this,” she said.
“I would rather avoid the tram if I could but it’s my main way of getting to uni in Manchester. I’m just braving it out. It shouldn’t be something I’m worrying about,” she added.
Vanessa Wasik, who was at the Radcliffe station with her young son, said she only uses the tram when she has to.
“There’s been a few instances over the last couple of years on this line,” she said. She added that the trams aren’t as staffed as much as they were - and recalls a time when there would always be one or two people on the platform and another on the tram itself.
“If I was going out in town or whatever I wouldn’t do it,” Vanessa said. “I’d end up paying for a taxi. But for some people that’s not an option.”
It’s not an option for one university student the M.E.N. spoke too who doesn’t wish to be named.
“With uni it’s hard to avoid it. If I could avoid it I would,” she said.
She said she had to get the tram quite late on Monday but that usually, she’d avoid making those journeys alone.
“I did see police the other night which was reassuring,” she said.
Police announced that they were stepping up patrols on the Bury Metrolink line after the incident on Sunday. Rose Rosalinda lives in Radcliffe
and uses the tram to get to the hospital where she often works late shifts.
“I got here about nine o’clock last night and I didn’t feel safe,” she said, despite the presence of around 10 police officers.
She wants to see police on the Bury line during weekends.
“That’s the time these idiots come,” she said. “It does get scary with teenagers. I’d rather they patrol during those days instead of during normal hours.”
But not everyone the M.E.N. spoke to felt unsafe getting the tram.
Ms Woodcock said: “I feel quite safe. If you feel safe inside you feel safe. I don’t attract anything, I’m quite streetwise. We can’t all live in
Didsbury and New Islington. Some of us have to live in the poor areas,” she added.
TfGM’s Head of Metrolink, Danny Vaughan, said: “We don’t just want people to be safe when using Metrolink, it’s really important to us that they feel safe too.
“There has been additional staff by Radcliffe tram stop in addition to police patrols. There was also a day of action in Bury last Friday as part of the TravelSafe Partnership.
“In Greater Manchester, through the TravelSafe Partnership (TSP), we work with police, transport operators and local councils to understand, address and tackle issues of crime and antisocial behaviour.
“We have our own team of TravelSafe Officers that dedicate 2,000 hours to patrolling our stops and services throughout the day and night, seven days a week.”