New policing of trains begins
Auckland’s trains will be manned by transport officers — an entirely new role — as well as train managers and Maori wardens.
Starting on Monday some 220 new officers would gradually take over from the current 168 managers, meaning some jobs will be lost.
But Auckland Transport (AT) spokesman Mark Hannan said the total on-board staff numbers would rise.
He refuted the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) claim that the officers’ deployment signalled the end of on-board crew.
It was true, however, that some services would be without crew on board.
‘‘That’s because we’ll be targeting trains with known problems — such as night services,’’ Hannan said.
Transport officers would differ from train managers in several ways and not all managers would qualify to become officers.
‘‘Managers basically walk up and down trains, checking tickets, whereas transport officers will have more training, akin to policemen,’’ Hannan said.
‘‘They’ll be able to kick passengers off trains and have greater powers to enforce fare payment.’’
The transport officer role was created in response to increased rail patronage, to boost passenger safety and better enforce fare payment.
RMTU organiser John Kerr said that while more uniformed staff on the network ‘‘can be an effective deterrent to anti-social elements’’, the union called for train managers’ jobs to be retained.