Partners praised for helping make buses and trams safer
THERE’S been a fall in the number of antisocial behaviour complaints on Rochdale’s trams and buses, town hall bosses have said.
Transport chiefs have praised the work of Greater Manchester TravelSafe Partnership, which patrol the borough’s public transport networks.
Coun Phil Burke, who represents the borough of Rochdale on the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee said the improvements were down to ongoing work by the Police, Metrolink, Transport for Greater Manchester, local councillors and the youth service.
He added: “Our youth service regularly deploy staff to hotspot areas and have a rolling programme to interact with youths as well as a range of diversionary events to move groups from the tram stations. There have been highly visible TravelSafe operations on the Rochdale line and a number of groups causing anti-social behaviour have been worked with. There are plans for more operations and a number of arrests have also been made.”
Since December 10 additional police community support officers (PCSOs) have been in post and are now involved in the task of reducing crime and anti-social behaviour on the region’s bus and tram networks. The new officers will provide an increased staff presence on the various transport networks, particularly in the evening and at weekends.
Chief Inspector Nick Hill said: “Antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated and is being addressed head on. I am very proud of the way all agencies are working together to tackle this persistent problem.”