Transport officers to operate on Auckland trains in bid to curb violence

Monday, 6 November 2017

Transport officers will eventually be the main ports of call on Auckland trains, taking over from train managers.

Auckland's trains will be manned by transport officers — a new role — as well as train managers and Maori wardens from Monday.

220 new officers would gradually take over from the current 168 managers, meaning some jobs will be lost.

However, the total on-board staff numbers would rise, said Auckland Transport (AT) spokesman Mark Hannan.

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,' Hannon said.

Transport officers will 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.