----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Roderick Smith rnveditor@...>
 
Sent: Friday, 15 February 2019, 22:43
Subject: Wed.6.2.19 daily digest.

No photos until further notice.
Again: one size fits all to save my time.

Roderick.
Wed.6.2.19 Metro Twitter.
8.19 Glen Waverley line: Minor delays (an equipment fault near Burnley).  Trains may be held.
8.22 Frankston line: Minor delays (an earlier [unannounced] train fault).
- 8.29 20 min after you first found out about the fault? Thanks for the heads up, not.  Now my train is not going through the loop. Bunch of incompetent morons.
9.26 Werribee line: Major delays (a truck striking Napier Street bridge near Footscray).  Trains will be held.
- 9.42 still major, but clearing.
- 10.29 Trains are on the move, with delays clearing.
10.04 Sunbury line: Minor delays (an equipment fault at Sydenham Watergardens). Trains may be held.
14.57 Hurstbridge line: Major delays (an equipment fault near Greensborough).  Trains may be held.
- 15.16 still major, but clearing.
- 16.15 now minor, but trains may still be held.
- 16.25 Are you cancelling any services?
17.28 Sandringham line: Minor outbound delays and major citybound delays (an earlier [unannounced] faulty train).
17.32 Frankston line: Minor delays (a train fault).
- Have you considered changing your recorded apology from trains being late to when the trains run on time, because no one expects it and can usually bank on an extra 8 or so minutes to get to the platform.
17.52 Werribee line: Minor delays (police attending to a trespasser near Laverton).  Trains may be held.
- 17.56 clearing.
18.20 Belgrave/Lilydale lines: Minor delays (an earlier [unannounced] equipment fault near Surrey Hills, and congestion).
18.23 Buses will replace trains between Frankston and Stony Point (an [unexplained] operational issue near Leawarra).
- 18.32 Alternative transport:  Bus route 782 between Frankston and Crib Point
- And 776, which goes to Baxter.
- 19.25 "Operational issue", a polite way of saying 'one of our carriages detached mid way through a trip'?
19.29 Lilydale line: Minor delays (an equipment fault between Mooroolbark and Croydon).
19.32 Minor delays (a lightning strike between Sunbury and Keilor Plains).
19.55 Buses will replace trains between North Melbourne and Upfield (lightning strikes affecting rail equipment). Tram route 19 may assist passengers with travel needs.
- 19.57 Bus services 513, 508, 505, 538, 504 and 561 are delayed indefinitely because of boom gates down across the Upfield line.
- 20.05 Replacement buses expected to be in position by 20.45.
- 20.33 You have staff at the broken crossings - why not get them safely moving vehicles around the boom gates?
- 20.40 Two buses are in operation, with  more on the way. Extended journey time of 60 minutes.
- 20.42 If the trains aren’t running, can you lift the boom gates?
- 20.45 The boom gates are killing us.  Please do something about that..
- 20.54  Please raise the boom gates, we can't get home!  We're stuck on Moreland Rd, near Sydney Rd. All of the gates have been down for over an hour and there is no way to cross the Upfield line at all. [Useless PTV/Metro/police can't  even arrange to wiggle cars around failed booms when no trains are moving at all].
- 20.56  Do you know when the crossing bells will stop at Anstey?
- 21.06 Can you get your managers out of bed and get them to provide some direction to the employees FFS.  There are two staff at Moreland Rd who could direct cars safely around the broken boom gates; it’s not hard!
- I doubt that station staff are qualified in traffic management.
- If the staff haven’t been trained in traffic management then that’s a pretty big oversight by senior management who have sent the poor buggers out in atrocious weather to manage pedestrian and vehicular traffic at the broken boom gates.
- 21.32 Are all boom gates still down?
- 21.34 Because of the level crossing faults alongside Sydney Rd, route 19 trams are experiencing long delays.
- 21.50 Bell Street at Coburg has been reopened in the last few minutes, our maintenance staff are working on other affected level crossings.
20.13 Because of 'extreme' weather there are disruptions affecting a number of trains (Metro & VLine), trams and bus services. Please check your line or route for service changes before you travel tonight on our app or website.
- 21.44 You may wish to consider Route 1/6/11 trams as an alternative [to what?].
Buses replace trains North Melbourne - Craigieburn from 20.30 (maintenance works).
- Still happening, with the forecast storms? What does Metro do to prepare for storms like this?
- We lie under the doona and block our ears.
21.43 Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Minor delays (police at South Yarra).  Trains may be held.
22.02 the aircon isn’t really working on the front half of the 21.58 Werribee to FSS. I think that the carriage number is 214M.
- 285M...286M-287M...288M.

Melbourne weather: Burst of wet and wild weather is sweeping Victoria as severe thunderstorms roll in 6 February 2019.
Thousands of homes are without power, the city's north has been lashed by hail and a key train line is down after a line of severe thunderstorms rolled into Melbourne.
The bureau has warned Melburnians to brace for torrential rain early on Wednesday evening with parts of the state expected to get a deluge of up to 50 millimetres bringing with it the risk of flash flooding.
A month's worth of rain could hit some Melbourne suburbs in a day as storms hit the city. Credit:Jason South
Parts of the state have already been hit with more than a month's worth of rain in less than an hour with Meredith, a town between Ballarat and Geelong, drenched by 51 millimetres in short burst of rainfall.
The storm rolled through Essendon Airport just before 7pm before peaking in nearby  Coburg in the city's north.
The suburb bore the brunt of the storms and was saturated by 25 millimetres of rain, large hail and flash flooding about 7.30pm.
Essendon recorded more than 20 millimetres of rain within half an hour.
"The storm is weakening now for the time being but it is still fairly humid and unstable right now so this could easily change quickly," Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Richard Carlyon said at 8.30pm.
Since about 9am, the SES has been called out 149 jobs, most in relation to building damage caused by flash flooding, trees down and traffic hazards due to fallen trees.
Worst hit areas across the state include Ballarat, Ararat, Bendigo.
In Melbourne, hotspots include Broadmeadows, Northcote, Melton, Preston and Fawkner.
Shortly before 8pm, Powercor and Citipower reported almost 8000 power outages in houses across the state, including outages in more than 1000 homes in Sunshine North.
Jemena also reported widespread outages with almost 7000 houses without power including homes in Pascoe Vale and Coburg.
AusNet also reported 165 customers without power, while United Energy recorded 498.
A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of Victoria, including Melbourne and Geelong, as the thunderstorms sweep in from western NSW.
Lightning strikes have wreaked havoc for the Upfield train line with Metro Trains reporting that the rail equipment has been affected by the storms.
Metro Trains tweeted just before 8pm that buses will replace trains between North Melbourne and Upfield.
A Metro Trains spokesman said lightning strikes had caused a number of signal faults along the Upfield line, which was also affecting level crossings and causing traffic congestion near Park Street and Royal Parade.
The storms also affected V/Line services with reports hundreds of commuters were left stranded at Rockbank train station near Melton.
Melbourne father Michael Currie said his 15-year-old son boarded a Bacchus Marsh bound train at 4.30pm from the city.
Mr Currie's son was on the train for three hours before commuters were told to get off at Rockbank just after 7.30pm and he called his father to pick him up.
"The train slowed down and stopped for an hour and then they moved to Rockbank where they were told to get off the train and call a taxi and that there might be buses coming," Mr Currie said.
"It was handled extremely poorly I saw pregnant women, women with babies, elderly people having to get off the train with no other connecting public transport. They were just left at a rural train station that's on the side of a busy road, it's not in town and it's under construction."
Mr Currie said he saw two V/Line sprinters emptied of people and estimated there were about 500 commuters dispatched at the station.
VLine confirmed its services had been affected by the storms late on Wednesday night, but said it had replacement buses at Rockbank train station by 8..30pm.
It's understood the situation is ongoing.
Storms have already lashed western Victoria and the eastern ranges causing flash flooding, dust storms and power outages.
The bureau issued a severe thunderstorm warning late on Wednesday afternoon for damaging winds, heavy rainfall and large hail across the central, East Gippsland, northern country, north central regions and parts of the Mallee, south-west, north-east, west and South Gippsland and Wimmera districts.
The warning area also includes Colac, Ballarat, Bendigo, Swan Hill, Echuca, Shepparton and the High Country.
The weather bureau said it had already received reports of flash flooding at Murrayville in the Mallee region and reports of one school in Ararat being flooded.
Thunderstorms roll in over Beeac near Colac.Credit:Laura Alston
The town of Stawell has received nine millimetres in nine minutes, while Longrenong - near Horsham - was drenched with 20 millimetres in 20 minutes.
Wild dust storms have also been reported in Wycheproof in north-west Victoria and Birchip in the Mallee.
"The line of thunderstorms has caused large wind gusts ahead of the storms which has stirred up dust in these areas," senior forecaster Dean Stewart said.
"A mixture of embedded thunderstorms, heavy rain and some localised flash flooding is likely in Melbourne.
There is chance of heavy rain virtually anywhere in Melbourne tonight, it's impossible to single a zone where the storms might hit."
A road weather warning has also been issued by the bureau with motorists urged to avoid driving where possible and to keep an eye on the radar.
Parts of Melbourne could be drenched by up to 30 millimetres in about an hour.
The average monthly rainfall for February is just under 40 millimetres.
Other areas could get anywhere between five millimetres and 15 millimetres, the bureau said.
The unstable conditions are due to continue overnight and into early Thursday morning.
"Some part of Melbourne may still be affected by further storms after the first line of storms move through," Mr Stewart said.
"At the moment, a low-pressure system is present in the atmosphere so it's conducive we could see more storm activity into Thursday."
Wind gusts of up to 80km/h have already been recorded in Swan Hill as the storms moved in.
But the burst of rain isn't expected over areas where bushfires continue to rage.
There was no significant rain expected where fires still burned, the Country Fire Authority said.
Warnings remain in place for six bushfires across the state including some blazes that have been burning for days at Grantville, south-east of Melbourne, and Hepburn Springs, north-west of the capital.
More than 6200 hectares of land has been burnt in the Thomson Catchment fire, east of Melbourne, with authorities concerned burnt debris has the potential to wash into Thomson Dam and contaminate Melbourne's major drinking water source.
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-weather-burst-of-wet-and-wild-weather-is-sweeping-victoria-as-severe-thunderstorms-roll-in-20190206-p50w4w.html>

Modern myki miracle: Android users give thumbs up to mobile payment trial 6 February 2019.
It has all the makings of a public transport miracle: a rollout of new myki technology that isn't plagued by huge problems. At least not yet.
Commuters taking part in a smartphone myki payment trial have given the beta test a cautious thumbs up, heaping praise on the convenience of topping up remotely and the system's decent touch-on speed.
Android users started using their mobile phones to pay for fares on Victoria's trains, buses and trams after Public Transport Victoria invited 4000 people to take part in the test-run last month.
There is still work to be done to ensure everyone can benefit:  iPhone users remain locked out of the trial with the state government yet to announce a deal with Apple to allow access to its cardless technology.
Nick Neos trials Myki mobile on his Android.Credit:Joe Armao
But those who have been accepted into the trial are pleased with the technology's performance so far, despite the odd hiccup.
Derrimut IT worker Nick Neos, 35, said he had been using Google Pay as a digital wallet for a couple of years and that adding a myki had been straightforward.
"For me, the more cards I can eliminate from my wallet, the better," he said.
He catches the train to the city two or three times a week and said he had only had one myki reader not recognise his phone.
"There's probably a slight delay compared to the myki card but it's an extra half a second, if that," he said.
"It's enough to notice it, but not enough to be a problem."
What it looks like using the new mobile myki via Google Pay. Credit:Joe Armao
So how does it work?
Eligible testers must have a compatible Android phone with NFC (Near-Field Communication) capability. Once given access to the trial, they then have the option to add a myki in the passes section of the Google Pay app.
That creates a new virtual myki, which can be topped up instantly via a linked credit card.
A new myki must be set up, so existing funds on a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly pass cannot be transferred over.
James Sash, a 24-year-old software engineer from Taylors Hill, said some of the older myki readers on the Sunbury line were a bit slow to recognise his phone.
"If you move too quickly or just a little bit it fails to read. If you get it properly in the one spot, it's ok," he said.
"The newer readers at places like Richmond work much better."
Nick Neos touches on his myki.Credit:Joe Armao
Cristina Spizzica, 27, said she had been using the digital payment option for a couple of days only but was already enjoying the convenience of ditching her myki card.
"In summer, if you're a person who has to wear clothes without pockets, it's great," she said.
"Paying with a phone has become one of my habits, I've been going out to lunch without a wallet."
She said the technology was well overdue, with other public transport systems around the world already enjoying cardless payments.
"It's definitely something I've been wanting for a while," she said.
"You see people looking at me when I use it wondering 'how are you doing this?'"
Essendon student Michael, 19, said he was still carrying his physical myki as a back-up but so far the phone technology hadn't failed.
He said the myki readers had no problems recognising his phone's NFC antenna, even when inside a case.
"If they were to roll it out as a full thing I would definitely use it," he said.
To apply to be part of the mobile myki program go to ptv.vic.gov.au/mobilemyki.
Related Article Sexual offences on public transport have increased by 60 per cent in the past three years. Sexual offences up by 60 per cent on public transport.
Related Article Mike Smith was fined for using an expired myki card. 'Ticking time bomb': Caught out with an expired myki.
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/modern-myki-miracle-android-users-give-thumbs-up-to-mobile-payment-trial-20190205-p50vtz.html>
Suspected lightning strike sends house up in flames after storms sweep Melbourne
Wed.6.2.19 Herald Sun, late evening.
video: Queensland's catastrophic flood crisis
Firefighters are working to save a home in Melbourne’s north after it went up in flames this evening.
Emergency services were called to the fire, possibly caused by a lightning strike, about 7.40pm on Wednesday night.
Two people had escaped from the burning home by the time help arrived.
“Crews are attacking the fire,” an MFB spokeswoman said. “They have breathing apparatus gear on. “Crews are still working to contain the fire.”
Firefighters at a house fire in Penola St, Preston, which was suspected to be caused by lightning. Picture: Tony Gough
https://data.weatherzone.com.au/maplayers/wz/borders/borders_radarz_002_960x720.gif
The fire is mostly in the roof space. Eight fire appliances are working on the blaze.
It comes as wild weather swept across Victoria earlier Wednesday afternoon and hit Melbourne in the early evening, bringing hail, rain and thunder.
Parts of the city were inundated when the storm swept over the city this evening.
Essendon Airport recorded 18mm of rain in 20 minutes while She Oaks was smashed with 22mm in 25 minutes.
BOM duty forecaster Chris Godfred said the rainfall was extreme in some places.
“The rain that we’ve had has been very intense,” he said. “That’s going to fill up the gutter pretty quickly.
“Not the sort of rainfall you usually experience outside the tropics.”
Preston man Chris Macheras was at home when he saw “apocalypse” style clouds rolling towards his house in Melbourne’s north.
“It was insane,” he said. “They were really 3D and dark grey and they were moving in quite quickly. It was thundering constantly.”
Shortly after the clouds rolled across, he was pelted by cherry-sized hailstones and heavy rain.
The conditions also wreaked havoc on Melbourne’s transport system after lightning strikes caused malfunctions on level crossings and other equipment along the Upfield line.
Much of the line was suspended and buses replaced trains between North Melbourne and Upfield.
Commuters were forced to take lengthy detours around the line after boom gates stopped opening when lightning struck equipment.
Crews are on site and attempting to fix the problem but they do not know when service will be restored.
Buses are also replacing trains on the Stony Point line due to weather conditions.
The storm has mostly passed Melbourne now and dispersed across to the east where it has weakened, but the air is expected to remain humid, with temperatures predicted to stay above 22C overnight.
DUST STORMS, FLOODS IN REGIONAL CENTRES
Nearly a month’s worth of rain could be dumped on parts of the state as humid and unstable conditions sweep the state.
A severe weather warning was issued for large parts of Victoria as a massive line of thunderstorms stretching from Torquay to Swan Hill swept across the state earlier on Wednesday evening, whipping up dust storms and causing flash flooding.
The storms were racing in a line from western NSW to across Bass Strait, bringing heavy rain and hail in parts, with reports of flash flooding in Ararat and power outages in southwestern Victoria.
Cleaning up the mess at Ararat College. Picture: Twitter/@JACKTWARD_
Floodwater was nearly 1m high. Picture: Twitter/@JACKTWARD_
— Send your wild weather pictures tonews@...
After just 45 minutes of rain, Ararat College was badly flooded and areas were evacuated on Wednesday afternoon, according to student Jack Ward.
“Teachers and students hadn’t seen anything like it before,” he told the Herald Sun.
“The paths around the school were rivers. All the drains were gurgling.’
One of the locker areas was nearly 1ft underwater at one point.
“Staff had to grab bags out of there to try and salvage whatever they could,” Jack said.
“Water started seeping into the library. We’ve got a team coming up to assess the damage to assess the damage and see if we could go to school tomorrow.”
Lightning strikes near Beulah. Picture: Jeremy Hose
Since noon, more than 70 calls for assistance have been made to the SES.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds, heavy rainfall and large hail across the Central, East Gippsland, Northern Country, North Central regions and parts of the Mallee, South West, North East West and South Gippsland and Wimmera districts.
The warning area includes Melbourne, Geelong, Colac, Ballarat, Bendigo, Swan Hill, Echuca, Shepparton and the High Country.
A dust storm rolls in near Lake Boga, in Victoria’s northeast. Picture: Lauren Sharp
Strong winds whipped up a dust storm near Lake Boga. Picture: Lauren Sharp
The Bureau of Meteorology said it had received reports of flash flooding at Murrayville in the Mallee region.
“We have issued a road weather alert — people should take care out on the roads,” BOM senior forecaster Michael Efron said.
“It is generating some heavy rainfalls as well as damaging winds and possibly large hail as well.
“We’ve also had numerous reports of raised dust — like a dust storm.”
Wind gusts of up to 80kmh were preceding the system as it travels across from the west.
“We’ve also seen 20mm fall in around 20 minutes at Horsham,” meteorologist Steven McGibbony told reporters this afternoon.
“Any parts of Melbourne are at risk.”
It was typical for a month’s worth of rain to fall over just a few days during this time of the year, he said.
This could lead to flash flooding, along with the possibility of damaging winds and large hailstones.
“Equally, other areas that miss out on the storms won’t see much at all,” Mr McGibbony said.
There is the potential for heavy rain through the state’s bushfire-hit areas, particularly Gippsland, but it’s more likely on Thursday, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Conditions are expected to clear into Friday, when humid conditions and any showers or storms contract to the east of the state as drier air pushes in from the west.
Melbourne is expected to reach 30C on Thursday and 21C on Friday.
Victoria’s weather warnings come as a flood crisis grips Queensland, where two bodies were found in Townsville floodwaters.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/flash-flooding-risk-as-subtropical-weather-hits-victoria/news-story/c622a1101d61a777ea9c3752b7b67c6f>

Sydney's stretched rail network in store for $900m in new trains 6 February 2019. 37 comments.
Record growth in passengers on Sydney’s stretched rail network has spurred the Berejiklian government to order an extra 17 new trains to cope with the "off-the-charts" demand.
The new batch of Waratah trains, which will be built in China, will cost the state about $900 million, which includes their ongoing maintenance. Once off the production line, the first of the 17 Waratah B-sets is due to begin running on the city's suburban network in August 2020.
The latest order comes as Sydney Trains has pressed into service half of the 24 Waratah B-sets ordered several years ago. The latter will allow the rail operator to retire four-decades-old S-Set trains – dubbed “sweat sets” because of their lack of airconditioning – by mid-year.
The NSW government has ordered another 17 Waratah trains, the first of which is expected to begin services in August next year.Credit:Brendan Esposito
Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the investment in the trains – noticeable for their orange driver cabins – was needed because of the rapid growth across the rail network.
“By bolstering our order by another 17 trains, we will make the network more reliable and more comfortable for our customers,” he said..
Sydney's 163-year-old train network is struggling under the demands of what the government describes as "an explosion in demand". Last year passengers took more than 413 million journeys on the rail system, up 38 per cent from 300 million in 2013.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance says the growth in demand is exploding.Credit:Janie Barrett
And over the next three years a 21 per cent rise in annual passenger trips is forecast.
While the remaining S-Set trains will be retired in the coming months, Mr Constance said the "growth is so huge" that other old trains in the state's fleet, such as the silver K-Sets, would remain in service even when the extra Waratah trains arrive from next year.
"We are making the additional 17-train purchase, not on the basis to replace old trains; we're doing it on the basis of growth and growth only. At this stage there is no strategy to replace the K-Sets," he said.
"A hundred million passenger increase in a five-year period is off the charts, and that's what we've had to cater for."
Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins said the rail operator was working on plans to improve the reliability of the K-Set trains. "The good thing is those trains are airconditioned – that's why we've kept them," he said.
Under the original contract, the government has the option of purchasing another 28 eight-car trains from a consortium of China's CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles company and Australian engineering firm Downer EDI.
And while there will be slight changes to train services in the short term, Mr Constance said there would not be a major overhaul of the rail timetable until 2022 or 2023, following an upgrade to signalling. "We will see service adjustments, as you do with any timetable, but there will not be a major overhaul until we see the digitising of the network," he said.
Related Article The Berejiklian government is banking on the Sydney Metro project. Old, crowded trains and maxed-out credit: Will the Sydney metro project sway voters?
<www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-s-stretched-rail-network-in-store-for-900m-in-new-trains-20190206-p50w1l.html>

Another truck crashes into infamous Napier St bridge, after at least 21 crashes in 2018.
Maribyrnong Leader February 6, 2019.
The bridge is still the site of regular crashes, despite warning signs. Picture: Martin Wurt/MTAG.
A truck has yet again hit the rail bridge on Napier St, renewing calls from the Maribyrnong
Truck Action Group for trucks to be banned from the area.
A truck carrying a shipping container hit the bridge at about 9.30am.
VicRoads confirmed Napier St was shut for about 30 minutes as the truck was moved to the side of the road.
Maribyrnong Truck Action Group member Martin Wurt said he heard the truck driver tell police he did not usually drive down Napier St, and “didn’t know about the bridge”.
The 4m-high bridge suffers more hits from heavy vehicles than any other in Melbourne, with more than 21 in 2018 alone.
The truck sidelined after hitting the notorious low road bridge this morning. Picture: Martin Wurt/MTAG
VicRoads staff investigate following this morning’s crash. Picture: Martin Wurt/MTAG
Napier St was closed for about 30 minutes while the truck was moved to the side of the road. Picture: Martin Wurt/MTAG
The bridge was hit at least 21 times last year. Picture: Martin Wurt/MTAG
On December 21 last year the bridge was struck twice.
Work was done in 2017 to upgrade the bridge, but Mr Wurt said those efforts were “ludicrous” and all trucks needed to be banned on the street.
“It’s just a matter of time before someone dies,” he said.
“You couldn’t find a more inappropriate truck route if you tried.”
SHIPPING CONTAINER FALLS ON CAR AT NAPIER ST BRIDGE
TRUCK HITS NAPIER ST, RAIL BRIDGE IN FOOTSCRAY
NAPIER ST BRIDGE: LASER BEAMS, NEW SIGNS INSTALLED
ALMOST 83,000 THEFTS FROM CARS AND HOMES IN MELBOURNE
FACEBOOK FEUD LEADS TO CARPARK HIT AND RUN
<www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north-west/another-truck-crashes-into-infamous-napier-st-bridge-after-at-least-21-crashes-in-2018/news-story/0ef3f394dee47193c85a4ac968ffecb6>

The evening commute: Same night, same location, vastly different journeys. February 6, 2019 1 comment.
Two young Brisbane professionals who work a few blocks from one another have starkly different commutes to and from work.
One spends the journey in a constant state of vigilance, seeking out female strangers to stand close to in order to feel safer.
Caitlin Ferguson, 24, said she felt nervous taking public transport at night. Credit:Stocksy
The other spends the commute thinking about what he is going to have for dinner.
The only difference is their gender.
In the past two weeks, two women were allegedly attacked by strangers in public places around Brisbane.
One was a 16-year-old girl who was dragged into bushes and assaulted at Chermside West, 11 kilometres north of central Brisbane.
A police spokesman said she had since withdrawn the complaint.
Another was allegedly put into a headlock and groped in her car at Margate, 27 kilometres north-east of central Brisbane.
Caitlin Ferguson, 24, who works as a lawyer in Brisbane’s CBD, said the two attacks had heightened her anxiety in public places.
“I don’t feel safe on the train after dark. I never listen to my iPod at night-time because I am always terrified someone is going to come up and grab me,” she said.
“I always have my car keys in between my fingers, sticking out, so if someone does come up behind me I have something I can stab them with just to get a few seconds to escape.
“If I am the only female in my carriage, I walk to find one somewhere else in the train.
“It might sound dramatic but you always have to be alert.”
Ms Ferguson, whose commute to work takes an hour, avoids catching public transport past 8pm.
To feel safe, she drives and parks in the CBD about twice a week at a cost of at least $120 a month.
Ms Ferguson said she felt frustrated she and other women needed to take extra measures to ensure their safety.
“It sucks that we have to do that and it is unfair that we have to be taking these extra precautions but what else can we do?” she said.
“Sometimes there are security guards on the train, which is really good, but the issue is the walk from the train to your car, or from the bus to your house, even the walk from your work to the train.
“That is the hard part. You cannot hire a personal security guard to follow you around everywhere.”
Recent alleged attacks by strangers in Brisbane have made some women more aware of their personal safety but women are actually much more likely to be assaulted by someone they know at a private residence, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Men are also more likely to be attacked by a stranger in public than women, but those assaults are usually “brawls” that take place on a street or in a cafe, hotel or restaurant, according to data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
“We need to focus on how there is a massive issue in the way that men perceive women in our society.”
Crispin Scott
A Queensland police spokeswoman said “while assaults of this nature are uncommon in Queensland, police encourage everyone to be mindful of their personal safety when in public spaces”.
Queensland police were hesitant to weigh in on the issue of women’s safety in public places.
Victorian police were criticised for their public safety warning in the days after the murder of Eurydice Dixon at Melbourne in June.
Following Ms Dixon’s rape and murder, police advised people to be “aware of their own personal security” and have “situational awareness”, which sparked outcry from many about victim blaming.
Brisbane commuter Crispin Scott, 25, agreed the focus should be on men and how toxic attitudes could manifest into violent assaults.
“I am all for female empowerment but that does not help when a woman is alone on a street being attacked,” he said.
“There is only so much you can do to protect yourself from a random attacking you, instead we need to focus on how there is a massive issue in the way that men perceive women in our society.”
He said it was “nuts” how he and Ms Ferguson’s experiences travelling to and from the same place were so drastically different..
“Men read about these attacks and think of them as random events and often don’t understand that it can be an everyday reality for a woman to feel afraid,” Mr Scott said.
“They don’t think about how their actions can affect women, like walking behind a woman, looking at her on the bus or sitting down next to her."
Mr Scott said once he started to put himself in women’s shoes, he began to change his behaviour.
“I would be walking home behind a woman who was alone and I would catch her giving nervous backwards glances and I would think she was being rude and making assumptions about me,” he said.
“Then I actually thought, she is in a vulnerable position and if I were her I would probably be doing the exact same thing.
“It is not until you actually start thinking about how frightening that would be to constantly be looking over your shoulder. It is awful that women go through that on a daily basis, just walking to the bus.”
Related Article Don't blame the police for our fear.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/the-evening-commute-same-night-same-location-vastly-different-journeys-20190125-p50tr8.html>