Revealed: Auckland public transit violence – dozens of officers assaulted

Passengers alighting at Britomart Train Station in Auckland. Photo / NZME

In the wake of a brazen attack where a train manager was stabbed at an Auckland station, the Herald can reveal dozens of transport officers have been assaulted in recent years.

Transport officers were added to trains and buses in the Supercity by Auckland Transport in 2017 in response to high rates of fare evasion and to improve passenger safety.

Their numbers were bolstered late last year on city buses after a driver was punched in the head by a passenger upset the bus had set off before he was seated.

Auckland Transport (AT) staff working in the field continue to face the ever-present possibility of a violent assault.

On Saturday afternoon at Sylvia Park station, the train manager on an eastern line service was allegedly attacked, receiving minor stab wounds.

Four youths were arrested after the incident. An AT spokesman said the manager has been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home.

“He is understandably still in some pain but is otherwise in good spirits,” the spokesman said.

Figures obtained by the Herald under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act show since their introduction in 2017, there were 81 recorded assaults against transport officers, both verbal and physical.

The incidents include officers who were shoved, spat at and verbally mauled by abusive passengers.

Like Corrections officers, the transport officers wear body cameras they activate before a potential altercation.

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On April 17, 2020, towards the end of the first level four lockdown, a woman who was joy-riding with her partner on an Auckland train spat at three transport officers, forcing the trio into isolation.

“This behaviour is totally unacceptable,” AT chief executive Shane Ellison said at the time.

In a chaotic incident early last year, two transport officers were told by a bus driver of a passenger who had not paid their fare and was refusing to wear a mask, according to a summary of assaults provided by AT.

The unco-operative passenger ignored the officers and walked off, returning a few minutes later with a group.

One of the passenger’s reinforcements lit fireworks which he threw under the stationary bus.

The group boarded the bus, pursued by officers.

One of the group then shoved the officer in the chest several times, telling them to “f*** off”.

That person then hopped off the bus after hitting the emergency button.

They were again followed by officers, but this time the person turned around and swung a punch at one of the officers, narrowly missing them.

At this point, police swarmed the scene and arrested two of the group.

Since its inception, AT’s transport officer programme has cost about $22.6m, the official figures show.

The average yearly cost since 2019 has been a little over $5.3m.