Superintendent Bernie Ryan said the Police Transport Command was making trains in the region safer but could not do it alone.

“Safety on the transport network is not just the responsibility of the police but also the community,” Supt Ryan said.

“We need the community to tell us what concerns them, and if they see a crime, to contact us.”

Transport command officers are responsible for maintaining order on trains, from checking tickets to dealing 

with unruly passengers and antisocial behaviour.

Supt Ryan said the command and its police officers were better suited to managing public transport issues than the previous system of transit officers.

“It is a lot easier to deploy whatever resources are required to whatever region needs them,” he said.

He said large police resources had been deployed on the region’s public transport in recent weeks.

“The premise behind the creation of this command was to have a greater ability to change resources, to cut red tape,” he said.

Transport police were targeting graffiti and fare evasion on Illawarra trains, with both uniformed and plain-clothes officers on patrol, Supt Ryan said.

“Fare evasion is something we focus on, because it can identify those who might be responsible for other offences, too,” he said.