Tighter train security, drones for Melbourne Cup
Jockey Damian Lane goes past as people protest during the Melbourne Cup Parade. Photo: AAP
Drones will be used to monitor trains carrying the more than 150,000 racegoers expected to take public transport to the Melbourne Cup.
Metro Trains and Victoria Police are spending $100,000 to tighten security ahead of ‘the race that stops the nation’ at Flemington on Tuesday to keep everyone moving.
More than 1000 extra train services will run to and from the racecourse, at a rate of one every four minutes during the peak travel times.
Those trains will be monitored by two new drones, in a bid to head off any disruptions.
Metro previously rented drones to monitor major events, but the new purchase means they’ll be used more often to track crowd sizes, movements and track trespassers.
“They will be used extensively in this and future events. It allows us to zoom in and see what’s happening from above, especially to watch trespassers that might slow our trains,” Metro Chief Officer Catherine Baxter said.
“We’ve spent many weeks working hard to prepare the network to be as robust as possible. We can spot vandals and keep our trains going smoother and safer”.
Ms Baxter said the security measures can also help for security purposes like graffiti and copper theft, which have previously caused major disruptions to train services.
Images recorded will be stored by Metro and passed on to police.
Anti-horseracing groups are expected to be joined by other activists at Flemington this year and Victoria Police say they will monitor the event closely.
“We respect the right of anybody to exercise their right to peacefully protest, but we have many people travelling in our public transport and its important that we make sure that the network keeps moving,” Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne said.
On Melbourne Cup day in 2017 a car was driven on to train tracks and its tyres deflated with a woman inside the vehicle as part of a protest over the treatment of asylum seekers.
-AAP