Not only have Perth trains become increasingly crowded in the last few years, but a high proportion of commuters feel unsafe on them, particularly at night.

The number of passengers who felt unsafe at night jumped from 23 to 28 per cent - including nearly half of all Armadale patrons interviewed and nearly one-third of all Midland patrons.

Four in five commuters identified drunks and drug users as the biggest safety threat at night.

This survey measured commuters' perception of risk, so it was very subjective. But it seems that their fears are well founded. A statistical analysis from back in 2008 concluded that commuters were more likely to be assaulted on a Perth train line than on the London Underground.

Respondents in the latest survey cited drunks and drug users as their biggest fear. Sadly, you see quite a lot of those on the trains. And I have seen them behave anti-socially from time to time. But the worst such behaviour I've seen has actually occurred on buses, and during the day.

The ones going down Scarborough Beach Road from Glendalough Train Station seems to be bad for this, particularly on summer weekends. Security officers often travel on these buses, and just as well they do. I've seen groups of young drunks getting rowdy and obnoxious on a couple of occasions. Without the officers present to keep them in line their behaviour could have easily gotten out of control.