Luas security staff claim they now have to check tickets and Leap Cards as well as deal with crime and anti-social behaviour issues.
This is despite the numbers of anti-social behaviour complaints sky-rocketing in recent years, as revealed by Dublin Live. Before Covid struck, there were 970 and 975 complaints in 2018 and 2019.
The numbers of complaints shot up to 1,686 in 2020, when lockdowns were first introduced in March, then dropped to 1,564 the following year and rose again to 1,748 in 2022.
Read more: Huge spike in anti-social behaviour on Luas in last three years
A number of frustrated Luas security guards spoke to Dublin Live on condition of anonymity about what they view as the current state of the Luas.
The security staff members said they now have to check tickets and Leap Cards as well as tackling anti-social behaviour. They claim that there was a change in approach when Transdev began employing security staff directly after previously contracting them through an external company.
STT Risk Management provided security on the trams until 2019. Since then, security staff have been given the title 'Authorised Officers' which allows them to check tickets. Before this, customer assurance staff in high vis jackets checked tickets, not security staff.
Despite the title, security staff have no legal right to detain passengers for not having a ticket. One security operative said: "We have the right to ask for a ticket on the platform or tram as you have availed of the service but you are in your right to walk away, [we have] no powers to detain you"
The security staff also said the machines that read Leap cards often say passengers have not tagged on when they have. One of the members of staff recalled a fiery incident with a group of passengers who had checked on but the machine told them they hadn't.
There have been violent incidents on the Luas which have left passengers traumatised. Security often sees these incidents unfold on trams but feel powerless to stop them.
"We are not allowed to put hands on passengers even if they are thumping the heads of each other. All you can do is stand back like an eejit and let it happen."
They say all they can legally do is a "citizen's arrest". Training for security staff consists of a two week course and they do not have to have a Private Security Authority licence which is a requirement for doormen.
One security staff member said there are people joining security "from coffee shops".
Management can track the security through their leap card checking machines and the security staff said they get calls "all day" if they stop scanning cards.
The security staff say the job is "more dangerous now" than it was pre-pandemic with what they describe as "chaos" on the trams.
Passengers are regularly "drinking in your face, smoking in your face", they said. Older passengers are "terrified" and regularly ask security to go with them to their stop. It is not uncommon for passengers to threaten security staff with a knife and spit in their face.
A spokesperson for Transdev said their approach to security matters is designed to be "non-confrontational". They said: "Luas Security and Customer Assurance staff ( ticket inspectors) have many parts to their roles and responsibilities, which include checking tickets and managing anti-social behaviour.
"The methodology deployed by Luas security is designed to be non-confrontational to ensure incidents do not escalate. This will not change. It is the safest approach for employees, customers and the public."
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