Nearly $20,000 worth of damage was made on Auckland trains over the weekend, after a brawl of around 70 youths at Britomart Station.
The incident has raised concerns with an Auckland Councillor, saying there should be 24 hour policing at the station.
Many of these passengers were on their way home from Auckland's Christmas in the Park and the Raggamuffin Festival. The fight broke out causing the station to be closed and trains delayed.
George Wood from Auckland City Council says, “They were behaving like they were hoons, and the fact that the security guards were immenent and just stood by and watched, that really does concern me.”
There is no evidence of the fight and destruction now and according to Auckland Transport it was an unfortunate incident.
Public Transport General Manager Mark Lambert says, “Saturday night was a key event night for Auckland, and the fact that some of these types of events happened is really disappointing for us.”
Waitakere Māori Warden Teresa Nepe says incidents like this are happening more often.
According to Teresa, “It’s like a normal thing that your expecting, kids just come in and run ramped, and I don’t think it’s fair on us Māori Wardens and Security.”
George Wood agrees something must be done to avoid this happening again.
“I hope that AT and the Police really get this sorted out in the New Year because we can't go on like this, that's was almost a riot there the other night in Britomart,” says Wood.
With the festive season upon us and more festivals and big events still to be held, Auckland Transport hope to improve their security.