A man has been granted bail but banned from using trains for three months after he allegedly assaulted four women on an Adelaide-bound service.
Police alleged a 47-year-old man from Salisbury punched, slapped, pushed, spat at and verbally abused his victims on the Gawler line about 9am yesterday.
“I looked up and seen a man hit a woman, who was just sitting there, listening to her music,” a witness told 9News.
“People were hugging her, seeing if she was alright … the male attacker went on and hit another female.”
As the train arrived in Adelaide, the man allegedly ran towards Adelaide Oval but was caught by police and arrested. 
He was charged with four counts of assault but was granted police bail just hours later.
He has been banned from trains for 12 weeks while he awaits court but can still use buses and trams. 
Commuters were, however, angry he was let out on bail. 
“They need to have more strict punishments for people like this otherwise they won’t learn from their mistakes,” Pranjal Gupta told 9News.
“I think it’s ridiculous that we’re allowing things like this happen when we’re trying to stop all this rubbish going on with women,” Jim Martini added.
Currently, only senior police have the ability to ban alleged offenders from public transport for a maximum of three months. 
The state government has promised a review into extending powers for public transport officials and increasing security guards.
“I will be instructing the department to amend regulations to allow the department to ban people from all forms of public transport for anti-social behaviour,” SA Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said.
“Once these regulations are passed, he’ll be banned.”
Police will now review the 47-year-old’s ban and whether it should be extended to all public transport. 
Meanwhile, investigators are seeking anyone who may have witnessed the attack or may have footage of the incident to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
