Woman rescued after falling under Tube train at Clapham South station, 12/3/2015

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Woman rescued after falling under Tube train at Clapham South station


The woman was "dragged" underneath the Tube train at Clapham South station at 08:00 GMT

Investigators are trying to find out how a woman fell under train at a south London Tube station during the morning rush hour.

Transport for London said the woman fell between the train and the tracks at Clapham South at 08:00 GMT.

The woman, who is reportedly in her 20s, was taken to hospital and her injuries are "non life-threatening".

Eyewitnesses claimed she was either "dragged" or "pushed". Police said it was not being treated as suspicious.

On Twitter ‏@SJPTelly said: "Just been evacuated from a tube at Clapham South after a poor woman was dragged underneath it. Horrible."

Firefighters had to use specialist equipment to free the woman from the northbound Northern line platform.

On Twitter, Cristina Squires said: "I saw firemen trying to get her out. They have to jack up the train."

Other commuters spoke of the woman being "pushed" and questioned whether the platform was overcrowded.

James Callen tweeted: "I've just seen a woman get pushed under a tube by accident at Clapham South."

London Underground said at the time of the incident the platform was not overcrowded and a full investigation was under way into what happened.

A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) said they believed the woman had "come into contact with the train".


There was no service between Morden and Kennington on the Northern Line for an hour

In a statement, the force said: "The incident is not being treated as suspicious. Inquiries are ongoing to establish exactly what happened."

London Fire Brigade sent two fire engines and a fire rescue unit to the station and used a "scoop stretcher" to rescue the woman.

LU said there was no service between Morden and Kennington for about an hour after the incident, which also caused delays to the rest of the line.

Nigel Holness, London Underground's operations director, said: "Just before 8am this morning a passenger fell between the train and tracks at Clapham South station. The passenger has been recovered by the emergency services with non-life-threatening injuries."

[Chris from Nailsea]

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch)) has now published the full report on their website:

Serious accident involving a passenger trapped in train doors and dragged at Clapham South station, 12 March 2015

At around 08:00 hrs on Thursday 12 March 2015, a passenger fell beneath a train after being dragged along the northbound platform of Clapham South station, in south London. She was dragged because her coat had become trapped between the closing doors of a London Underground Northern line train.

The train had stopped and passengers had alighted and boarded normally, before the driver confirmed that the door closure sequence could begin. The train operator, in the driving cab, started the door closure sequence but, before the doors had fully closed, one set encountered an obstruction and the doors were reopened. A passenger who had just boarded, and found that the available standing space was uncomfortable, stepped back off the train and onto the platform, in order to catch the following train. The edge of this passenger^s coat was then trapped when the doors closed again and she was unable to free it.

The trapped coat was not large enough to be detected by the door control system and the train operator, who was unaware of the situation, started the train moving. While checking the platform camera views displayed in his cab, the train operator saw unusual movements on the platform and applied the train brakes. Before the train came to a stop, the trapped passenger fell to the ground and then, having become separated from her coat, fell into the gap between the platform and the train. The train stopped after travelling about 60 metres. The passenger suffered injuries to her arm, head and shoulder, and was taken to hospital.

As a result of this accident, RAIB has made one recommendation, addressed to London Underground, seeking further improvements in the processes used to manage risks at the platform-train interface.

RAIB has also identified one learning point for the railway industry, relating to the provision of under platform recesses as a measure to mitigate the consequences of accidents where passengers fall from the platform.