Station and on board train announcements - merged topic, ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Btline]

Sorry, I'll try to resist.

...f...f...f...f...

PHIL SAYER!

Sorry, it just came out!

[devon_metro]

Sorry for dragging this up, but I was on the 1000 Pad - Paignton earlier and an automated announcement was played on approach to Paignton (twice).

It went along the lines of
"Thank you for travelling with First Great Western... [some stuff] ...please assist us in closing the door behind you when alighting and mind the gap"

Apparently they are controlled from the buffet and there is a whole host of different announcements, all in the voice of Alison Forster!

[readytostart]

surly the public address system on trains needs to be working not just for customer services but also for h&s?

The only rule book requirement in service for the PA^▸ (Public Address (broadcast loudspeaker announcements) or Passenger Assist (railway staff providing physical assistance to passengers with mobility issues), depending on context) to be working is for trains with automatic doors when the hustle alarm isn't working, however if practicable passengers should be moved to a coach where it is working.

[Mookiemoo]

On the tube from oxford circus into paddington there was an announcement as we approached.

"please note, due to planned enginneering works, there is no service on any other under ground line through paddington"

Followed by

"passengers are advised they cannot interchange with any other underground station due to planned engineering work"

Erm - what's the point of repeating yourself - the first means the second

[SDS]

Thats more then likely for the benefit of the tourists (and weekend travellers) who don't understand basic underground.

[devon_metro]

If you think the tube is bad try south west trains!

[JayMac]

Thats more then likely for the benefit of the tourists (and weekend travellers) who don't understand basic underground.

Is there a Basic Underground <-> English/French/German/Esperanto dictionary out there? 

[Btline]

Following a shocking incident at Kings Cross station, commuters are to be bombarded by further safety announcements warning of the dangers of attempting to board a train just before it leaves.

Drivers are also to be given further training after horrified commuters pulled the communication chord but the oblivious driver carried on to the next stop unaware of the panic in the carriages.

Horror on the 5.53! Commuter dragged 200 feet after getting hand trapped on train
A woman cheated death after getting her hand trapped in a train door as it pulled away in front of horrified commuters.

Station staff were powerless to stop the train and the passenger only managed to free herself at the last second.

Rail safety chiefs today revealed the sequence of events which could easily have proved fatal.

The woman, a regular commuter who is not named, was aiming to catch the 5.53 pm First Capital Connect from platform nine at King^s Cross to Royston.

Thinking she had time to spare she passed the first carriages and walked towards the front of the train. She heard the door closing alarm but thought at first that was for an adjacent train.

Realising it was her train about to depart she went to step on board, her hand in front, just as the doors closed.

The door closed with the rubber edge trapping the fingers of her left hand while she was still on the platform.

The train dispatcher saw the woman but was unaware her hand was trapped and signalled the train away.

As the train started to move off the woman was forced to walk and then run alongside it.

The train dispatcher realised what was happening but by that time had no means of stopping the train.

After more than 60 metres the woman managed to pull her hand free - possibly aided by unknown passengers on board who were tugging at the door trying to force them open.

They also operated the on-board passenger alarm but the driver did not stop immediately and continued to Finsbury Park.

The woman was left standing shaken on the platform as staff rushed to give first-aid. She later attended hopsital where her fingers were found to be badly bruised but not broken.

In a report of the incident, which happened last October, the investigating Rail Accident Investigation Board (RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch),) concluded:

The train dispatcher did not carry out a full safety check before allowing the train to depart;
The passenger attempted to board the train while the doors were closing;
The passenger alarm was operated after the train had travelled about 17 metres; under rules the driver should have stopped if part of the train was in a station - which it was. Instead he continued to the next station.
His actions, nowever, the RAIB stress, had ^no effect^ on what happened but his action could have under different circumstances ^resulted in a more serious outcome.^

The RAIB make a number of recommendations to prevent anything similar happening again.

Renewed training is being given to train and station staff. There will be more frequent public address announcements warning passengers of the dangers of trying to board trains when the doors are closing.

Drivers are also being told to stop immediately if the alarm is raised while they are in or have just left a station.

Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/transport/horror-on-the-553-commuter-dragged-200-feet-after-getting-hand-trapped-on-train-7807118.html

[Chris from Nailsea]

Ahem. 

For those readers who prefer rather less hyperbole in their reading material, the full Rail Accident Investigation Branch report is available on their website:

Summary

A passenger became trapped in a train door and was pulled along a platform, for a distance of approximately 20 metres, at London King^s Cross station on 10 October 2011. She suffered bruising to the fingers of her left hand.

The passenger^s hand became trapped when she attempted to board the train while the doors were closing. The train started to move before the passenger^s fingers were released because a member of staff on the platform did not fully check the train doors before signalling that the train could depart. The requirement to check doors is given in the railway Rule Book.

It is possible that the passenger could have withdrawn her fingers from the doors, before being pulled along the platform, if alternative door edge seals had been fitted on the Class 365 train involved in the incident.

When the passenger alarm was operated during the incident, the train did not stop immediately because the driver decided to continue to the next station. This decision had no effect on the incident but was contrary to the railway Rule Book and, in slightly different circumstances, could have increased the severity of the accident.

The RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) has identified two learning points from this accident:

- the importance of fully checking train doors before trains depart; and

- the need for drivers to stop trains immediately if the passenger alarm is operated when any part of the train is within a station.

The RAIB has also recommended that, the design of door edge seals on Class 365 trains is reviewed, and if appropriate modified, when the seals are renewed as part of a mid-life refurbishment due in 2013.

The full RAIB report is 21 pages, and gives a rather more balanced view than the press item quoted above. 

Btline, you really should consider whether all that hyperbole is doing your blood pressure any good at all. 

[dog box]

A couple of points the train was  obviously DOOP therefore if a guard was provided and a two person dispatch process was used the incident would not have happened, as a verbal warning would have been given to move away and a lookout kept as the train was moving away
.also if the doors were provided with soft edge closing anything trapped in the door should have prevented the driver getting brake release and taking power

[Southern Stag]

I think the fact that just one despatcher was provided to despatch an 8-carriage train at a major London terminal is quite bad.

[Btline]

I just think it's ridiculous that we're going to get MORE pointless announcements to go with Smoking, wet weather, luggage, etc. Most people would use their common sense and not board a train when the alarm is sounding.

[devon_metro]

Most people take chances, i'd try and board with the alarm sounding, slightly suprising that the doors managed to gain interlock with a hand in there though.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm.  You clearly still haven't read that Rail Accident Investigation Branch report, have you?

See page 17:

Summary of conclusions

48 Passenger A was pulled along the platform due to:
- the passenger trying to board the train after the doors started to close, and expecting that the doors would reopen when her hand was trapped between them (paragraph 18, action to be taken (paragraph 50));

See page 18:

Actions reported that address factors which otherwise would have resulted in a RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) recommendation

50 FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect) intends to run another poster campaign covering the risks associated with passengers attempting to board trains after the doors start to close. It also proposes wider use of public address systems to educate passengers about the correct use of train doors.

[paul7575]

I know it's just a point of detail in the overall context, but how the heck does the Standard justify converting the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch)'s 'about 20 metres' into 200 feet?

Paul