Person trapped and dragged, Notting Hill Gate station - 31 Jan 2018

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

From the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch)

Investigation into a person being trapped by train doors and dragged, Notting Hill Gate London Underground station, 31 January 2018.

At about 16:00 hrs on Wednesday 31 January 2018, a passenger’s bag became trapped between the doors of a westbound train at Notting Hill Gate station on the Central line. The passenger was unable to free the bag, despite the assistance of others, nor could she let go of it. As the train began to move she was dragged along the platform and into the running tunnel beyond before the train stopped. The passenger, who was 78 years old, was seriously injured.

Passengers on the train operated the emergency alarms and the train operator applied the brake. By the time the train came to a stand, six of its eight coaches were in the running tunnel. Emergency services and London Underground’s emergency response unit rescued the passenger from the space between the underside of the train and the tunnel wall and she was taken to hospital, where she is recovering.

We have issued an appeal for witnesses to this accident. Were you at Notting Hill Gate station on 31 January? Did you witness this event or have any other information you consider relevant? If so, we would like to hear from you.

Our investigation into the accident will determine the sequence of events. It will also include consideration of:

the actions of the people involved
the process of checking whether it is safe for a train to depart, including the equipment provided to enable the train operator to do this
the door control and obstacle detection system
the factors affecting the train operator’s task
any underlying management factors
Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.

[stuving]

While RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) are still consulting on their report on that incident, they have today put out a Safety Digest on another one, which happened at Bushey in March 2018.

This is a bit like the one at Hayes & Harlington in 2015 (in this thread), in that a woman got her arm stuck in a train's doors as they closed and the train set off with her still there. The conductor did see her (it doesn't say how) as she ran along the platform and stopped the train in time.

There are some important similarities with the Hayes incident: the decision to depart was based mainly on the interlock light coming on, the door edges didn't detect the woman's arm (or hand), and the general belief that they always do and this does stop the train. The big difference is that this train was self-dispatched by a conductor, rather than a driver, and a senior one at that.

[ChrisB]

My understanding is that a passenger hit the big red emergency button after the instructor-conductor closed his door and gave the rught away to the driver....

[stuving]

My understanding is that a passenger hit the big red emergency button after the instructor-conductor closed his door and gave the rught away to the driver....

I've now found the relevant bit of the digest; it says: "Shortly after departure, the conductor heard the passenger shouting, sent a ‘stop’ message to the driver and then operated an emergency brake plunger."

[stuving]

Yesterday the RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) published their report into the Notting Hill Gate incident - and very scary it is too.

This unfortunate lady managed to get her bag caught in the doors with the handles looped round her hand, in something close to the worst case for this type of accident. She had one chance to escape - to free her hand in the few seconds before the handles pulled against her weight - but none of us is much good at that kind of fast logical thought when surprised. The emergency stop facilities did work, though of course other people needed long enough to realise they had to use them. By then she had been seriously injured.

In fact three separate alarms at the same time stopped the train, but the one that perhaps should have done - one of the buttons on the platform - was not used. Apparently these buttons are very rarely used now; they suffered overuse that was seen as abuse when first installed, and now have covers which have perhaps protected them too well. So please - keep an eye out for them in the tube, in case you need to push one. When seconds count, even mental rehearsals of "what would I do?" help.

[ChrisB]

On one of these events, testing has been done & show that even an arm trapped between the doors allows the driver to get the 'doors closed' signed in the cab & allows them to move off.

Too many people think that they can get the doors to reopen if they get something through the doors as they close. Education needed by TfL^» (Transport for London - about) & train companies to advise that the door sensors aren't that sensitive & don't do that or you stand a chance of being trapped & moved....

[Bmblbzzz]

Clearly the door sensors are less sensitive than those in lifts, which people will mostly be more familiar with, or at least more familiar with obstructing, accidentally or deliberately (as in blocking the lift open when carrying large items in or out).

[stuving]

Clearly the door sensors are less sensitive than those in lifts, which people will mostly be more familiar with, or at least more familiar with obstructing, accidentally or deliberately (as in blocking the lift open when carrying large items in or out).

Really? This was a cloth bag, so the thickness of your coat. I'm sure a lot of lifts would not stop far that.

Here is the report on that subject:

49 The door system on 1992 stock incorporates an interlock with the train’s traction system, such that the traction power cannot be applied if the doors are not fully closed (eg because of an object trapped between the doors). The system is designed to detect an object of a minimum thickness between about 6 mm and 8 mm when the doors are closing. The thickness of the bag at the point where it was trapped was about 3 mm.

I would put my foot in a the way of tube train doors, but nothing smaller or softer, and only from inside. But I learned on tube trains in the 1950s and 60s, when the door shut pretty brutally.

Added quote.

[Bmblbzzz]

I don't think a lift would move with an arm or foot in the door but, according to Chris B, a tube train will.

[stuving]

I don't think a lift would move with an arm or foot in the door but, according to Chris B, a tube train will.

But ChrisB was talking about "these events", which I take to be not only tube trains.

[ChrisB]

"Trapped & dragged in tube train' events - been a few recently

[stuving]

"Trapped & dragged in tube train' events - been a few recently

The RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) report lists three serious ones they investigated, all due to clothing. They also cite a few more recent ones, some of which were not officially known and were brought to them when they asked for more evidence. These are not all made clear, but also seem to be clothing (counting scarves, belts, and bag straps in that).

[ChrisB]

I can't find the reference I was reading, but the test results had a photo of a small arm between the doors, and the report saying that the close doors had registered with it present.

[stuving]

I may have missed or forgotten one, but the incidents I can recall where an arm or similar-sized object was not detected were on mainline trains. More specifically, the Bushey one (see above) which was on a Class 350, Newcastle in 2014 (Class 185), Hayes & Harlington in 2015 (Class 165) and Kings Cross in 2011 (Class 365). The first two of those use "sensitive edges" which can be bent out of the door plane and so not detect an arm. The last two were working to the current standard (GM/RT2473) or the previous BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) one (GO/OTS 300) which required detection of anything 25m across - not good enough to detect fingers or small hands.

[CJB666]

Clearly the door sensors are less sensitive than those in lifts, which people will mostly be more familiar with, or at least more familiar with obstructing, accidentally or deliberately (as in blocking the lift open when carrying large items in or out).

The doors on the old Heathrow Connect are lethal - the yellow teeth stripes do not appear to stop people from trying to get on whilst they are shutting. They have no detection mechanism at all and will shut regardless. Also at Paddington they suddenly slam shut without any warning even whilst folk are boarding and they are impossible to stop - they have some gearing up to ensure that when they start to shut they damn well do and with noise and force.