Ealing Broadway - station facilities, access issues and many sad incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[devon_metro]

Was a HEX unit. At one point 3 HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) were queing to head East at Swindon! Incident occurre around 1210, mainlines still closed 1530

[eightf48544]

Without wishing to trivialise these incidents and therir effect on train crews and other staff. It does seem that they are causing considerable delays whilst the incident is dealt with.

In the sixties when i was on the railways it was likely the tains would be runing again often within 40 minutes, even when the power had to be switched off and on.  However, what that meant was that although the body was moved off the track it was usually left covered up, unless very close to a station, by the side of the track and recovered later. i have passed several such bundles on my travels and unless you knew it could be anything.

One of the problems is that the police seem to treat the site of body as the crime scene, whereas the actual incident most probably took place further down the line where the person was first hit. The site of body being a factor of the speed of the train, how the person was hit and possibly even the front profile of the train. The other probelm seems to be the reluctane to cover the body and recover it later. 

I'm not sure how to overcome these problems as we seem to have different attitude to death than we had in the sixties.

I think the reason being that in the sixties most of the supervisors and managers on the railways at that time had been through the war and had either seen active service or been in the Blitz so were possibly less reverential to a body on the track than we are today. Their main aim being to get the trains running as quickly as possible.
 

[Electric train]

Without wishing to trivialise these incidents and therir effect on train crews and other staff. It does seem that they are causing considerable delays whilst the incident is dealt with.
In the sixties when i was on the railways it was likely the tains would be runing again often within 40 minutes, even when the power had to be switched off and on.  However, what that meant was that although the body was moved off the track it was usually left covered up, unless very close to a station, by the side of the track and recovered later. i have passed several such bundles on my travels and unless you knew it could be anything.
One of the problems is that the police seem to treat the site of body as the crime scene, whereas the actual incident most probably took place further down the line where the person was first hit. The site of body being a factor of the speed of the train, how the person was hit and possibly even the front profile of the train. The other probelm seems to be the reluctane to cover the body and recover it later. 
I'm not sure how to overcome these problems as we seem to have different attitude to death than we had in the sixties.
I think the reason being that in the sixties most of the supervisors and managers on the railways at that time had been through the war and had either seen active service or been in the Blitz so were possibly less reverential to a body on the track than we are today. Their main aim being to get the trains running as quickly as possible.

The treating it as a crime scene has a lot to do with it, there is a set process for gathering evidence, confirming death and that the death occurred at the scene etc.  Trains used to be run past such things at caution while police and staff were on or about the line this practice is not used nowadays indeed NR^» (Network Rail - home page) are monitoring the Netherlands Railways and their recent ban on their equivalent to our Red Zone working.

[onthecushions]

Our GW^▸ (Great Western) main line is exasperatingly popular with suicides, I seem to experience them weekly.

I suggest a media solution.

Let NR^» (Network Rail - home page) and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) only report,

"A person attempted to jump in front of a high speed train at xxx General station yesterday. S/he was slightly injured and after being arrested by BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) was taken to the Royal yyy Hospital A&E where s/he was treated after waiting for 11 hours. Subsequently ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here)/NR banned him/her from railway property for life, instituted criminal proceedings for trespass and civil proceedings for damages in respect of zzz minutes of late running to services."

Like the gas oven, if there is the perception that it might not do the job, then....

OTC

[devon_metro]

Human rights would soon put a stop to that 

[Electric train]

Our GW^▸ (Great Western) main line is exasperatingly popular with suicides, I seem to experience them weekly.
I suggest a media solution.
Let NR^» (Network Rail - home page) and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) only report,
"A person attempted to jump in front of a high speed train at xxx General station yesterday. S/he was slightly injured and after being arrested by BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) was taken to the Royal yyy Hospital A&E where s/he was treated after waiting for 11 hours. Subsequently ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here)/NR banned him/her from railway property for life, instituted criminal proceedings for trespass and civil proceedings for damages in respect of zzz minutes of late running to services."
Like the gas oven, if there is the perception that it might not do the job, then....
OTC

A life ban from the railway infrastructure would not deter some who was intent on taking their own life, arresting and charging survivors is not the answer to their problems are realistically is not in the railways or public interest.  There is no simple answer, improved station security such that areas not normally used are closed off, a poster and TV campaign aimed at those intent on suicide to contact Samaritans possibly at hot spots phones with direct access to the Samaritans

[Ollie]

As Electric Train pointed out it takes time sometimes as BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) want to declare whether it's suspicious or not. They are trying to speed this up by having drivers call them instead of waiting for BTP to arrive on site.

And not meaning to be graphic but sometimes it takes longer to clean the scene.
From what I heard Saturday's fatality was messy..

Also in some cases everything has to stay as it is as BTP will sometimes get SOCO on site to do photos.

In the case of Ealing on Saturday, the relief lines opened after about 1hr 30mins.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Ealing Gazette:

A man died after being struck by a train at Ealing Broadway station on Saturday afternoon.
Police, ambulance and fire crews were called to the busy station at 12:10pm and an air ambulance helicopter landed at Haven Green as onlookers watched in astonishment.
A 45-year-old man from Chiswick, who is yet to be identified, was killed instantly at the scene.
A worker who saw the commotion outside his shop, said: "There must have been around 10 police cars and the helicopter landed and I knew something bad had happened. It was really scary and one customer said he saw the man's limbs on the line. It must have been awful."
The train involved was the Heathrow to Paddington service and the incident is not being treated as suspicious by British Transport Police.
The railway line was handed back to Network Rail at 2:41pm.
A London Ambulance Spokeswoman said: "We were called just after 12:10pm on Saturday January 30 to reports of a person under a train at Ealing Broadway rail station. We sent one ambulance crew, a fast response car, two duty officers and a doctor but sadly the patient had died at the scene."
A file is now being prepared for the coroner.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From FGW^▸ (First Great Western) live updates:

Line incident

Line problem between Ealing Broadway and Greenford.

Train services are being disrupted due to signalling problems between Ealing Broadway and Greenford. Engineers are working as fast as possible to restore services to normal. Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays of up to 30 minutes can be expected.
London Underground are accepting First Great Western tickets on any reasonable route.
Last Updated: 24/06/2010 13:51

[Chris from Nailsea]

... and again, today - from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) live updates:

Line incident

Line problem between West Ealing and Greenford.
Train services are being disrupted due to signalling problems between West Ealing and Greenford. Engineers are working as fast as possible to restore services to normal. Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays of up to 20 minutes can be expected.
All London Paddington to Greenford and Greenford to London Paddington services will not be operating. Heathrow Connect services will call additionally at Acton Main Line in both directions. London Underground are accepting First Great Western tickets on reasonable routes.
Last Updated: 30/06/2010 12:29

[JayMac]

With regard to the apparent accidental death of the man 'swept off the platform' at West Ealing, one of the Community Police Officers who first responded is raising money for the Air Ambulance that was called in that day.

From Ealing Gazette:

Young policewoman to skydive for good cause

AN ACTON-based police officer is to jump out of a plane for the air ambulance after she experienced their work first hand while on patrol. Police Community Support Officer Hannah Cooper, is part of a special team helping to track down wanted criminals and is based at Acton Police Station. Until recently she was part of the Cleveland Ward Safer Neighbourhood Team.

The 19-year-old, of Sudbury, said: "On Remembrance day last year a call came out saying someone had been hit by a train West Ealing Station. We were walking past at the time and helped give first aid before the ambulance arrived. He was in a bad state, when the helicopter arrived they were amazing, they were inspirational."

It was the first time the young woman has had to deal with such a traumatic incident.

She added: "I just ran to help and then everything was so hands on, so nothing was really going through my mind. I helped hold the drips and do what I could while they worked on him for about twenty minutes until they pronounced him dead. Then I took witness statements and things like that. It was only after things had settled down that it sunk in."

Ms Cooper is planning to make the tandem jump in Cambridge and hopes to raise ^500 for London's Air Ambulance, a registered charity.

She added: "I didn't realise they needed funding for what they do, they need about ^650 a year to keep the helicopter going, so I decided to do a parachute jump for them."

It will be the first time Ms Cooper has jumped out of a plane and the day, August 21, will be especially memorable as she will be doing it on her birthday.

She added: "I can abseil and things like that but jumping out of a plane seems a more scary but I think I'll get over it, I'll just close my eyes and jump. My friends just think I'm a bit of a fool and my mum's a bit worried, but she worries about everything."

Ms Cooper is hoping to smash her ^500 target and has already raised more than ^400.

Visit www.justgiving.com/hannah-cooper-999 to donate or find out more.

[Phil]

I'm always happy to support air ambulances. It got us out of a potentially nasty situation at Melksham's Party in the Park on Saturday, when a fellow worker had a hog-roast blow back in his face. St John's were on site & swung into action immediately, but the guy needed hospitalisation, and a simultaneous road traffic accident outside Melksham meant a "normal" ambulance would have been delayed - so the Wiltshire Air Ambulance was called. Us event organisers had to hastily clear an area for it to land and ensure everyone was safe, and it's a tribute to my team that the vast majority of the public didn't realise anything was up, and many thought the arrival of the helicopter was all part of the show. Thankfully the patient has now been discharged from hospital, having suffered 3rd degree burns. God knows what we'd have done without it.

Edit: sorry, off topic I know.

[SDS]

Quote from: FGW^▸ (First Great Western)

Train services between London Paddington and Reading are being disrupted due to a person hit by a train in the Ealing Broadway area.Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays of up to 60 minutes can be expected. Customers travelling between Reading and London Paddington are able to use South West Trains services from Reading to London Waterloo. Customers travelling between Oxford to London Paddington are able to use Chiltern Railways between Oxford and London Marylebone. London Underground are accepting FGW tickets on all reasonable routes. All trains at 7 minutes past the hour from Oxford to Paddington will terminate at Reading. All trains at 1 minute past the hour from Oxford to Paddington will be cancelled.Last Updated: 26/11/2010 11:09

Heard it was at AML.

[James Vertigan]

Quote from: FGW^▸ (First Great Western)

Train services between London Paddington and Reading are being disrupted due to a person hit by a train in the Ealing Broadway area.Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays of up to 60 minutes can be expected. Customers travelling between Reading and London Paddington are able to use South West Trains services from Reading to London Waterloo. Customers travelling between Oxford to London Paddington are able to use Chiltern Railways between Oxford and London Marylebone. London Underground are accepting FGW tickets on all reasonable routes. All trains at 7 minutes past the hour from Oxford to Paddington will terminate at Reading. All trains at 1 minute past the hour from Oxford to Paddington will be cancelled.Last Updated: 26/11/2010 11:09

Heard it was at AML.

There was talk of a road fatality on Horn Lane outside AML as I've seen a picture of an air ambulance outside the station via the ActonW3.com community forum (of which I am a member) but it looks like it was actually on the railway.

Does anyone know if the CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) is operational at AML? I've often wondered. It is a bit of an out of the way station and I imagine sometimes quite intimidating late at night.

Story up on Ealing Gazette site confirms fatality was indeed at Acton Main Line: http://www.ealinggazette.co.uk/ealing-news/local-ealing-news/2010/11/26/trains-suspended-after-fatality-at-acton-64767-27721996/

[stebbo]

Use Chiltern Railways between Marylebone and Oxford? A few years too early methinks.