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

[whole diary]

[grandsire]

How many fatalities are occuring per station per year?  At what point does it become cost effective to put up glass barriers along the platform edges ( the sort that have remotely operated doors which only open once a train has arrived and is stationary - have a feeling they are planned for Thameslink, or is it Crossrail)

[paul7575]

Ealing and West Ealing are the national record holders apparently, or so it was reported a couple of years ago.

The major issue with platform edge doors is you really need dedicated rolling stock, like the Jubilee Line.  Even if you could guarantee a 'Thames Turbo only' service, you'd need to deal with a variety of lengths of train. Gets expensive.  Then in the open railway system there's still level crossings, overbridges, it would just move the problem elsewhere...

Paul

[Oxman]

I understand this one was an accident.

[Rogang]

West Ealing 12:57 Paddington - Oxford. NOT suicide. Gentleman was 'swept' off the platform into path of train. Investigation will be on-going despite being non-suspicious. As always, thoughts with the driver and station staff, especially due to the circumstances of this one.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Ealing Gazette:

Two killed in train accidents

Two men have died after being hit by oncoming trains in two separate incidents at Ealing stations just three days apart

On Armistice Day, a swarm of police cars and ambulances surrounded West Ealing Railway station after a man died having fallen on to the tracks from the platform.

Neighbours report seeing an air ambulance circling in the sky above looking for a landing site at about 1pm. It eventually landed in the Waitrose car park close to the station.

A station ticket officer said a man had been talking on his mobile close to the edge of the platform before he fell. He kept repeating: "It's such a tragic waste of life."

A British Transport Police spokesman said: "The incident was reported to police at 1.12pm and was attended by BTP^▸ (British Transport Police), Metropolitan Police and paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and air ambulance. The incident is being treated as non-suspicious and on first accounts, it appears to be a tragic accident."

The train involved was the 12.57pm Paddington to Oxford service. The line was closed until 2.15pm when it was handed back to Network Rail.

Only three days earlier, on Sunday, November 8, a man was killed instantly after allegedly jumping off a station platform on to the tracks late at night.

The driver of the 10.37pm Paddington to Bristol service, which was approaching Ealing Broadway station, reported seeing a man run from the platform and into the path of the train.

British Transport Police were called to Ealing Broadway National Rail station at 10.48pm and the incident is not being treated as suspicious.

The line was closed for nearly an hour and was fully reopened after 98 minutes. The bodies of the two men are still awaiting formal identification and police are due to inform next of kin.

These latest incidents follow the death of Eva Sanders of Orchard Gate, Greenford, last month. The 51-year-old teacher was hit by a First Great Western express service from Swansea to Paddington on Thursday, October 9 after apparently being seen stepping in front of the train.

[devon_metro]

I'm not aware of any trains using the main line platforms at Ealing Broadway, it wouldn't be too difficult to fence them off.

[Mookiemoo]

I'm not aware of any trains using the main line platforms at Ealing Broadway, it wouldn't be too difficult to fence them off.

Noddy view - you lose the ability of being able to offload trains there should there be a problem in Paddington (remember the suitcase issue 24 March 2004).....dont know if it would happen by a layman could think of times it might.

And unless you do it at every station where there is a fast service through it - no point - they'll just find another point.  Ealing broadway may be convenient - but its no more convenient than any of the other not all trains stop there stations if someone wants to kill themselves.  And if they do, they will

[Mookiemoo]

In fact don't even go down that route because the minute it is suggested Elf and Safety will issue a maximum through speed at any station to protect th vulnerable public and then we'll be crawling through stations

[devon_metro]

I mean metal (moveable) barriers, just so passengers can't access the platforms.

[Ollie]

I mean metal (moveable) barriers, just so passengers can't access the platforms.

It wouldn't work, people will either climb over or use the relief line platforms.

The West Ealing incident may have been a tragic accident, but it was on the relief, and the train still had enough of an impact to cause the man to die.

Paddington had someone jump in front of a train recently, and they lost an arm, so it goes to show, people who really want to do it, will try anywhere.

[Tim]

, so it goes to show, people who really want to do it, will try anywhere.

That logic sounds plausible to me too Ollie, but there is (some) evidence to the contary...

Before North Sea gas was introduced people used to commit suicide with town gas which contained a high percentage of Carbon monoxide by putting their heads in unlit gas ovens.

When we converted to non-toxic North Sea gas experts assumed that these wanting to kill themselves woudl find another way but the statistsics showed that many of them didn't.  the total number of suicides dropped and stayed down for many many years.  (in summary between 1963 and 1975 the annual number of suicides in England and Wales showed a sudden, unexpected decline from 5,714 to 3,693 at a time when suicide continued to increase in most other European countries.)

The "they will find another way" arguement resurfaced as part fo the oppostion to the nappy state restricting paracetamol packs to 16 pills of fewer.  I don't know that the evidence showeds on this yet.


   

[Tim]

I meant "nanny" not "nappy"

[Ollie]

, so it goes to show, people who really want to do it, will try anywhere.

That logic sounds plausible to me too Ollie, but there is (some) evidence to the contary...

Before North Sea gas was introduced people used to commit suicide with town gas which contained a high percentage of Carbon monoxide by putting their heads in unlit gas ovens.

When we converted to non-toxic North Sea gas experts assumed that these wanting to kill themselves woudl find another way but the statistsics showed that many of them didn't.  the total number of suicides dropped and stayed down for many many years.  (in summary between 1963 and 1975 the annual number of suicides in England and Wales showed a sudden, unexpected decline from 5,714 to 3,693 at a time when suicide continued to increase in most other European countries.)

The "they will find another way" arguement resurfaced as part fo the oppostion to the nanny state restricting paracetamol packs to 16 pills of fewer.  I don't know that the evidence showeds on this yet.
  

That's interesting to know, thanks for that Interesting statistics, would be interesting to see if there are any statistics over the years purely for the railway.

[eightf48544]

I found the following for 2005 on the HMRI^▸ (Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate) website.

Trespass and vandalism
^280 members of the public died as a result of trespass and suicide, of whom 189 were confirmed or suspected suicides.
^7 children under the age of 16 died while trespassing, up from a historical low of 2 child trespass deaths during 2004.
^452 (43%) of the 1057 reportable train incidents were due to acts of vandalism, continuing the downward trend of recent years.

there are other years reports but they are in a different form.

[James Vertigan]

Another fatality at Ealing Broadway today apparently - knocked out services including the Greenford line that I use during the week (and sometimes on Saturday if I want to go up to Ealing):

http://www.ealingtoday.co.uk/default.asp?section=info&page=conaccident004.htm

Any information on the service involved? Sympathies to the driver and others affected.