How NOT to run a railway......

[whole diary]

[BBM]

Sometime around 1990 I was on a loco-hauled slam-door train which crawled very slowly along the Up Main past West Ealing and Ealing Broadway and then was switched onto the Up Relief to Acton Main Line where it stopped. And we waited and waited. Then the guard announced that there had been a complete signalling failure at Paddington and we would be stopped at Acton ML for 'some considerable time'. So knowing the area quite well I alighted from the train and walked about half a mile to North Acton where I caught the Central Line and probably arrived in work rather earlier than anyone else on the train.

Now in spite of the fact that the train wasn't booked to call at Acton ML and I'd guess that loco-hauled trains were never booked to call there, I managed to alight from the train and leave the station without sustaining any injury. I remember even that the guard saw what I was doing and made no attempt to stop me.

So, does that mean that the railways are now less safe than they were 20 years ago? Is a Turbo less safe to alight from than a Mark 1 or 2 carriage?

[ChrisB]

Health & Safety Rules are more stringent & applied more widely.

[readytostart]

Thank you for that, readytostart.

I really don't like to be pedantic (honestly! ), but it does help if someone can actually answer the question, "where does it say that?"

C. 

Wow, this must be my most quoted post to date!

Chris, if memory serves it's TW1: Preparation and Movement of Trains: General
Not got my bad with me so couldn't say for certain.

As for some of the knickers in a twist brigade (nice to see you're having a rest from XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) baiting) of course on the authority of the signaller or a TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) control you would be able to release doors or detrain, I would however assume that in this situation the signaller and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) control were rather busy dealing with a signalling failure and would like all staff on the ground to follow instructions as safely and efficiently as possible to enable a contingency service to run.

[Trowres]

I have mixed feelings on this one, after reading all the comments so far.

1. It appears that staff "on the ground" are disempowered. There are good reasons for ensuring that control know what is going on. Occasionally, those reasons will include safety issues. If control had the ability to deal with all arising issues within seconds, then there would be no reason for ground staff to make independent decisions. But in any serious incident, control has "more serious" issues to deal with, and the passenger suffers.

2. Could driver (or guard) make an autonomous decision without affecting safety? This one could run and run (and I will let someone else start!)

3. A term appearing frequently above is HEALTH and safety. Now excuse me, but isn't stress contributory factor to a  number of illnesses? Seems to be forgotten when the rail-way is set out.

4. If we stick to safety, which was more likely, an accident detraining at an unscheduled station, or a fall on stairs by a passenger attempting to make up time / catch a connecting service?

[IndustryInsider]

Chris, if memory serves it's TW1: Preparation and Movement of Trains: General
Not got my bad with me so couldn't say for certain.

As for some of the knickers in a twist brigade (nice to see you're having a rest from XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) baiting) of course on the authority of the signaller or a TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) control you would be able to release doors or detrain, I would however assume that in this situation the signaller and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) control were rather busy dealing with a signalling failure and would like all staff on the ground to follow instructions as safely and efficiently as possible to enable a contingency service to run.

Yep, I found it - hidden away on page 63.  I stand by my point that in this specific case, the tiny amount of added delay would be well worth the positive impression it would have left upon the passengers.  It's a judgement call for the Driver (who is the only one there on the scene to appreciate the issue).  During the conversation from the Signaller to Driver where the driver is told of the problem, Driver says 'Can I have your permission to open the doors at West Ealing to detrain some passengers whilst I change ends?', Signaller replies 'Yes Driver' or 'No Driver' - simple as that.