Woman injured after touching live rail

[whole diary]

[bobm]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Epsom Derby racegoer injured as train is stopped

The train was packed full of racegoers from Derby Day at Epsom
A woman was badly burned as she stepped on to the line when a train packed full of Epsom Derby racegoers was stopped and the doors forced open.

The emergency cord was pulled on the Victoria-bound service near South Croydon station, south London, when a fight broke out on Saturday night.

Police said the woman, 22, who was in a separate carriage, then climbed out the doors and on to the line.

She remains in hospital. Her condition is not thought to be life threatening.

British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) were called at 2044 BST to reports of a fight between a group of men on the 1950 BST service from Tattenham Corner station near the racecourse in Epsom, Surrey.

'Stark reminder'
The emergency cord was pulled by a passenger as the train approached South Croydon station.

Police said a set of doors were forced open and the woman, from Mitcham, south London, stepped down on to the line.

She suffered burns after touching the live third rail and was taken to hospital.

A BTP spokeswoman said the "separate" incidents were being investigated and there had been no arrests.

Insp Jack Ioannou, from Croydon BTP station, said: "This incident serves as a stark reminder that members of the public should never attempt to go on or near the tracks unless directed to by a member of rail staff or a police officer.

"The live third rail powers trains across south London, carries 750 volts of electricity and remains switched on 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

[JayMac]

A very silly decision made by the woman.

Darwin Award Honourable Mention.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

very lucky to be alive

[bobm]

Also ignites the argument about whether the communication cord should automatically apply the brakes or allow the driver to chose where he stops. I understand it varies between types of train. In this case if he'd been able to continue to South Croydon she'd have got out on a platform (unless of course the doors were forced on the wrong side).

[Ollie]

Considering she was in a seperate carriage to the fight I don't see why she forced her way out the train anyway..

[ChrisB]

Inpatience, probably

[Phil]

It only says she was taken to hospital, Chris.

Not whether she was an out-patient or an im-patient.

[Brucey]

It does amaze me how few people realise how the electricity gets to the train.  Just ask a normal passenger in the third rail region and you'll more than likely get a "dunno" response.

And is a fight really worthy of pulling the emergency cord?  Surely the safest option is to either call the police yourself to the next station stop if nearby or seek out a member of train crew.

[ChrisB]

On a packed train, just getting anywhere on a train is just about impossible - ask those travelling twixt Slough & PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) in the peak......
I've seen fights get extremely vicious - buty yes, in such cases, definitely pulling it whiole at a platform is far better.
This wasn't a Epsom fast to Waterloo was it? I know they don't normally run that way, but I guess it might have ben laid on after The DErby to get folks back to London? If so, I guess it probably couldn't wait that long....

[Not from Brighton]

When I were a lad, they taught us about the third rail at school. Do they still do this?

[Phil]

When I were a lad, they taught us about the third rail at school. Do they still do this?

Only if there's a box to tick on the National Curriculum on the subject. To be fair, I think it probably depended even back then on what part of the country you lived in.

[Brucey]

I went to primary school in Fratton (so in the heart of third rail land) but certainly didn't get any mention of third rails.  Even though we had several school trips by train, the only safety information was a straight "don't go on the tracks".

But then I didn't get any "don't play with matches" education that my parents received.

It seemed they were more interested in educating us on alcohol and drugs.  I vividly remember being shown a liver that had been soaked in alcohol overnight

[bobm]

The only time I remember being told about the danger of railways at school was after a group of classmates had been caught putting old pennies on the line.

I don't recall any other lessons. Somehow you knew instinctively it was a dangerous place. Bit like the open coal fire at home. You just knew it wouldn't be a bright idea to put your hand too close.

[eightf48544]

Working on the Southern the first thing you are taught is not to step on any rail. I still don't to this day even on the steam worked narrow gauge in Germany. Also tha if you wearing long uniform Mac to lift it up to allow to step over both rails. having said that I watched a LUL^▸ (London Underground Ltd) track worker step on the conductor rail outside Ealing Broadway as I passed last week.

When were out on other regions you could tell the Southern guys. Stepping over rails.

Although as a kid I used to balnace on the rails by Southampton Docks on our Sunday afternoon walk.

[Tim]

We were show this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_(public_information_film) at primary school (version 2 which was appropriate to where I lived).  I also remember a train driver talking to us in assembly about playing on the line and how he really didn't want to run over us.

Up until then I hadn't even considered that playing on the railway line was even a possibility.