Yesterday I was at a major station on the WCML and there was a a parent and child there towing a large foil balloon on a very long string (long enough for the balloon to be bouncing along on the ceiling as they walked). They were queueing for tickets so I assume they were on the point of going to the platforms to board a train.
I was concerned that a balloon of that type could potentially touch the overhead wires and possibly lead to electrocution, however despite there being a very large contingent of customer service staff milling around none of them took any action, after watching and debating with myself for five minutes, hoping someone else would step in, in the end I did point it out to a staff member and they (presumably) went and had a word with the parent.
Was I being over cautious? I know in European stations there are often posters warning of just such a thing, and there have been incidents of foil balloons shorting out overhead wires before - but I've never seen or heard warnings in the UK. Should the staff on duty be on the lookout for this sort of thing and advising people to be careful in such situations?
I was concerned that a balloon of that type could potentially touch the overhead wires and possibly lead to electrocution, however despite there being a very large contingent of customer service staff milling around none of them took any action, after watching and debating with myself for five minutes, hoping someone else would step in, in the end I did point it out to a staff member and they (presumably) went and had a word with the parent.
Was I being over cautious? I know in European stations there are often posters warning of just such a thing, and there have been incidents of foil balloons shorting out overhead wires before - but I've never seen or heard warnings in the UK. Should the staff on duty be on the lookout for this sort of thing and advising people to be careful in such situations?