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Inside King's Cross: CH5

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Busaholic

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Couldn't two or three of those Southern conductors get re-trained as lift operators?
 
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Bletchleyite

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Watching it now, and was quite interested by the security person checking a suspicious bag - first thing he did was open it, which would surely have set off a booby trapped device. Seemed odd.
 

GodAtum

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he aerial guys have a very cool job, what's their callsign?

Do the camera crew need training to film on the tracks?
 

Chris M

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Do the camera crew need training to film on the tracks?

I believe that people who are not PTS trained are allowed to be on the tracks when accompanied by someone who is PTS-trained and whose sole responsibility is to ensure the safety of those they are accompanying.

Whether they are using this method or have put the crew through a PTS course I don't know. I'd be surprised though if there wasn't someone accompanying the camera operator at least though, as they will be concentrating (almost) entirely on the view through their camera and so have little to no peripheral vision.

Regardless though I'm sure they will have had at least instructions in the very basics.
 

Crossover

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I am sure the lift installer would be really happy to have a barely trained non employee mucking about with their lifts, I am also sure it wouldnt have any effect on the warranty of the lifts. :lol:

I'm sure some lift equipment I have seen has instructions on how to lower it if it stops working (releasing the hydraulic pressure) - that said, it is in a room nearby, not in a pit under the platform
 

Mojo

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I'm sure some lift equipment I have seen has instructions on how to lower it if it stops working (releasing the hydraulic pressure) - that said, it is in a room nearby, not in a pit under the platform
Indeed; depending on the type of lift it is pretty standard design to have staff be able to operate it in order to release trapped customers, this would include manual lowering in the case of a hydraulic or something like power winding or manual handwinding for other lift types.
 

Bletchleyite

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How else do you check it? Pick it up? What if it has a tilt switch?

I'd always assumed that if it was a credible threat they would go straight for the Police and not touch it themselves.

He couldn't possibly have known if it was a credible threat or not from outside, and opening it could have been his last act.

Mind you, there was another case later on in the programme I also thought was a bit dodgy - the driver who was clearly paying more attention to being interviewed than to the line ahead. I did wonder if it was mocked up[1] with another loco on the front, but it didn't look like. Surely not within the rules?

And they don't know what an HST is :)

[1] The phone call to base by that bridge inspector definitely was. "Err, that bridge"? No way would that call actually take place like that, surely?
 
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Railsigns

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I'd always assumed that if it was a credible threat they would go straight for the Police and not touch it themselves.

He couldn't possibly have known if it was a credible threat or not from outside, and opening it could have been his last act.

Or a 'creditable threat', as the guy in the office described it.
 

Crossover

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Mind you, there was another case later on in the programme I also thought was a bit dodgy - the driver who was clearly paying more attention to being interviewed than to the line ahead. I did wonder if it was mocked up with another loco on the front, but it didn't look like. Surely not within the rules?

And they don't know what an HST is :)

Well, it was a 91/DVT she was driving, not the HST they were talking about. I would guess such an interview would only take place on clear signals at least and not round complex junctions and such as they've done such interviews on other programs
 

Mag_seven

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And they don't know what an HST is

Also during the track renewal section the statement was made that trains pass on the adjacent lines "at speeds of over 125mph" - oh dear oh dear
 

Bletchleyite

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Well, it was a 91/DVT she was driving, not the HST they were talking about. I would guess such an interview would only take place on clear signals at least and not round complex junctions and such as they've done such interviews on other programs

Yeah, I've seen it done before (the ones in cars are also very common, and I'm not sure if those are to be encouraged either) - but she seemed *very* distracted and not properly paying attention to the line, much more so than other times I've seen it. It was actually quite alarming to watch.

Yes, everything they referred to as HST was actually 91+Mk4.
 

RPM

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Yeah, I've seen it done before (the ones in cars are also very common, and I'm not sure if those are to be encouraged either) - but she seemed *very* distracted and not properly paying attention to the line, much more so than other times I've seen it. It was actually quite alarming to watch.

As a driver, it certainly didn't strike me that she was distracted. It was no different from situations where a driver manager is present in the cab, having a chat.
 

800001

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Yeah, I've seen it done before (the ones in cars are also very common, and I'm not sure if those are to be encouraged either) - but she seemed *very* distracted and not properly paying attention to the line, much more so than other times I've seen it. It was actually quite alarming to watch.

Yes, everything they referred to as HST was actually 91+Mk4.

There would most likely be a driver manager also in the cab, so an extra set of eyes watching the track ahead
 

Peter Mugridge

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And they don't know what an HST is :)

...and I'm not sure if this was a subtitle error or if they actually spoke it as well, but they stated the cost of the VTEC fleet refurbishment as £21 billion...

Can anyone with good ears tell me if they did actually say billion instead of million?
 

455driver

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As VT are not paying anything for the refurbishment (it is the leasing company paying for it) I dont think it matters.

There were a few errors in it but it isnt as bad as the other program was, but I am trying to work out why they went for a young, good looking female driver rather than a typical unshaven fat bloke! :lol:
 

johnw

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...and I'm not sure if this was a subtitle error or if they actually spoke it as well, but they stated the cost of the VTEC fleet refurbishment as £21 billion...

Can anyone with good ears tell me if they did actually say billion instead of million?
I've just finished watching it and rewound and the narrator said million.
 

Bromley boy

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Exactly. So the only way to check is to open it.

I have to say I'm seriously unimpressed with the HOT protocol which seems more appropriate to an IRA style threat, and out of date in terms of the threat facing us today.

On my training course one of the delegates had spent time in the army. He pointed out that an IED type device would likely be left in plain site rather than "hidden", it would be "obvious" and "typical" (i.e. not "HOT"). It would also be fitted with a motion sensor so that it would detonate in the face of whoever moved or interfered with it.

The guy taking the course just ignored him and moved on to something else!
 
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DarloRich

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First one i have seen - an enjoyable programme for the normal person which gave some good information for the general public


I have to say I'm seriously unimpressed with the HOT protocol which seems more appropriate to an IRA style threat, and out of date in terms of the threat facing us today.

On my training course one of the delegates had spent time in the army. He pointed out that an IED type device would likely be left in plain site rather than "hidden", it would be "obvious" and "typical" (i.e. not "HOT"). It would also be fitted with a motion sensor so that it would detonate in the face of whoever moved or interfered with it.

The guy taking the course just ignored him and moved on to something else!

but that, at present, isnt the preferred approach of ISIS types in the west. They go in for grenade and gun/knife attacks coupled with suicide vests rather than the hidden device favoured by our Irish friends.

I assume the response to a threat is intelligence led and will change if tactics change. I guess you asses the bag and take action you deem necessary based on your training and the information you have been given.
 

Bletchleyite

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Exactly. So the only way to check is to open it.

Or carry out a controlled explosion anyway on the assumption that it is a threat.

My point was more that I didn't expect it to be the job of a security guard to do that (certainly not without fully evacuating the station first), and that the approach would be first to see if the bag could be claimed and if not call the bomb squad out.

The impression it gave was of not taking the threat particularly seriously.
 

Bromley boy

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First one i have seen - an enjoyable programme for the normal person which gave some good information for the general public




but that, at present, isnt the preferred approach of ISIS types in the west. They go in for grenade and gun/knife attacks coupled with suicide vests rather than the hidden device favoured by our Irish friends.

I assume the response to a threat is intelligence led and will change if tactics change. I guess you asses the bag and take action you deem necessary based on your training and the information you have been given.

True. There has been some training on how to deal with the marauding gun attack scenario (boiling down to run for your life and report it if possible). I think HOT ignores the Madrid bombings a few years ago, which I believe were IEDs left on trains.

I don't honestly consider that the HOT training has given me any proper understanding of how to assess bags etc. For that reason, rightly or wrongly, I'm I'm not going anywhere near an abandoned bag, let alone opening it or moving it!
 

DarloRich

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True. There has been some training on how to deal with the marauding gun attack scenario (boiling down to run for your life and report it if possible). I think HOT ignores the Madrid bombings a few years ago, which I believe were IEDs left on trains.

I don't honestly consider that the HOT training has given me any proper understanding of how to assess bags etc. For that reason, rightly or wrongly, I'm I'm not going anywhere near an abandoned bag, let alone opening it or moving it!

I am not sure I would be going anywhere near it! We don't know how dramtised the situation was and whether the old bill had cleared the risk before filming.
 

Antman

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I have to say I'm seriously unimpressed with the HOT protocol which seems more appropriate to an IRA style threat, and out of date in terms of the threat facing us today.

Six months ago as I was going into Kings Cross I noticed a couple of full black duffel bags unattended just outside the station.

Unusually there weren't any police around so I asked the information desk to let BTP know so they could take whatever action was necessary.

The response from BTP was "not our responsibility as it is outside the station not inside".
 

Bromley boy

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Or carry out a controlled explosion anyway on the assumption that it is a threat.

My point was more that I didn't expect it to be the job of a security guard to do that (certainly not without fully evacuating the station first), and that the approach would be first to see if the bag could be claimed and if not call the bomb squad out.

The impression it gave was of not taking the threat particularly seriously.

HOT is really about keeping the job going in the knowledge there will be unattended items left on a great many rush hour trains and the overwhelming majority will be innocent.

It's for the individual to decide whether they are happy to put in into practice! Many staff are, personally I'm not.
 

TEW

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Or carry out a controlled explosion anyway on the assumption that it is a threat.

My point was more that I didn't expect it to be the job of a security guard to do that (certainly not without fully evacuating the station first), and that the approach would be first to see if the bag could be claimed and if not call the bomb squad out.

The impression it gave was of not taking the threat particularly seriously.

Do you realise quite how many items get left unattended every day? The scale of disruption if you called the bomb squad out and evacuated the station every time would be massive. You have to make an on the spot judgement based on what you can see and your training.
 
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