4141
Member
- Joined
- 21 Dec 2015
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- 170
May I ask why, if a passenger, in all good faith, has alerted you?If someone pulled the passcom because I'd missed a stop. I'd most likely cancel the train at the next stop.
May I ask why, if a passenger, in all good faith, has alerted you?If someone pulled the passcom because I'd missed a stop. I'd most likely cancel the train at the next stop.
It is a shame that rail staff have such a negative attitude to passengers taking concerns seriously.
May I ask why, if a passenger, in all good faith, has alerted you?
I think you'll find that the messages you refer to advise texting the BTP on 61016, not activating the passcomm to stop the train.
I don't think you will find it labelled passcomm on board - any more than its predecessor was labelled "communication cord." Maybe that's why the words Emergency Alarm or similar appear?or to contact a member of staff immediately. Operating the "passcomm" seems a good way of contacting a member of staff - indeed the very term "passcomm" suggests a communication device for use by passengers rather than an emergency stop alarm.
I think they're just labelled 'Alarm'. Not even sure if there's any reference to improper use anymore, probably to discourage people from not using them if someone's trapped, and the fact they don't actually disable the train if activated these daysI don't think you will find it labelled passcomm on board - any more than its predecessor was labelled "communication cord." Maybe that's why the words Emergency Alarm or similar appear?
and the fact they don't actually disable the train if activated these days
Drawing parallels between the Eschede disaster and a failure to stop is very OTT (over the top) and just wrong.Well, quite.
I refer again to the Eschede disaster, where people didn't pull it (and on German stock of that vintage it is an actual emergency brake) despite a bit of wheel sticking through the floor. If they had, people might not have died.
I think we overdo the discouragement, TBH. With it now just being a means of talking to staff, better report something than not.
Drawing parallels between the Eschede disaster and a failure to stop is very OTT (over the top) and just wrong.
I'm beginning to wonder what the point of a passcom is. If it is urgent, does pulling the alarm (not passcom) stop the train? If you pull the passcom, are you expecting to speak directly with the driver, who is probably too busy concentrating on driving to be able to respond immediately. So does the driver stop, and then talk to the passenger. Or does pulling the passcom just light up a warning light on the driver's desk, and then the driver has to find out who and why the passcom was pulled?
To me, the term 'passcom' implies that you are able to speak directly with the driver, but is this the case?
Staff want to discourage passcom use and the driver from making announcements because it goes against best operational practice.
But like it or not, it's only a matter of time after a fail to stop before people will pull the alarm or start knocking on the cab door.
You seem to lack imagination thenA bit of wheel sticking through the floor is an emergency.
There is no conceivable emergency situation the passenger could be concerned about resulting from failure to call.
How it it a 'negative attitude' ?
Someone knocked on my cab door yesterday. They asked what the next stop was. The PIS was fully functional and scrolling above their head. I get it I really do and I fully accept human behaviour but you need to ask yourself some days; are people really using their heads :/
Context. "failure to stop [at a station]". I also think "failure to stop" is railway speak for missing a station, but I could be wrong.
Drawing parallels between the Eschede disaster and a failure to stop is very OTT (over the top) and just wrong.
That wasn't what was said at all. (See clarifications from @ComUtoR .)It wasn't a parallel, but more the case of the fact that we try to put people off pulling the passcom with fines, threats etc causing honest people not to pull it when there really is a danger, and are completely ignored by drunk people and idiots who pull it for a laugh.
On a DOO train where one cannot simply speak to the guard, in my view it should be encouraged to use it if we believe something may be wrong with the train, driver or a passenger (or their misconduct causing serious issues for others) in any form.
Someone knocked on my cab door yesterday. They asked what the next stop was. The PIS was fully functional and scrolling above their head. I get it I really do and I fully accept human behaviour but you need to ask yourself some days; are people really using their heads :/
That wasn't what was said at all. (See clarifications from @ComUtoR .)
My understanding was that pulling the emergency handle is thick in a non-emergency situation. Not stopping at a station is not an emergency. Thus, don't pull the emergency handle if your train doesn't stop at a station.
I think staff don't like the idea that passengers are bringing attention to driver errors. Even if the driver's diagram was wrong, they should have noticed an inconsistency between their diagram and the PIS on the station
No. It causes people not to pull it for trivial reasons.And my point is that that causes people who are well-behaved to have a VERY high threshold of what constitutes an emergency, which itself poses a danger.
No. It causes people not to pull it for trivial reasons.
Missing a stop isn't trivial, but it isn't an emergency. As I have said many times.I think we just fundamentally differ on whether missing a scheduled stop is a trivial reason or not. I don't think it is at all, and the attitude that it isn't (coupled with the unacceptable approach that started this thread in the first place) shows the railway's typical approach to customer service to a tee.
Missing a stop isn't trivial, but it isn't an emergency.
Would you dial 999 because a train missed your stop? If no, then it's not an emergency.How does a passenger know this?
Would you dial 999 because a train missed your stop? If no, then it's not an emergency.