Hunt for woman who 'burst into train driver's cabin to complain about delays'

[Saperstein]

From:

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/hunt-for-...e-she-was-furious-about-delays-094556266.html

A woman who allegedly stormed into a train driver’s cabin out of anger at delays is being hunted by police.

The blonde suspect, thought to be in her 20s or early 30s, was captured on CCTV shortly before she is said to have forced her way into the cab at Hucknall railway station in Nottinghamshire.

British Transport Police (BTP) have released images that show the woman on the train, wearing a white top and skirt.

She was apparently heard on a furious rant about how the train was not moving.

A spokesperson said: “The train was stationary at the time. The woman allegedly forced her way into the cab and verbally abused the driver in order to get the train moving.

“Officers believe the woman in the images may have information that could help their investigation.”

The incident happened at 9.20pm on June 29 when the train was stationary at the platform.

I’ve heard of passengers hammering on cab doors before
Now but never breaking in...

How did she manage to get in to a 158* cab without a carriage key? There’s no emergency handle into the cab is there from within the saloon?

Saperstein.

*I assumed a 158 being Hucknall probably one of the Mansfield trains?

 

[vikingdriver]

I believe they are designed so you can barge through them - idea being to get out of the cab in an emergency, rather than getting in to give the driver grief!

 

[Ianno87]

I remember two over zealous fare evaders quite easily accidentally breaking into the drivers cab as they tried to charge the length of a (as it turned out) two car sprinter to avoid the conductor.

 

[PHILIPE]

From:

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/hunt-for-...e-she-was-furious-about-delays-094556266.html




I’ve heard of passengers hammering on cab doors before
Now but never breaking in...

How did she manage to get in to a 158* cab without a carriage key? There’s no emergency handle into the cab is there from within the saloon?

Saperstein.

*I assumed a 158 being Hucknall probably one of the Mansfield trains?

156s are the norm together with 153s and 158s

 

[Mugby]

Never be surprised about anything which happens in Hucknall!

 

[Harlequin]

Lucky she was caught on CCTV, I doubt the poor driver would remember her face.

 

[stompy]

Been an interview with her in the local paper. Blaming the driver for not moving and moaning about air con!

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/mansfield-mum-who-allegedly-verbally-3184993

A woman who was hunted by police after bursting into a train driver's cab has defended her actions.

British Transport Police (BTP) put out an appeal to find the Mansfield mum-of-two after she allegedly verbally "abused" the train driver, telling him to get the train moving.

The incident happened at Hucknall station while the train was stationary at about 9.20pm on Saturday, June 29.

The Sun has spoken to the woman, Becki Buchanan, 31, who said she and her fellow passengers had been "left like animals" as temperatures on the packed train reached 35C.

She said passengers were particularly worried about one male passenger who was close to passing out from the heat.

Becki told The Sun Online: "It was the last train and clearly way over capacity and there was a fault on the line we weren't aware of at the time.

"A guy behind me looked like he was minutes from passing out and people were clearly worried about him as there was no air conditioning or ventilation at all.

"I knocked on the door and there was no answer and people started panicking a bit more wondering if the driver was OK as we hadn't got a tannoy announcement the whole time we were sat there.

"Everyone was squashed against each other and it was like a sweatbox so I knocked again and forced my way into the cab."

She said the driver then shouted at her, which led to her shouting back at him in a "state of panic".

She said: "Eventually the train did move the 500 yards and I thought that was the end of it until I saw the appeal.

"I'm not a thug, I'm a just a normal mum-of-two.

"People get prosecuted for leaving dogs in a hot car yet we were left there soaked through our clothes with sweat for an hour like animals without even a message on the tannoy letting us know what was happening.

"I'm not ashamed of what happened, the driver should be."

BTP said in a statement: "She is currently helping officers with their enquiries and we are not looking to identify anyone else in connection.

"Thank you to the media for their support in sharing our appeal."

 

[stompy]

Sorry not local paper, they have used an interview she gave to the sun

 

[bramling]

Been an interview with her in the local paper. Blaming the driver for not moving and moaning about air con!

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/mansfield-mum-who-allegedly-verbally-3184993

No mention of the guard. What's the likelihood that, as the article above says the service was crush loaded, the guard had made one or more announcements but this was drowned out by the noise of the passengers?

Goodness knows what she expects the driver to be "ashamed of"!

Funny how these sorts of incidents always seem to occur on Saturdays. The self-entitled once-in-a-while users.

 

[Peter C]

She says in the interview posted by the Nottingham Post that she's not ashamed, but "the driver should be". What an idiot. It's not the driver's fault that her train has been held for a while!
Honestly. "I'm not a thug, I'm a just a normal mum-of-two." Well, maybe "thug" is too far, but "idiot" is! What on earth was she thinking? She forced her way into the driver's cab, which is a safety-critical area*, and proceeded to hurl verbal abuse at him! Poor driver. Hope this woman gets what she deserves.

Going to my copy of the Railway Byelaws, she can be charged with at least three offences:

6. Unacceptable behaviour
(1) No person shall use any threatening, abusive, obscene or offensive language on the railway.
(2) No person shall behave in a disorderly, indecent or offensive manner on the railway.
10. Trains
(2) No person shall be in or on any train except the parts of it intended for use by that person.

-Peter

 

[TheEdge]

Hope this woman gets what she deserves.

She wont. Verbal caution at worse.

 

[Peter C]

No mention of the guard. What's the likelihood that, as the article above says the service was crush loaded, the guard had made one or more announcements but this was drowned out by the noise of the passengers?

Goodness knows what she expects the driver to be "ashamed of"!

Funny how these sorts of incidents always seem to occur on Saturdays. The self-entitled once-in-a-while users.

How dare this innocent driver be allowed to do his job? You must remember, the needs of entitled people such as this woman here come before the needs of everyone else.

-Peter

 

[Peter C]

She wont. Verbal caution at worse.

That's the thing though, isn't it - she deserves to be charged with the three things I listed, but all she'll get is someone saying "Oh yeah, don't do that again love" and that's it! This doesn't stop people from doing this sort of thing. It just encourages them - they'll see that there is no consequence for doing it and they'll keep on at it.

-Peter

 

[bramling]

That's the thing though, isn't it - she deserves to be charged with the three things I listed, but all she'll get is someone saying "Oh yeah, don't do that again love" and that's it! This doesn't stop people from doing this sort of thing. It just encourages them - they'll see that there is no consequence for doing it and they'll keep on at it.

-Peter

It might not have been so heroic for her had the driver (quite reasonably) decided he was shaken up and no longer fit to drive the train...

 

[Peter C]

It might not have been so heroic for her had the driver (quite reasonably) decided he was shaken up and no longer fit to drive the train...

Definitely. He should have just said "No, unfit to drive" - yes, a train would have been cancelled, but maybe the passengers on the train would then be angry at our woman here instead of the driver? Hopefully something does happen. Everyone now will know her as "that lady who shouts at train drivers". What a legacy.

-Peter

 

[Robertj21a]

Surely, one question not answered is honestly just how long they had all been waiting, just how hot it was in the carriage - and what announcements had been made. Did the guard make any attempt to walk through the train to reassure people and check on their well-being, even if it was very full ?
It's all very well that train staff want to find any number of things to charge her with, were any of them there at the time?

 

[Peter C]

Surely, one question not answered is honestly just how long they had all been waiting, just how hot it was in the carriage - and what announcements had been made. Did the guard make any attempt to walk through the train to reassure people and check on their well-being, even if it was very full ?
It's all very well that train staff want to find any number of things to charge her with, were any of them there at the time?

Fair point - if the guard or driver hadn't made any sorts of announcements then the woman is slightly more justified in her actions.
If they had been waiting a few mins, then she had no reason to go into the cab, and if she had been waiting for 15/30 mins, she still had no reason to go into the cab, especially in the way she did, but she was slightly more justified because the guard should have updated people.

-Peter

 

[Bromley boy]

Surely, one question not answered is honestly just how long they had all been waiting, just how hot it was in the carriage - and what announcements had been made. Did the guard make any attempt to walk through the train to reassure people and check on their well-being, even if it was very full ?
It's all very well that train staff want to find any number of things to charge her with, were any of them there at the time?

No need to have been there to know that her actions were stupid, dangerous, and illegal (actually, one look at her photo tells you all you need to know about the kind of person she is).

Of course, some posters on here will refuse to acknowledge this!

It might not have been so heroic for her had the driver (quite reasonably) decided he was shaken up and no longer fit to drive the train...

100% what I would have done. For very good reason.

 

[Peter C]

(actually, one look at her photo tells you all you need to know about the kind of person she is).

I was just about to say something to that effect, but thought against it!

-Peter

 

[Robertj21a]

No need to have been there to know that her actions were stupid, dangerous, and illegal (actually, one look at her photo tells you all you need to know about the kind of person she is).

Of course, some posters on here will refuse to acknowledge this!



100% what I would have done. For very good reason.

I wasn't there, so none of us know what happened. The woman says that they were left there, packed tight, in sweating hot conditions, for about an hour and that one passenger looked unwell.
I understand that rail staff will immediately jump in to blame her, and they may be right to do so, but none of us know the facts.
If what she says is largely true then I can well understand her actions. It's a great shame that some rail staff aren't interested in determining the real facts of the case.

 

[nlogax]

"I'm not ashamed of what happened, the driver should be."

Dear god. What the hell is it with people like this?

 

[Antman]

It was baking hot. Her state of dishabille (if it's) from the CCTV still is no doubt due to the heat. I suggest some of you may wish to avoid casting aspersions based upon your own prejudices.

In any event, if you take her comments at face value, was the driver rude to her ? We don't know ? Were there announcements made ? Do we know that what BTP was told was accurate (i.e. can we just accept that at face value as well?) Or is the truth between ?

In high temperatures with long delays, it isn't unreasonable to want to at least know what is happening. Do you not think there is a point to what she's saying ? Or is it again that normal courtesy and informing people, even if it's only to update with "look, we really don't know either", or if it isn't in Rule 2.3 sub para 4.5 addendum B (in an adenoidal voice) then the driver doesn't have to do it. It's common sense. Something all of us claim to have, but often which we fail to recognise when we don't.

Asinine Derogatory comments about the woman's appearance are hardly doing some posters any favours.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Despite this woman's poor behaviour I don't think a bye-law prosecution is a good idea if only on PR grounds. However if I was a local ASLEF member I would certainly be asking EMT to consider banning her from their trains if only for a limited period of 12 months perhaps. Failing that at least a face-to-face meeting between her and a manager to explain that a train is not a bus and that on-board issues should be taken up with the guard and not the driver. Yes there are such things as DOO trains but not in that part of the world.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Slow news day for The Sun

 

[Antman]

Despite this woman's poor behaviour I don't think a bye-law prosecution is a good idea if only on PR grounds. However if I was a local ASLEF member I would certainly be asking EMT to consider banning her from their trains if only for a limited period of 12 months perhaps. Failing that at least a face-to-face meeting between her and a manager to explain that a train is not a bus and that on-board issues should be taken up with the guard and not the driver. Yes there are such things as DOO trains but not in that part of the world.

And what about if she’s right. And no announcements were made ? She’s a passenger. The trains going nowhere a normal person asks the driver. As they know where they are and presumably could get there. As opposed to fighting her way down the train to find a guard.

The whole thing is a mess. But the railway has to understand why people react as they do. And that they expect to be treated with the same courtesy and decency as they demand (rightly) the other way.

As for trains aren’t buses, I can think of at least 142 answers there

 

[Peter C]

And what about if she’s right. And no announcements were made ? She’s a passenger. The trains going nowhere a normal person asks the driver. As they know where they are and presumably could get there. As opposed to fighting her way down the train to find a guard.

The whole thing is a mess. But the railway has to understand why people react as they do. And that they expect to be treated with the same courtesy and decency as they demand (rightly) the other way.

As for trains aren’t buses, I can think of at least 142 answers there

We're all going based on the information we have at the moment. Please bear that in mind.
Yes, she is a passenger, and she just wants to know what's going on, but I doubt the guard would have gone for a long time without giving an announcement - and in any case, going to the driver is not an option in this situation. In my opinion, unless it's a DOO train, the driver should be considered as "just the person making it move" and not a member of staff for passenger's questioning. But this train had a guard and if she was desperate for information she should have found them.

-Peter

 

[theking]

As if the driver had any choice about "moving forward" lol what a loon

 

[jamesst]

Regardless of whether people think she's justified or not if someone bursts into my cab like that I'd be rude to them aswell!

 

[Peter C]

As if the driver had any choice about "moving forward" lol what a loon

Regardless of whether people think she's justified or not if someone bursts into my cab like that I'd be rude to them aswell!

Exactly. If the driver had just gone forward, passed the signal at danger, and put their lives in danger, I'm sure she would have been very annoyed at that as well.
The driver should not have been rude back to the woman, as this makes him as bad as her and does not help the situation.

-Peter

 

[Tetchytyke]

I wasn't there, so none of us know what happened. The woman says that they were left there, packed tight, in sweating hot conditions, for about an hour and that one passenger looked unwell.

Open Time Trains shows the train was cancelled at the station after Hucknall, arriving there about 45 minutes after it should have done. It left Hucknall a few minutes late. So it is highly likely that she is, indeed, telling the truth.

Communication isn't the railway's strongpoint. We know this. It's why passengers on DOO trains self-evacuate so often. The reality is that if you don't communicate with people, they take things into their own hands.