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Stand behind the yellow line at Huddersfield

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a_c_skinner

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needed painted-on cycle lanes

I cannot vouch for this totally but (off topic) I queried these patently stupid cycle lanes with someone who should have known and was told that grants from HMG can be contingent on a certain mileage of cycle lanes being in place so for the price of a pot of paint...
 
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Antman

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Maybe there could be an automated message on the trains reminding people to stand behind the yellow line?

Aren't there enough automated messages already? I've never seen anybody admonished for not standing behind the yellow line, I assumed it was advisory rather than mandatory anyway?
 

ComUtoR

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I assumed it was advisory rather than mandatory anyway?

After everything that has been said and the evidence posted do you really need it to be mandatory ? That's why we are going down the route of the nanny state :/
 

Western Sunset

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I'm surprised we're even discussing this.

Why do some people apparently have a problem with standing behind a yellow line for their own (and others) safety?

I don't like "jobsworths", but when the reason for their action (ie keeping you safe) is clear, good on 'em.
 

3141

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I thought yellow lines were originally painted (1) to keep people out of the area in which they might be struck by a slam door that had been opened while the train was still moving; and (2) because of concerns about the possibility that you might be sucked towards a train going through at high speed.

There are very few of (1) in normal services. (2) isn't an issue if the next train is stopping, or if there is no train due. Have the yellow lines been assigned a new purpose, to reduce the possible danger if someone loses his balance?
 

61653 HTAFC

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These days it's a general safety thing. The closer you are to the edge, the more chance of some seemingly benign action such as being nudged or jostled turning into a serious incident. Even if a train isn't due, platforms are higher than they look from on them and tracks don't provide a soft landing.
 

3141

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Thanks for that reply. It will make a big difference how many people there are on the platform. If I'm on the platform at Overton with no more than twenty others, and only about three of those near me, I'm not going to get jostled or even nudged. Now I don't think that's a reason to stand in front of the yellow line, but I may stand on it, especially if I'm on the long section of the platform which is so narrow that the width behind the line is no more than the width in front of it. Standing behind the line along there I might lose my balance and fall against the wooden board fence, where a splinter punctures my hand and the wound turns septic with horrible results. I think that ghastly scenario matches some of those put forward by those who insist we should always be behind the line.
 

Killingworth

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40 years ago we did many things we'd never get away with today, and we lived to tell the tale. The difficulty is that the more danger we take away, the less able some seem to be to recognise danger when they find it.

And those who just seek the thrill of doing what is prohibited to defy authority of any kind. Nowadays all trains would be stopped if this sort of behaviour were seen.
 

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michael74

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40 years ago we didn't wear seatbelts, but we do now and for good reason. Just because something was acceptable in the past dosent make it any more safe.
 

YorkshireBear

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Being from the 70s does not make you immune from doing as your told. If I was station staff and you did that you'd be escorted from the station.

Do as your told, you end of. There is no need to be beyond the yellow line at Huddersfield the platforms are more than wide enough.
 
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farleigh

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And yet people from the seventies sue at every oppurtunity if their precious child or grandchild gets hurt. Criticise and say this shouldn't happen. Then complain when companies have safety features to protect people.

Do as your told, no need to be beyond yellow line at Huddersfield even in a rush the platforms are plenty big enough for the amount of passengers. Its not you who is responsible for passenger safety at Huddersfield Station so just do as your told.....

Rant. Over.
Didn't really understand your point there. Are you condemning people who were alive (or born??) in the seventies? Or are you saying they are correct to sue?
Your post seems incoherent but I am sure there is a good point in there.
 

Loop & Link

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I think people forget the pressure that rail staff are under from those higher above, regarding passenger accidents, especially those involving the PTI (platform/train interface).

God forbid, if something had happened when you had gone over the yellow line and it had gone unchallenged by staff, first thing those higher above would be doing would be rewinding CCTV and pinning the blame squarely on the staff member for letting your behaviour go unchallenged.

It may seem as some staff being over-zealous (and I will hold my hands up and say I have been too in the past) but the pressure we are under as regards safety and accidents is immense, so when you do encounter staff doing this, as well as (honestly) being an arse-covering exercise for themselves, it’s a genuine concern for safety.
 

YorkshireBear

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Didn't really understand your point there. Are you condemning people who were alive (or born??) in the seventies? Or are you saying they are correct to sue?
Your post seems incoherent but I am sure there is a good point in there.

Yes on reading it back it does not seem. Particularly coherent... I will. Go back. And refine.

My point was aimed at the born in the seventies comment. Ie its people born in the 70s (and other decades I add) who have regularly sued for things which would have been deemed accidents a while back but now someone must be blamed. The response to this has included some aspects of nanny state. So the comment about I was born in the seventies therefore I am superior and won't be told what to do by someone, hit a nerve.

I experience this in work/heritage railways where being from that era is something to be proud of when BR killed 100s of trackworkers a year but common sense Prevailed.

The last bit was simply a just do as your told.
 

Olympian

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you'll still get publicly berated while they hover far beyond the line.
Whilst I completely agree with everyone else saying that such instructions by railway staff should always be adhered to, and clearly it's being done for safety reasons, it would surely help if the staff doing so practice what they preach and set a good example to others by keeping behind the yellow line and not placing themselves in the very danger they're trying to eradicate.
 

farleigh

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Yes on reading it back it does not seem. Particularly coherent... I will. Go back. And refine.
Hahahahaha very good!!!

My point was aimed at the born in the seventies comment. Ie its people born in the 70s (and other decades I add) who have regularly sued for things which would have been deemed accidents a while back but now someone must be blamed. The response to this has included some aspects of nanny state. So the comment about I was born in the seventies therefore I am superior and won't be told what to do by someone, hit a nerve.

I experience this in work/heritage railways where being from that era is something to be proud of when BR killed 100s of trackworkers a year but common sense Prevailed.

The last bit was simply a just do as your told.
Thanks - makes more sense now.
My view is that yellow lines are not needed and people should understand the dangers.
However, since they are there it is best to follow thei guidance.
I can see that there would be some pedantic staff who would berate 'passengers' for stepping over the line but most would not be that extreme.
 
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“Keep back from the platform edge or you may get sucked off” I think this sign has since been replaced at Penrith.
 

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bb21

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My view is that yellow lines are not needed and people should understand the dangers.
In theory.

The reality is that many don't, and society as a whole has a responsibility to ensure that those, well, let's say "less well informed", are protected where we can.
 

Warwick

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On the naughty step again.
I thought yellow lines were originally painted (1) to keep people out of the area in which they might be struck by a slam door that had been opened while the train was still moving; and (2) because of concerns about the possibility that you might be sucked towards a train going through at high speed.

There are very few of (1) in normal services. (2) isn't an issue if the next train is stopping, or if there is no train due. Have the yellow lines been assigned a new purpose, to reduce the possible danger if someone loses his balance?
Got it in one.
 

Skymonster

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The lack of humility shown towards customers - those who pay their wages - by a few railway staff in this topic disappoints but does not surprise me. A few seem to treat stations as a quasi-police states where they can order travellers to do whatever they demand with no reference to normal social etiquette.

Some while ago I alighted from a train at East Midlands Parkway. The south end of the northbound main platform is rather narrow and all it needs is someone messing about with large bags and its inevitable that making progress along the platform sometimes necessitates walking fairly near the train.

One of the platform staff, fairly close by, bawled loudly at me: "Stand behind the line"
I replied: "Firstly there is no line that I can see, secondly I have no need to stand anywhere as I am not waiting for a train, and thirdly a little politeness would not go amiss."

Make no mistake about it, I am not usually one to respond and on 99.9% of occasions I totally respect staff and the work they are doing. But occasionally returning like with like is necessary. I accept the PTI can be a dangerous place but the sooner some staff stop screaming gestapo-like orders at customers and instead treat them with a little dignity the better.
 
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High Dyke

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Easy answer... Employ a platoon of 'Goon squads' in fortified watchtowers spaced along the platforms to deter such miscreants standing in the wrong place. Shoot any offenders, or those thinking about transgressing the yellow line.
 

bramling

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The lack of humility shown towards customers - those who pay their wages - by a few railway staff in this topic disappoints but does not surprise me. A few seem to treat stations as a quasi-police states where they can order travellers to do whatever they demand with no reference to normal social etiquette.

Some while ago I alighted from a train at East Midlands Parkway. The south end of the northbound main platform is rather narrow and all it needs is someone messing about with large bags and its inevitable that making progress along the platform sometimes necessitates walking fairly near the train.

One of the platform staff, fairly close by, bawled loudly at me: "Stand behind the line"
I replied: "Firstly there is no line that I can see, secondly I have no need to stand anywhere as I am not waiting for a train, and thirdly a little politeness would not go amiss."

Make no mistake about it, I am not usually one to respond and on 99.9% of occasions I totally respect staff and the work they are doing. But occasionally returning like with like is necessary. I accept the PTI can be a dangerous place but the sooner some staff stop screaming gestapo-like orders at customers and instead treat them with a little dignity the better.

I can see two sides to things. Personally I take the view that if grown adults wish to ignore safety features, for whatever reason, then it’s their judgement call so long as it’s only their own safety at risk However equally staff are in an awkward position if something does happen and they are shown, for example via CCTV, to have taken no action. Then there are places and times where for various reasons people simply are not going to remain behind the line no matter what happens - my local station is an example of this, both passengers and staff still subconsciously work on the basis of where the yellow line used to be before the tactile went down.

The point about politeness is well made - Blackpool North type attitudes do not help anyone.
 

i4n

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There are very few of (1) in normal services. (2) isn't an issue if the next train is stopping, or if there is no train due. Have the yellow lines been assigned a new purpose, to reduce the possible danger if someone loses his balance?

Do women not lose their balance then?
 

HantsExile

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There was a version of this instruction which I heard on the Underground and I think on railway stations which asked us to "Stand behind the yellow line AT ALL TIMES". Fortunately most people disregarded this or else none of us would have caught our trains and the platforms would have become very congested very quickly!
 

tsr

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Got it in one.

Not really.

As already posted... there are many places where a train appears with little warning and it is not possible to have much advance warning as to whether or not it is a non-stop service. This includes locations covered by official CIS systems as well as open source train-mapping websites, which tend to have more bugs than a school classroom in winter. Therefore it is best to go on the safer side.

This may not be the case in this specific location for most services, but there will be a great many platforms around the country where it does apply, and it makes sense that the same rules are enforced consistently.

I have never known someone come to harm from standing behind the line, whereas many people have been injured or had near misses resulting from getting too close to trains.
 

michael74

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Here is another way to look at it. If you broke down on a motorway you would retreat up the embankment away from the hard shoulder. While I appreciate there is an added hazard or vehicles veering out of lane 1 onto the hard shoulder, in my view the principles remain the same and in plenty of cases the speeds of passing traffic can be higher than a motorway.
 

Warwick

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Here is another way to look at it. If you broke down on a motorway you would retreat up the embankment away from the hard shoulder. While I appreciate there is an added hazard or vehicles veering out of lane 1 onto the hard shoulder, in my view the principles remain the same and in plenty of cases the speeds of passing traffic can be higher than a motorway.
That's a different ball game. Trains follow clearly defined lines, road traffic follows where the driver steers
 
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