Given this new info of a flooded access point, that changes things too.
And not something you would have known if you’d chosen to detrain yourself.
Without being in the situation, it's hard to say what anyone would do. But the photos on twitter showed cramped carriages, no water or food for a significant period and I should imagine the toilets weren't in a good condition.
Quite a few photos I’ve seen of the interior were taken when the evacuation was underway. Obviously that’ll look busy, because everyone’s standing up and eager to get off...
Isn't that what happened anyway? Nonetheless, with the flooded track and access road, I dare say I'd have stayed put anyway.
No, the access point was cleared and passengers were escorted up some decent concrete steps to reach coaches. The main hazard identified once evacuation commenced seemed to be a lack of emergency lighting being available on the steps.
I shudder at the thought of a HST charging towards a landslip that no-one knows is there; under current weather conditions are HST's told to reduce speed in certain areas where landslips are possible even though they've never slid before?
If there is a prolonged gap in the train service, the driver of the next train will often be asked to examine any high-risk areas at a slower speed (something which also applies in the event of trees likely to be on the line after high winds, or if the line might be blocked by very heavy snow, etc.).
There are also geological sensor systems at riskier sites, which are often
very sensitive, and when they are activated, the outputs will be assessed by on-call engineers.
In this case, it seems the landslide (or, to be specific, more of a silty mudslide) may have hit one power car of the train shortly after it stopped. The RAIB investigation, if there is one, should confirm any timeline. The drivers of the trains in the area hardly got themselves trapped completely in floodwater, just sufficiently that part of one train wouldn’t be able to move.
EMT HSTs still have dump-on-track toilets, which sounds to me like another reason to stay on the train. Unlike say the Lewisham situation they would have had light and heat and probably seats too.
They did. If passenger counts are to be believed, there should have been a few spare seats even with two train loads on one train.