• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Alexandra Palace

Status
Not open for further replies.

greatkingrat

Established Member
Joined
20 Jan 2011
Messages
2,750
Whose bright idea is it to install a fence on the Up Fast platform edge at Alexandra Palace so trains can no longer stop there? Although it is not in regular use, it is useful to have the option of Fast line trains stopping there if the Up Slow is blocked for engineering work or some other reason.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

yorkie

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
6 Jun 2005
Messages
67,433
Location
Yorkshire
There is a lot of work going on between AAP and Finsbury Park [[stn]FPK[/stn]], am I right in thinking that it will become a fully 6-track passenger railway between these stations? I can't find any detail on the project so am not sure if an additional platform face is being provided for trains coming off the Hertford loop at Alexandra Palace, but the disused platform at FPK on the Up Goods (?) is being brought back into use.
 

MidnightFlyer

Veteran Member
Joined
16 May 2010
Messages
12,857
Perhaps it is to do with a similar scheme across London at for example Purley Oaks and Harrow & Wealdstone and be to deter people jumping in front of trains from it?
 
Last edited:

greatkingrat

Established Member
Joined
20 Jan 2011
Messages
2,750
Yes, they are also building a new platform at Alexandra Palace to serve what is currently the Up Goods line.
 

jopsuk

Veteran Member
Joined
13 May 2008
Messages
12,771
it is a bit of a suicide blackspot; better to lose the very occasional use of the platform if it means less distress to drivers/other witnesses and less disruption from jumpers
 

Bald Rick

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Sep 2010
Messages
29,070
Perhaps it is to do with a similar scheme across London at for example Purley Oaks and Harrow & Wealdstone and be to deter people jumping in front of trains from it?

It is and very effective they have proved too.
 

MidnightFlyer

Veteran Member
Joined
16 May 2010
Messages
12,857
Indeed - I believe they also have locked gates placed within them so that they can be opened if a train is booked in there during disruption etc, certainly those at Harrow & Wealdstone and around Croydon do.
 

philjo

Established Member
Joined
9 Jun 2009
Messages
2,884
I remember reading somewhere that the new platform currently being built will be an island platfrom witht the current up slow line and the goods line on either side. The existing up platform will be closed so there will be no platform on the fast line.
 

ushawk

Established Member
Joined
5 Nov 2010
Messages
1,965
Location
Eastbourne
Indeed - I believe they also have locked gates placed within them so that they can be opened if a train is booked in there during disruption etc, certainly those at Harrow & Wealdstone and around Croydon do.

They all do, at all stations from Purley to Streatham Common except South and East Croydon now (South Croydon has P1 gated off but cant do P2 due to space, Balham and Clapham dont need them and i think Battersea Park doesnt have the space) - as well as some other stations.

Its a very good idea and does prevent them. Alexandra Palace was a hotspot - the gates are good at stopping it, although they can only do so much.
 

yorkie

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
6 Jun 2005
Messages
67,433
Location
Yorkshire
Do they reduce overall suicides, railway suicides or station suicides?

If someone is that desperate I am not convinced that a fence would stop them, would they not go to an alternative location?

I remember reading somewhere that the new platform currently being built will be an island platfrom witht the current up slow line and the goods line on either side. The existing up platform will be closed so there will be no platform on the fast line.
That makes a lot of sense, but if this is happening it seems very odd to construct a fence to reduce suicides for a platform to that is about to be demolished? Unless the fence is a temporary one to allow them to demolish that part of the platform of course...
 

ushawk

Established Member
Joined
5 Nov 2010
Messages
1,965
Location
Eastbourne
Do they reduce overall suicides, railway suicides or station suicides?

If someone is that desperate I am not convinced that a fence would stop them, would they not go to an alternative location?

At each specific location, ive noticed that they arent happening there anymore where they have recently had gates installed. They were fairly common at stations like Harrow and Norbury, but since they have gone up, there hasnt been any fatalities since (there was 1 at Harrow but that wasnt a suicide).

Trouble is they will just go somewhere else if they really have their mind made up, say if they see that Thornton Heath has gates now, they could just go to Norwood or New Cross Gate, have fast line platforms which cant be gated as services stop there.
 

Bald Rick

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Sep 2010
Messages
29,070
There has been a lot of research into it, not much of which has been published. The research has included discussion with a number of people who have attempted suicide on the railway but failed in their attempts.

A surprisingly high proportion have said that whilst they were clearly in a bad place mentally, the decision to choose the railway was a spur of the moment thing as it was easy. It follows that if the opportunity is not there, because it has been made more difficult (fences), there will be fewer attempts.

Of course it can't help to stop all suicides, or even reduce the number significantly. But even if it stops one or two - which evidence seems to be supporting -then in my view it has been worth it.
 

jopsuk

Veteran Member
Joined
13 May 2008
Messages
12,771
Being hard-hearted, even if it doesn't reduce the number of suicides, if it reduces the impact on other people due to suicide that's a gain to society as a whole, surely?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top