Disabled passenger locked in at Oxenholme station

[weepingwillowb]

Disabled passenger locked in Oxenholme railway station

Stuart Flett says there should be more intercoms after he was stranded for more than an hour.

www.bbc.com

"A disabled rail passenger who was trapped at a train station until the early hours has called for intercoms to be placed at platforms. Stuart Flett was stranded at Oxenholme railway station at Kendal, Cumbria, for over an hour after his train was delayed and staff locked up before he had left."

It's just over two years since a group of passengers were abandoned at Oxenholme station.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

has called for intercoms to be placed at platforms.

Are there no help points at Oxenholme (or Penrith, which I think had the same problem at one point)?

 

[hexagon789]

Are there no help points at Oxenholme (or Penrith, which I think had the same problem at one point)?

Nationalrail shows one midway on each platform.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Are there no help points at Oxenholme (or Penrith, which I think had the same problem at one point)?

Several stations have. The mind boggles as to why there isn't a way of opening an exit from the inside. A push bar wouldn't work for a gate, but a key in a break glass box away from the gate would do it fine.

To be fair a lot of able bodied people would just climb the fence, but it isn't OK for disabled people to be stuck like this.

 

[Snow1964]

Are there no help points at Oxenholme (or Penrith, which I think had the same problem at one point)?

The article says could not get through to anyone.

So possibly a case of help point not being answered. Which rather begs the question what is the point of having them.

 

[Ediswan]

The article says could not get through to anyone.

So possibly a case of help point not being answered. Which rather begs the question what is the point of having them.

The article does not say how contact with Avanti was attempted. Could have been the same phone subsequently used to call 101.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Admittedly this isn’t recently, but the last time I used a help point it went through to National Rail Enquiries. I’d have had more luck asking for help from the brick wall.

Funny how it keeps happening at Oxenholme.

 

[Western Sunset]

Do signal posts still have telephones attached to them?

 

[alxndr]

Do signal posts still have telephones attached to them?

Yes, but a) the average traveller isn't going to know this, b) they're not the most reliable things in the world, and c) at Oxenholme they appear to be off the ends of the platform, so accessing them would mean trespassing and navigating the anti-trespass mats.

 

[infobleep]

Yes, but a) the average traveller isn't going to know this, b) they're not the most reliable things in the world, and c) at Oxenholme they appear to be off the ends of the platform, so accessing them would mean trespassing and navigating the anti-trespass mats.

Which might not help the person who is disabled.

"A disabled rail passenger who was trapped at a train station until the early hours has called for intercoms to be placed at platforms. Stuart Flett was stranded at Oxenholme railway station at Kendal, Cumbria, for over an hour after his train was delayed and staff locked up before he had left."

It's just over two years since a group of passengers were abandoned at Oxenholme station.

Disabled passenger locked in Oxenholme railway station

Stuart Flett says there should be more intercoms after he was stranded for more than an hour.

www.bbc.com

"We have looked at the incident thoroughly, including reviewing CCTV footage, and have taken steps to ensure this does not happen again," the [Avanti] spokesperson said.

Will these steps be different to the steps they took the previous 2 times it happened I wonder?

 

[alxndr]

Is it actually necessary for the station to be locked overnight? It doesn't strike me as being somewhere full of deliquents... nor that it would be particularly challenging to get onto the railway nearby if you were so inclined.

 

[Carlisle]

Is it actually necessary for the station to be locked overnight? It doesn't strike me as being somewhere full of deliquents...

Probably not, it’s more likely to be TOC policy that’s been in place for many years that nobody’s deemed particularly necessary to alter .

 

[Dr Hoo]

Is it actually necessary for the station to be locked overnight? It doesn't strike me as being somewhere full of deliquents... nor that it would be particularly challenging to get onto the railway nearby if you were so inclined.

Without going in to detail, there are always potential risks to vulnerable and distressed individuals.

 

[43066]

Several stations have. The mind boggles as to why there isn't a way of opening an exit from the inside. A push bar wouldn't work for a gate, but a key in a break glass box away from the gate would do it fine.

To be fair a lot of able bodied people would just climb the fence, but it isn't OK for disabled people to be stuck like this.

You’d think there would be a gated entrance that could be left open even when the ticket office had been locked up for the night.

 

[Falcon1200]

A strange situation; The unfortunate passenger says there were staff on the platform when he alighted from the train, but they don't seem to have noticed him and locked the station up, presumably thinking everybody had left the station?

 

[Snow1964]

A strange situation; The unfortunate passenger says there were staff on the platform when he alighted from the train, but they don't seem to have noticed him and locked the station up, presumably thinking everybody had left the station?

Actually it says there were staff on each platform, and just 2 people got off. But neither seem to notice the passenger hadn't exited before locking up.

Alternatively could speculate the staff seen were the guard checking the platform, and station was already locked up before the late arrival.

Without going in to detail, there are always potential risks to vulnerable and distressed individuals.

My local station is never locked at night, even when there are lots of diverted freight trains scheduled to run through overnight. And everyday there are ECS workings which run through non stop at night. So clearly isn't a national policy, just a local idea. For reference my local station is in a smallish town, on fringe of a national landscape (formerly AONB) area, so not dissimilar in urban/rural to Oxenholme

 

[Dr Hoo]

You’d think there would be a gated entrance that could be left open even when the ticket office had been locked up for the night.

The booking office closes at 1900 (from National Rail) but the gates stay open for the rest of the operational day.

 

[43066]

The booking office closes at 1900 (from National Rail) but the gates stay open for the rest of the operational day.

I know the gate at my local station (Chislehurst) is left open when the ticket office is closed and locked, and remains that way until staff open up again in the morning. The gate is then locked to direct people through the booking hall. Difficult to see why that isn’t the case everywhere.

 

[Taunton]

On the DLR unmanned stations are left completely open 24x7, in an inner city, including the lifts operable etc. Has never been an issue.

 

[higthomas]

I'd have thought that probably 80%+ of stations are left open overnight given I'd have thought most are unmanned most of the time.
But even if you are locking up, I'd have thought surely there should be some way of getting out in these sort of events; especially if there were to be a fire or something.

 

[The exile]

On the DLR unmanned stations are left completely open 24x7, in an inner city, including the lifts operable etc. Has never been an issue.

DLR speeds are rather different from the WCML and there is presumably some kind of obstruction detection mechanism in place.

 

[Trainguy34]

My local stations rarely staffed, let alone at night, and is probably rarely locked. There isn't much overnight but someone could easily get in the tracks and get to the third rail though!

 

[Blackpool boy]

DLR speeds are rather different from the WCML and there is presumably some kind of obstruction detection mechanism in place.

The DLR also has a control room that can look at all stations as well as the station cleaning team that roam about all night.

 

[43066]

DLR speeds are rather different from the WCML and there is presumably some kind of obstruction detection mechanism in place.

Is that really relevant? There is no obstacle detection in place at my local station and the linespeed (70mph), while lower than the WCML, is a lot higher than the DLR.

Stations are far more “dangerous” during the day when trains are running!

 

[ChrisC]

Are the lights on station platforms left on all night these days? I remember many years ago late at night getting off a very delayed train at Alfreton and finding the station in complete darkness. This train must have stopped at the station a good hour after the last train was scheduled to call there and the lights were obviously on a time clock and had switched off. After being in the train with its bright lights I still remember how dark it seemed having to walk down the platform and cross the footbridge once the train had left. This was well before the days of mobile phones and so none of the small number of people getting off the train had a torch. Fortunately there was a side gate at Alfreton which was left open all night.

 

[Taunton]

DLR ... and there is presumably some kind of obstruction detection mechanism in place.

No.

 

[LowLevel]

Are the lights on station platforms left on all night these days? I remember many years ago late at night getting off a very delayed train at Alfreton and finding the station in complete darkness. This train must have stopped at the station a good hour after the last train was scheduled to call there and the lights were obviously on a time clock and had switched off. After being in the train with its bright lights I still remember how dark it seemed having to walk down the platform and cross the footbridge once the train had left. This was well before the days of mobile phones and so none of the small number of people getting off the train had a torch. Fortunately there was a side gate at Alfreton which was left open all night.

No, they're usually on a timer with not many exceptions. Delayed trains late at night have been risky in terms of station lighting for many years.

 

[Western Sunset]

Doesn't the porter go around and pull the wire to turn off each gaslight individually anymore?

 

[Mike395]

Any station which is locked at night should have a way of someone inside the station being able to exit in my opinion. If, rather than padlocking the gate, they fitted a lock with a push pad release bar (from the platform side only) instead, that would immediately and permanently resolve the issue.

 

[Trackman]

Are there no help points at Oxenholme (or Penrith, which I think had the same problem at one point)?

It's behind the locked gate.
---
I saw this posted elsewhere by the person in question, but didn't get around to posting about it.
He took photos as well, the gate chain and padlock wouldnt take much to remove.
Before he rang the Police he was frantically waving at freight trains to get them to stop. Apparently, when the Police arrived, it still took a while to open the gate.

Do signal posts still have telephones attached to them?

Yes, but a) the average traveller isn't going to know this, b) they're not the most reliable things in the world, and c) at Oxenholme they appear to be off the ends of the platform, so accessing them would mean trespassing and navigating the anti-trespass mats.

P3 the starter is on the public platform before the trespass sign and there is an SPT next to it, so could have used that.