Fatalities Discussion

[PHILIPE]

One at Leominster this afternoon

Mods' note: we have decided that this fatalities 'master thread' won't be continued.

If you are either travelling and require information to assist your journey or have information that may assist others and have significant information to pass on, please create a new thread.

If you only wish to say "Fatality at <place> this afternoon" please don't post a new thread. Thanks.

 

[jon0844]

And on the Victoria Line earlier.

 

[Dave1954]

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/l...ter_being_hit_by_train_in_Leominster/?ref=rss

Just updating what philipe has reported

Man killed after being hit by train in Leominster

A PERSON has died after being hit by a train in Leominster, British Transport Police has confirmed.

Officers were called to Leominster railway station shortly before 2.45pm to reports that a person had been struck by a train.

West Mercia Police and West Midlands Ambulance Service were also in attendence and a man was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a statement, British Transport Police said: “The incident is not currently being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner....

 

[SephenWorceste]

Yesterday we had busses west of Worcester for part of the day. I think it involved a person and the track if not a train. This evening there is some problem with a level crossing at Leominster. Busses apparently not imminent. I hope nobody was hurt in these incidents.

Best wishes, Stephen.


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[westcoaster]

Another one at Wivelsfield this evening. Never known a week like it ever.

 

[SephenWorceste]

A very bad week.


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[arty762]

heard that there was one at Wimbledon on the 22/09/14

 

[thelongestroad]

Trespassers at Rumney River Bridge Junction this evening too.

An FGW HST also had to make an emergency stop near Westbury having spotted someone on the track.

 

[rebmcr]

Another one at Wivelsfield this evening. Never known a week like it ever.

Makes one wonder whether a debt company have sent out a batch of insensitive letters.

 

[sbt]

We have just had a period of high stress for those of us who care about our nation, relaxation from that stress allows people to act. On top of which we have had a change in the weather - winter is definitely on its way. Then there is the issue of hearing about suicide prompting people to act, or use the same method - some of these events have been quite prominently reported.

And finally, it could just be one of those random clusters that you get even if you are dealing with an artificially generated and isolated truely random system.

 

[andy19_64]

Had a young person (18ish) very distraught walk off the end of the platform where i work yesterday afternoon. I managed to get a line block and the power off before they could do any harm to them self. The staff on the other platform managed to get the person to come back onto the platform where we then got them into the waiting room whilst a member from the ticket office sat with the person talking till the police arrived. from what i was told the person has had one s!!t of a life so far, it's no wonder they get so low and try to find a way out.
At least there was positive from this that as they did not end their life they will now get some help for the future.

 

[richw]

Makes one wonder whether a debt company have sent out a batch of insensitive letters.

Can't any more. All the content of any letters are so heavily regulated by the FCA and companies can't change the wording. Unfortunately too many people don't read letters properly or seek appropriate debt advise and bury their head in the sand.

A fairly large debt management company went under a week or so ago, and by all accounts any funds paid to that company and not yet distributed may have been lost. I don't understand why people still pay for debt management plans making their debt worse by some of their fees charged when organisations such as Stepchange and Payplan are both free. A lot of the debt management companies are charging as much as 1/3 off available spend in fees which would be money better spent paying creditors through a free service!

 

[user15681]

Had a young person (18ish) very distraught walk off the end of the platform where i work yesterday afternoon. I managed to get a line block and the power off before they could do any harm to them self. The staff on the other platform managed to get the person to come back onto the platform where we then got them into the waiting room whilst a member from the ticket office sat with the person talking till the police arrived. from what i was told the person has had one s!!t of a life so far, it's no wonder they get so low and try to find a way out.
At least there was positive from this that as they did not end their life they will now get some help for the future.

Well done to you for noticing it and getting the line block and power isolated. I've had two very similar incidents to what you describe now and they're not easy, even though there's a positive outcome.

A difficult few days in all on the railway.

 

[andypops]

I don't understand why people still pay for debt management plans making their debt worse by some of their fees charged when organisations such as Stepchange and Payplan are both free. A lot of the debt management companies are charging as much as 1/3 off available spend in fees which would be money better spent paying creditors through a free service!

[Off topic]


While you obviously have some knowledge of this field, isn't your mention of two organisations bordering on the realms of commercial name dropping...? I don't have a particular beef, but I would hate to see people see those two names and only think to look there, when what you say may or not be correct. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch?

[/off topic]

 

[Strathclyder]

It has been a particularly difficult week for the railways. My thoughts to all involved.

 

[Carlisle]

[Off topic]


While you obviously have some knowledge of this field, isn't your mention of two organisations bordering on the realms of commercial name dropping...? I don't have a particular beef, but I would hate to see people see those two names and only think to look there, when what you say may or not be correct. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch?

[/off topic]

I think 'richw' was possibly merely quoting 2 examples of free debt plan providers (I think many will be classified as charities anyway),having wanted to make use of this type of service in the past , I found some of the fee charging companies can be quite forceful in trying to get you to sign up with them , only to realise later that others offer basically the same service free of charge

 

[richw]

[Off topic]


While you obviously have some knowledge of this field, isn't your mention of two organisations bordering on the realms of commercial name dropping...? I don't have a particular beef, but I would hate to see people see those two names and only think to look there, when what you say may or not be correct. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch?

[/off topic]

I tried to use the wording "such as" to imply there may be other free organisations. The two organisations i named are completely free, I believe they are funded via the FCA and government mainly to provide a fairer service for people in financial difficulty than a Company charging someone in difficulty high fees,

 

[andypops]

Fair enough. I don't know enough depth about the organisations to say either way whether what they do is right or wrong, but isn't it a sad reflection on society where people need to use such services?

Coming back on topic, I do hope that this is just a "blip" and not the start of a trend running up to Christmas.

 

[nuneatonmark]

Another one on the Northern Line today I think.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

The biggest blip comes afterwards,when the credit card bills come in.

 

[Antman]

Another one at Wivelsfield this evening. Never known a week like it ever.

My wife was caught up in the delays on that one trying to get back from Brighton, she did say that staff were excellent and did their level best to help everybody and most passengers accepted what had happened was beyond anybodys control, some were probably also delayed in the incident at Preston Park on Monday.

It really has been an awful few days on the railway, I've certainly never known anything like it. Whilst I'm sure there are a number of reasons behind what has happened I think the main reason is the welfare reforms which have pushed people with mental health issues to the brink. I can only feel for those who have had to deal with it, obviously for the emergency services it is part and parcel of the job but not so for railway staff.

 

[trainophile]

My first thought was benefits cuts. There have been huge changes affecting a lot of 'vulnerable' people (inverted commas as there can be dubious mis-use of the word). Unless these victims (another word that is open to interpretation) left notes, or someone was aware of their problems, we'll probably never know the real reasons.

Perhaps there's a need for drop-in Samaritans type places near to railway stations where possible. The posters are a start I suppose.

 

[221129]

Another this morning in South Wales between Cardiff and Bridgend. A very bad week. Thoughts to all those involved.

 

[overtonchris]

The biggest blip comes afterwards,when the credit card bills come in.

I'd like to echo this working with people with depression / anxiety every working day. Boxing Day and the day after New Year's Day are the busiest and hardest days of my year.

My thoughts are with those that have to cope with the aftermath of these incidents - family, rail staff and the emergency services. Not a good week as already noted.

 

[cf111]

My first thought was benefits cuts. There have been huge changes affecting a lot of 'vulnerable' people (inverted commas as there can be dubious mis-use of the word). Unless these victims (another word that is open to interpretation) left notes, or someone was aware of their problems, we'll probably never know the real reasons.

Perhaps there's a need for drop-in Samaritans type places near to railway stations where possible. The posters are a start I suppose.

The Samaritans have trained some station staff (TOC and Network Rail, as well as some BTP officers) in how to spot and attempt to assist anyone they think may be about to commit suicide at their station. I have no details of the specific nature of the program, but it involves providing what is termed as "emotional first aid". There is also some training available for those directly involved with suicides on the railway.

As someone who has been involved with the Samaritans, I would dearly love for drop-in places, or even volunteers, to be at platforms, but I think it's very difficult to fund and plan. I don't know nearly enough to say if there are "hotspots" on the network and even then you can't say when or where someone will jump.

 

[Saint66]

The Abbey Line was suspended for quite a few hours yesterday afternoon by a trespassing incident. However, I think it was resolved safely.

 

[Merseysider]

Bloody hell, how many people have we lost over the last fortnight?
At this rate, if there were hotspots identified, I wouldn't be surprised to see an extra few minutes added so drivers can slow down a touch going through high-risk areas.

It's something that'll be near-impossible to completely prevent nationwide, but some publicity about the consequences if it goes wrong (brain damage, permanent dismemberment etc) may spur people to think twice.

 

[Geezertronic]

At this rate, if there were hotspots identified, I wouldn't be surprised to see an extra few minutes added so drivers can slow down a touch going through high-risk areas.

I doubt that is viable unless they slowed everything to a complete crawl. Even at 30-40mph a train is likely to cause loss of life if someone jumps in front of it and it's not like they can stop on a sixpence

 

[Merseysider]

I doubt that is viable unless they slowed everything to a complete crawl. Even at 30-40mph a train is likely to cause loss of life if someone jumps in front of it and it's not like they can stop on a sixpence

On curves and junctions, it wouldn't be viable at all, I know. But perhaps through certain stations and/or long stretches, it would give the driver more time to react, even if only a few seconds more.

Of course, the real solution lies in making unauthorised access to the railway considerably more difficult, through fences/platform edge doors or additional staff, alongside improved CCTV in rural areas, faster response times and public service announcements... all of which costs money that no-one wants to spend.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Bloody hell, how many people have we lost over the last fortnight?
At this rate, if there were hotspots identified, I wouldn't be surprised to see an extra few minutes added so drivers can slow down a touch going through high-risk areas.

It's something that'll be near-impossible to completely prevent nationwide, but some publicity about the consequences if it goes wrong (brain damage, permanent dismemberment etc) may spur people to think twice.

Sorry,but I've never read something so inane in ages!

Simple solution, fences from platform level to canopy height with electronic gates to control access. End of platforms to have fences with gates & anti trespass grids/spikes to within a few inches of the platform edge. Easy to do an effective.

It would have major capacity issues, you only need to see the effect of a 20 or 40 tsr at Wimbledon in the peak periods to see what I mean, the trains are "on the block" from Wimbledon to very near Clapham or Berrylands!

Hitting someone is an occupational hazard for train drivers. For the vast majority, they will NEVER have one in their driving careers, whilst some will have several and some will only have one to finish them up. And before you ask, I have had one!