Not a great start: All services south of Preston suspended (07/02)

[dave87016]

All services south of Preston suspended till further notice ( probably a few hours) due to someone being hit at Skew Bridge Junction emergency services are at the scene

 

[furnessvale]

All services south of Preston suspended till further notice ( probably a few hours) due to someone being hit at Skew Bridge Junction emergency services are at the scene

I'd better not mention that, in the absence of suspicious circumstances, the position of the body should be marked, the body moved to the side, and services resumed asap.

 

[misterredmist]

All services south of Preston suspended till further notice ( probably a few hours) due to someone being hit at Skew Bridge Junction emergency services are at the scene

just been on the VTWC website and showing 'no issues with services' so hopefully all running to plan now....poor soul.......

 

[LAX54]

I'd better not mention that, in the absence of suspicious circumstances, the position of the body should be marked, the body moved to the side, and services resumed asap.

It's rarely, if ever that simple !

 

[scotraildriver]

I'd better not mention that, in the absence of suspicious circumstances, the position of the body should be marked, the body moved to the side, and services resumed asap.

Unfortunately in most cases there is no body. Just lots of debris.

 

[furnessvale]

It's rarely, if ever that simple !

These days I agree. In my day we just sorted it.

 

[furnessvale]

Unfortunately in most cases there is no body. Just lots of debris.

Even less of a problem.

 

[DarloRich]

Even less of a problem.

sadly not - I am sure it is obvious why.

 

[Phil.]

I'd better not mention that, in the absence of suspicious circumstances, the position of the body should be marked, the body moved to the side, and services resumed asap.

Well, in the days of black and white that's exactly what used to happen. Mind you, in those days we were paid to make the trains run and clear the running line.

Stand by for incoming

 

[furnessvale]

sadly not - I am sure it is obvious why.

Not to me, and I have handled such bodies.

 

[Nippy]

Yes when I joined, it was much simpler. Unfortunately, it isn't that simple these days. If there isn't a witness (usually the driver) then it is pretty much guaranteed to be automatically suspicious. If the body is in pieces we used to collect the biggest pieces and let the the crows/foxes do the rest. We can't do that now, and have to get people in to clean up as much as possible.

 

[tsr]

Generally speaking I would say that the more thorough work at the site of fatalities is no bad thing. Obviously this discounts the often very advanced medical treatment which has also been known to save very badly injured people who have been struck by trains.

Clearing up more professionally after a fatality is a much more dignified way of handling the deceased (in fact one of the railway's specialist undertaker contractors is named Dignity). With a busier railway also comes the higher likelihood that human remains will offend somebody and in turn the railway would get unwanted criticism for a relatively easily-avoided matter. If it made them feel unwell it could even have subsequent knock-on effects for the service during its recovery.

However, provided drivers are happy to operate trains, and remains are shielded, trains can and do still run during the response to such incidents. Sometimes a driver is given the difficult task of driving a train directly adjacent to the site in order to provide a visual barrier. I wouldn't want to do this and hats off to those who do.

Lastly, the railway is a workplace which needs to respect people and sensitive machinery a lot more than it used to. It is emotionally hard and medically dangerous to leave scattered pieces of people on the trackside and, given it is my workplace, I feel able to say that I have no desire for this to be done wherever avoidable.

(One final addition - I think the title of this thread is a bit of exaggeration, as plenty of trains ran very well south of Preston this morning, just not on the central and northern parts of the WCML!)