Unfortunately things are unlikely to change until a few of these people are either wiped out by a train or cooked on the 3rd rail.
Lets just (again) put over a few points that I made on the SWT topic and seem to have been ignored ?
Uncontrolled Evacuation
You have NO way of knowing what is live and what is dead. You have no way of knowing if the failure affects just one line or an adjoining line. You have no way of knowing if a train is approaching at speed because the opposite line may just have been re-opened.
So if one comes along as you are getting out, now where do you go to ? Answers via a Medium please
Unless you have far greater knowledge than the train crew (remember they only drive over the line. Things look and actually are far different from the trackside than they do from a train window) by what power to do you profess to know anything about how to stay safe and out of trouble. The professionals continue to get struck by trains even when there are safe systems in place, ergo Stoats Nest Jct, Newport Usk, Trafford Park.
Then of course there are the massive knockon delays that will inevitably be caused and the even further delay in managing to re-open the railway subsequently.
Lets now look at some of the issues for a controlled evacuation
Controlled Evacuation
Firstly, how are you going to exit the train ? Jump down onto the ballast ? Yes ? Fair risk of hurting yourself or twisting an ankle or indeed worse. Not a sensible idea and definitely not a safe method.
Climb down from a driving cab ? Obviously you have never tried, and the chances of putting your foot onto a live rail as you do so are 50%.
How do you manage women, the infirm, those who cannot manipulate themselves ? Anyone who has ever tried to evacuate passengers knows that this is an awful way of detraining and only to be used as a really last resort.
Explain how you are going to walk women with their shoes on the ballast or even the cess.
How do you manage the infirm ?
How far do you think you will have to walk and where are you going to walk to ?
How are you going to walk through a tunnel ?
How do you manage someone who has an injury ?
Several years ago an anlaysis was done that indicated that every train evacuation on LUL would almost certainly result in one possibly two fatalities and a number of injuries. Where ? Simply walking along a tunnel from a stranded train. Then when this did happen in real life on the Central line, as I recall there were two fatalities to people with dickey hearts.
As someone who has actually CARRIED OUT controlled evacuations both above and below ground, I can assue you it is something that should NEVER be contempleted lightly, and always as a last resort.
Being stuck on a train for an extended duration is not perhaps the best experience, however it is emanently safer than jumping down onto the track.
We are as an Industry again experiencing the national reduction in behavioural standards, which are being pushed to one side by the "I Want and I Want It Now !" culture.
You come onto the Railway and you play by OUR rules not yours.
If you are fed up by delays then stop whinging on here and write to your MP and demand that the Government gets a grip of cable theft and starts treating it with the punishment gravity that it demands.
To those of you who are arrogantly pushing the "I know what I'll do in future" line and those who are determined to be controversial and force open doors and detrain (both acts illegal -one constituting Criminal Damage) I say this - Go away and get a life doing something constructive like working with the disbaled or those in need. Who knows it might give you the humility you desperately need a good dose of.
To those who think that the answer is to detrain everybody I simply ask you to stop, engage brain, READ what I have written - which only brushes some of the issues. There is no soundbite style solution.
From an Industry point of view, ALL parties need to get their act together fast over this.
Hammond needs to get a grip of the MoJ and the BTP
Teresa May needs to get a hold of the Media and give them a bloody good kicking over how they are reporting this.
RSSB / Network Rail need to look at how we can keep trains moving forward to reach a station or an access point.
ATOC needs to get a standardised announcement prepared that Train Crew can use to warn people NOT to disembark.
HMRI (ORR for the pedants) need to give authority for the Traction Current to remain ON when people deliberately disembark.
BTP Chief Constable need to be hauled in and told to prosecute ruthlessly.
Home Office need to pass a suitable mandatory prison sentence - WITH NO EXCEPTIONS
Magistrates need to be given a bloody good kicking and told to deal properly with Railway Crime.
NR / TOCs should consider issuing damages claims in the Civil Court against individuals who have detrained.
Sadly we will never get even one of the above actions so all we can expect is more of the same, as I said until we take out a handful of people and then lets see what the media fallout will be.
Mind you, even the Southeastern Electrostars with air conditioning cant be described as particularly effective at keeping a decently cool temperature. Does anyone know if they are ever switched on properly??
And as far as forcing the doors open being criminal damage, it is not so in an emergency. if the temperature within the saloon was getting to dangerous levels, then people are entitled to force them open just as they are entitled to smash glass for evacuation purposes in an emergency.
