Service disruption thread guidance

[ainsworth74]

Having recently reviewed our guidance on discussing disruption on the railway (see the previous guidance here) we would like to request that members do not post threads relating to fatalities and other incidents (such as broken down trains or signalling faults) on the railway unless they require advice on their alternative travel options, if they are travelling on a train which has been involved in an incident, or if the case has been reported by reputable national media outlets. Broadly if the only place that an incident has been reported is on a TOC website or National Rail Enquiries it is unlikely to be suitable for a thread.

Please Note: Sometimes incidents which appear as minor may become major incidents as they play out. Therefore an initial thread might be deleted when the incident seems minor and be reposted later by someone else when it becomes clear it's a major incident, this does not suggest any wrongdoing by the initial poster.

In addition for threads started to discuss fatalities or other person hit by train/person under train incidents, the Forum Staff request that members take into account guidance published by the Samaritans on this subject:

The contagion effect

As with all reporting relating to suicide, media coverage of rail incidents can increase the risk of encouraging imitational suicidal behaviour. There is substantial evidence that if too much detail is published regarding a method of suicide, vulnerable people may try to take their own lives using the same or similar methods. Reporting of a suicide on the railways requires extra caution due to the higher risk involved. Railway settings are often easily accessible and the likelihood of lethality can be high. This can mean it is particularly dangerous to publish any details of this as a suicide method.

For example, following widespread reporting of the suicide of the German national goalkeeper, Robert Enke, in 2009 a significant rise in railway suicide incidents was observed in Germany. This effect was also recorded in other countries in Europe.

For further information, please see the attached guidelines PDF on the Samaritans website by clicking here.

For example we do not want to see threads where the content is solely:

The 0940 from Glasgow Central has hit someone at Watford Junction.

Thoughts with all concerned.

If anyone has any questions regarding the above please feel free to use the "Contact Us" button at the bottom of every page or contact a member of Forum Staff via Conversation.

Many thanks,
ainsworth74