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Train passengers trapped in heat

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Dave A

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Taken from BBC London - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/4125312.stm

Train passengers trapped in heat

Train passengers had to break windows to escape temperatures of more than 37C after being trapped in carriages for two hours on a broken down train.
A power failure brought GNER's 1555 BST Newcastle to London Kings Cross service to a halt near Peterborough.

The train was one of several which became stranded after overhead cables came down.

A spokesman for GNER described it as a major incident. Medical staff and supplies were flown in by helicopter.

The fire service and police arrived at the track to give people emergency treatment.

One passenger said people began to panic and faint as water and drinks on the full train ran out.

Michael Steed, 70, who was travelling from York, said: "It was dreadful. At first everyone was quite cheerful, but then we were all in a lot of discomfort.

"People were fainting and repeatedly pulling the emergency cord.

"Eventually a woman having a panic attack grabbed the emergency hammer and broke through the window."

Mr Steed said a police helicopter arrived with refreshments and medical staff from Huntingdon Hospital.

Stranded passengers

He estimated about 300 passengers were stranded on the track just outside Sawtry.

A GNER spokesman said their priority was to help the people who were "really quite ill".

He said the plan was to get passengers back on to the train and transport them to Peterborough Station where ambulance crews were waiting.

Heather Moger, 38, of Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, was travelling from Peterborough to Huntingdon on another train, when it stopped at Conington just before 1730 BST.

She said they eventually got off the train after two-and-a-half hours.

Driver praised

She praised the train driver for keeping everybody calm.

"He just kept walking up and down the train and making sure the children and everyone were all right."

A Network Rail spokeswoman said passengers had been taken off four trains stranded after the power failure and another four trains were turned back to Kings Cross.

Early services on Friday were likely to be affected because one of the trains may not be moved until 0600 BST, she said.

GNER posted an urgent notice on its website saying there was no estimate to the extent of delays to trains and apologised for the inconvenience.
 
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yorkie

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The up slow line between Peterborough and Huntingdon was removed back in the dark days of Tory rule, and would now cost too much to re-instate, so there is only the up fast, so if this train was there for hours then trains would have been stuck for a very long time. :(

GNER don't sign the route via Cambridge so there would be no alternative route for trains to go.

Meanwhile, if the train had been an HST they could have opened all the windows.
 

yorkie

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Looks like today will be a continuation of tomorrow, the line appears to be blocked and there are mass cancellations on WAGN and GNER according to NRES.

Even the Hull Executive, Harrogate HST etc are completely cancelled. :shock:
 

Jim

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All the ex Leeds have been canceled allong with the 0700 from Hull!!! :shock:
 

Julian G

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yorkie said:
The up slow line between Peterborough and Huntingdon was removed back in the dark days of Tory rule, and would now cost too much to re-instate, so there is only the up fast, so if this train was there for hours then trains would have been stuck for a very long time. :(

GNER don't sign the route via Cambridge so there would be no alternative route for trains to go.

Meanwhile, if the train had been an HST they could have opened all the windows.
one of the reasons why i took MML to York! :)
 

yorkie

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There's a lot of horror stories from yesterday's events on the newsgroup uk.railway (in various threads).

Among them is a report that a Hull Trains Class 222 was diverted via Cambridge (HT drivers are cleared for this route), but when it got to March someone realised that 222s are not (yet?) cleared for the route! So it went back to Peterborough! :shock:
 

Julian G

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yorkie said:
There's a lot of horror stories from yesterday's events on the newsgroup uk.railway (in various threads).

Among them is a report that a Hull Trains Class 222 was diverted via Cambridge (HT drivers are cleared for this route), but when it got to March someone realised that 222s are not (yet?) cleared for the route! So it went back to Peterborough! :shock:
what on earth is that about???? :shock:
 

tramboy

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I bet Hull Trains were wishing that they'd swapped to 222s from 170s a few weeks later yesterday.

Do we know what caused the power failure/cables down?

I had a friend stuck on a HST just below Retford...took him an extra hour before the train moved again.

Cheers

Dave
 

Simming

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Yorkie, there is a slow line, but trains would have to be blocked on UP Fast/Slow and Down Fast/Slow + Up Ketton, Because there are passengers walking about the lines, so a possesion will have to be put in place.

A Hull Trains 222 was used to collect the stranded passengers, using Laders to get them on Board. It was a Farce and a Half!
 

Dave A

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Taken from BBC London - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/4125312.stm

Inquiry begins into train ordeal

Train company GNER has launched an inquiry into how hundreds of passengers became stranded for hours in stifling heat due to a power failure.

Some travellers broke carriage windows to escape temperatures of over 37C on its 1555 BST Newcastle to London Kings Cross service on Thursday evening.

Several trains were halted in what GNER said was a major incident when cables came down near Peterborough, Cambs.

Medical staff and supplies were flown in by helicopter.

The fire service and police arrived at the track to give people on the GNER train emergency treatment.

Rail services on the East Coast Mainline are returning to normal following the problems, though there is still some disruption.

WAGN train services between Hitchin and Peterborough are experiencing delays of up to 30 minutes and there could be short notice alterations to GNER services.

A GNER spokesman said: "We fully appreciate how unpleasant an experience this has been for passengers and apologise to them.

"A full and detailed investigation into what happened is under way and GNER will learn the lessons which emerge from this."

One passenger who was stranded said people began to panic and faint as water and drinks on the full train ran out.

Panic attack

Michael Steed, 70, who was travelling from York, said: "It was dreadful. At first everyone was quite cheerful, but then we were all in a lot of discomfort.

"People were fainting and repeatedly pulling the emergency cord.

"Eventually a woman having a panic attack grabbed the emergency hammer and broke through the window."

He estimated about 300 passengers were stranded on the track just outside Sawtry.

Heather Moger, 38, of Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, was travelling from Peterborough to Huntingdon on another train, when it stopped at Conington just before 1730 BST.

She said they eventually got off the train after two-and-a-half hours.

Driver praised

She praised the train driver for keeping everybody calm.

"He just kept walking up and down the train and making sure the children and everyone were all right."

A Network Rail spokeswoman said passengers had been taken off four trains stranded after the power failure and another four trains were turned back to Kings Cross.

The stranded trains began to move southwards shortly before 2200 BST after a relief train had driven from Peterborough to collect passengers waiting by the line and carry them to Peterborough station.

GNER posted an urgent notice on its website saying there was no estimate to the extent of delays to trains and apologised for the inconvenience.
 

Dave A

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1288gaje said:
hmm, the Hull 222 was on the front page of the Evening Substandard!

There it goes again. Thats why it comes up evening substandard when you put the Evening Stan6ard in :roll:

NEVER TRUST THE EVENING STAN6ARD, BECAUSE ITS EVENING STANDARD

Hail the BBC, truth for only £120 a year :D
 

Julian G

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Big Brother said:
1288gaje said:
hmm, the Hull 222 was on the front page of the Evening Substandard!

There it goes again. Thats why it comes up evening substandard when you put the Evening Stan6ard in :roll:

NEVER TRUST THE EVENING STAN6ARD, BECAUSE ITS Evening Substandard

Hail the BBC, truth for only £120 a year :D
it's the swear filter!
 

Dave A

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1288gaje said:
Big Brother said:
1288gaje said:
hmm, the Hull 222 was on the front page of the Evening Substandard!

There it goes again. Thats why it comes up evening substandard when you put the Evening Stan6ard in :roll:

NEVER TRUST THE EVENING STAN6ARD, BECAUSE ITS Evening Substandard

Hail the BBC, truth for only £120 a year :D
it's the swear filter!

I know. But it implys that the evening stan6ard is Sub-standard, hence why it show a Hull 222 on the frontpage, because they make things up.
 

Julian G

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Simming said:
A Hull Trains 222 was used to collect the stranded passengers, using Laders to get them on Board. It was a Farce and a Half!
that was on the front page of the Evening S-t-a-n-d-a-r-d <D [/quote]
 

Nick

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I can't help but feel these new "electric closing doors" are more trouble than there worth. If this happend on Mark1/2/3s then passengers could of opened the windows at least or rammed into the doors to open them if they have CDL. With the current thinking of "if you put in a window you'll kill someone" we're seeing constant problems...air conditioning drinking away the trains power...whats wrong with opening a window? We've also got the slower task of opening doors with 'plug' style taking longer than opening a 'slam door'. If this was to have happened on say Mark3 carriages. Passengers would of been able to escape quicker, without causing damage to train windows.

Ah the joys of a Government not listening to rail passengers.
 
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Tom

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Well, everyone hates the Evening Standard...

Anyway, I really like the slammers (and other stuff with slammer type things) (so much for electric closing doors), so I agree with you Nick!
 

joy54.gen

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I don't hate the Evening Standard or any of their other papers they produce like the Metro which I get everyday.
 

Nick

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Chaz said:
Anyone heard of Emergency Door Release? <D

Very helpful when theres no power, how does on a modern eletric unit with no opening windows 'emergency door release' work? Pnematics. Surely thats a poor cost effective way of doing it, also time consuming making sure the pnematics are full.
 

tramboy

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Electric doors, i'm for and against them personally...the ones on mark 4 stock open and close fast enough, yet the Virgin (Voyager and Super Voyager) ones are too slow.

The good side about electric doors is that smaller people (like my friends) can actually open them, without falling out the train (as with slam door stock.) Trust me, i've seen it done!

Back onto yesterday, and is there any reason why a rescue loco sent out couldn't supply ETS to keep the air con on? I thought GNER kept some 67s as thunderbirds?

Cheers

Dave
 

Gareth Hale

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Sounds Scary. Im glad I was not on that train as anybody who knows me knows I take a litre of drink to bed and its gone by morning :oops:
 

bunnahabhain

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Nick said:
Chaz said:
Anyone heard of Emergency Door Release? <D

Very helpful when theres no power, how does on a modern eletric unit with no opening windows 'emergency door release' work? Pnematics. Surely thats a poor cost effective way of doing it, also time consuming making sure the pnematics are full.

You pull the handle, and IIRC it releases the locks, and pushes the door out of place slightly, so that you give it a good shove at and it comes open.

Dont hold me to that though.
 

TheSlash

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It works pretty much as Jamie says.
If i was the guard in that situation, i'd make the condition of my passengers quite clear to GNER and NR control, adding that if nothing was done within a reasonable length of time, i'd take emergency possession of the slow line and open the doors.
To expand on this, i'd put down a T-COD followed by detonators at 1 1/4 miles, then phone the signaller to explain my actions. Peoples health is more important than running trains.
PS, obviously i'd see about an isolation of the OHLE aswell
 
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TheSlash said:
To expand on this, i'd put down a T-COD followed by detonators at 1 1/4 miles, then phone the signaller to explain my actions. Peoples health is more important than running trains.
PS, obviously i'd see about an isolation of the OHLE aswell

I completely agree with your sentiments that people come before profits etc, however you did things back-to-front!
Your first contact should always be the Signaller! If he can guarantee you protection using the signals, it saves you walking 2.5 miles in sweltering heat to put down dets!
 

Jim

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yorkie said:
There's a lot of horror stories from yesterday's events on the newsgroup uk.railway (in various threads).

Among them is a report that a Hull Trains Class 222 was diverted via Cambridge (HT drivers are cleared for this route), but when it got to March someone realised that 222s are not (yet?) cleared for the route! So it went back to Peterborough! :shock:
I saw clips on TV last night. They were treated to a rescue by a HT 222
 

yorkie

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Jim said:
yorkie said:
There's a lot of horror stories from yesterday's events on the newsgroup uk.railway (in various threads).

Among them is a report that a Hull Trains Class 222 was diverted via Cambridge (HT drivers are cleared for this route), but when it got to March someone realised that 222s are not (yet?) cleared for the route! So it went back to Peterborough! :shock:
I saw clips on TV last night. They were treated to a rescue by a HT 222
They had to travel either by alternative trains via Cambridge, or get a bus to Peterborough, and then pick up a train from there. There were not enough buses nor trains via Cambridge to take everyone until many hours afterwards.

Lessons to be learnt: GNER drivers to learn the route via Cambridge, 222s to be cleared for the route via Cambridge.

If it happens again, there will be a delay of around 40-60 minutes for trains that have to take the diversion, but that's far far less than the delays of many hours that people experienced.

BTW passengers who got to KGX after 1730 were advised to go to St Pancras to take MML, but they didn't do much better as there was then chaos on MML too.

I'm going to Barnetby (via Doncaster) today so I'll see if the ECML is back to normal.
 
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