What is the best way to alert staff and prevent a train from leaving while it's stopped at a station?

[TastyPermissio]

(Hello, I'm new here!)

I recently saw this video on twitter, from a wheelchair user who was not met by a ramp at their station. When the doors started to close and the passenger hadn't been able to get off, they pulled a "green lever" and then a "red lever" which were both beside the door. The doors stayed open and staff quickly appeared and arranged the ramp so the passenger could leave.

My questions are:

1. What were the two levers in that particular video? What did they each do?

2. In a similar situation to this (where a train is stopped at a station, and a passenger needs to call staff to them, and prevent the train from leaving in the meantime), what should they do in general? Are these two levers present in every train? Do they both do the same thing, or is one of them the right thing to use for this situation?

Thanks in advance!

 

[pompeyfan]

Red is PasCom (passenger - driver communication) and green is emergency egress. Egress handles on desiros can be fragile, so I think potentially it’s over the top considering staff would have reacted to a pascom.

 

[TastyPermissio]

Red is PasCom (passenger - driver communication) and green is emergency egress. Egress handles on desiros can be fragile, so I think potentially it’s over the top considering staff would have reacted to a pascom.

Thanks. Could you explain in any more detail exactly what PasCom and emergency egress will do to the train? (I'm not a train expert, just a regular passenger)

 

[Efini92]

(Hello, I'm new here!)

I recently saw this video on twitter, from a wheelchair user who was not met by a ramp at their station. When the doors started to close and the passenger hadn't been able to get off, they pulled a "green lever" and then a "red lever" which were both beside the door. The doors stayed open and staff quickly appeared and arranged the ramp so the passenger could leave.

My questions are:

1. What were the two levers in that particular video? What did they each do?

2. In a similar situation to this (where a train is stopped at a station, and a passenger needs to call staff to them, and prevent the train from leaving in the meantime), what should they do in general? Are these two levers present in every train? Do they both do the same thing, or is one of them the right thing to use for this situation?

Thanks in advance!

The red one will apply the brakes, if they are already on they will not be able to be released.
The green one will also apply the brakes and once the train has come to a stand pull it again to open the door.
Older trains don’t have an egress handle (green one) at all doors and it won’t necessarily be green.

 

[pompeyfan]

The red one will apply the brakes, if they are already on they will not be able to be released.
The green one will also apply the brakes and once the train has come to a stand pull it again to open the door.
Older trains don’t have an egress handle (green one) at all doors and it won’t necessarily be green.

It should be noted that on more modern stock drivers can also kick out (override) the brake application so that the train does not stop in a dangerous place such as tunnel, cutting or viaduct.

 

[skyhigh]

2. In a similar situation to this (where a train is stopped at a station, and a passenger needs to call staff to them, and prevent the train from leaving in the meantime), what should they do in general? Are these two levers present in every train? Do they both do the same thing, or is one of them the right thing to use for this situation?

Most trains will have a red handle at least at each pair of doors. Newer trains may have buttons. These may have some form of cover over them, but will not require you to break glass to use them and generally look something like this:

(image 1 shows a red handle with 'Emergency Alarm, pull this handle to stop the train, penalty for improper use, image 2 a red button with 'Emergency Push Here')

Pulling this handle will mean the train will not move without staff investigating the cause.

Trains will also have a lever, handle or button that releases those doors in an emergency, these will be the green handles shown in the video. They will sometimes require you to break glass to access them. Not all trains will have these at each door. They can look like these:

(images show various types of emergency door release)

In the situation described pulling the red handle would have been enough to get attention of staff. In some kind of believed emergency or urgent situation it's fine to use this, however if you're just trying to delay the train because your mate is running late and is going to miss the train it wouldn't go down well.

 

[noddingdonkey]

It's quite surprising that the PRM mods required to legacy stock didn't include providing a passcom at a height where it would be available to wheelchair users. That passenger would have had no chance on a 158.

 

[Efini92]

It's quite surprising that the PRM mods required to legacy stock didn't include providing a passcom at a height where it would be available to wheelchair users. That passenger would have had no chance on a 158.

There’s a call for aid in the wheelchair area and the toilets have a pass comm at a lower height.

 

[185]

I activately encourage wheelchair users to use the Call For Aid or Passcom if the doors are starting to shut and no-one shows up to help them off... BUT emphasize the importance of telling staff which alarm they pressed so we can reset it.

No mechanical issues with the stock I work related to CFAs or Passcoms. The consequences of them getting over arrived can cause far worse problems or delays further up the line.

 

[noddingdonkey]

There’s a call for aid in the wheelchair area and the toilets have a pass comm at a lower height.

In this case the train would have been off the end of the platform by the time the passenger had got to one of those on a 156 or 158.

 

[Efini92]

In this case the train would have been off the end of the platform by the time the passenger had got to one of those on a 156 or 158.

Sorry I thought you meant on the train in general.

 

[edwin_m]

I imagine one reason the passcom and the door release are high up is so kids can't reach them. There are also technical reasons in the case of the door release, as it is mechanically linked to the door mechanism which is usually up above. The positioning of the passcom may also be a throwback to the traditional "communication cord" that ran along above the windows and was exposed for short distances where pulling it would operate a brake valve at the end of the coach. From the Mk3 coach onwards each individual handle operated an individual brake valve so these could be positioned anywhere a pipe could be linked into the brake system, and modern passcoms only need an electric cable.

 

[Bletchleyite]

In this case the train would have been off the end of the platform by the time the passenger had got to one of those on a 156 or 158.

At an intermediate station there would almost always be someone else around to ask to pull it. At a terminus you'd have time.

 

[Nottingham59]

deleted

 

[L401CJF]

So in this situation, the passenger should pull the passcom but not emergency egress? That makes sense.

But why is the handle they should pull red? and the one they should not pull green? That's the wrong hierarchy for warning colours.

Green is generally associated with emergency exit signage. For example fire escape doors have green "Push to open" signage or green "break glass to open door" buttons etc. As the egress is an emergency exit mechanism it makes sense.

Egress handles are generally hidden behind shatter glass (all that I have seen anyway) whereas passcoms are not

 

[Wolfie]

Red is PasCom (passenger - driver communication) and green is emergency egress. Egress handles on desiros can be fragile, so I think potentially it’s over the top considering staff would have reacted to a pascom.

I agree but would a panicking passenger, who already has difficulties, know that?

 

[TastyPermissio]

Thanks for the information everyone