Part of the report references trial markings at Clapham South, does anyone have a picture of these?
The LU internal report has also come out recently. Neither really tells us anything we didn't already know -- namely that it's difficult to guarantee a 100% safe departure from a heavily crowded platform when people are clustering round the door positions. Difficult to solve because people will always do this if it's their only hope of getting on / getting a seat on the next train.
yes, the RAIB report did seem to be saying to LU that "you got lucky with the consequences this time, take actions so that (a) when something gets trapped in the doors it's less likely to drag the person; and (b) make it easier for platform staff to stop a departing train if they see an incident." rather than trying to prevent incidents from happening completely.
The essential things in life are seen not with the eyes, but with the heart. --Antoine de St. Exupery
Why is it so difficult to give platform staff some sort of radio-linked emergency stop device? There are emergency plungers on some platforms - surely a way could be found to link this circuitry to a radio-controlled relay switch? Or even a radio link to the driver's cab. They can transmit pictures from the platform to the cab, so why not give the platform staff's radio intercom a button which makes "stop!" flash up on the in-cab screens. Sounds fairly simple to me.
It also does seem to be a basic design flaw that the door push-back will only work in one direction of travel and I hope this finding will inform future designs and re-fits.
Glad to see the report acknowledging the swift actions of the driver, which may have mitigated the outcome.
Why is it so difficult to give platform staff some sort of radio-linked emergency stop device? There are emergency plungers on some platforms - surely a way could be found to link this circuitry to a radio-controlled relay switch?
Only on the Central, and they work by giving the train a 0 Maximum Safe Speed.
yes, the RAIB report did seem to be saying to LU that "you got lucky with the consequences this time, take actions so that (a) when something gets trapped in the doors it's less likely to drag the person; and (b) make it easier for platform staff to stop a departing train if they see an incident." rather than trying to prevent incidents from happening completely.
Have now read it in more detail. To be honest, my view is that this report represents a lot of work, time and money to not really reach much of a conclusion.
One bit did jump out however:
"The exact nature of these checks is not described in the rule book, but Northern line train operators are trained to watch the CCTV images for signs of unusual events continuously from when they initiate door closure until the train has left the platform."
This is utter rubbish. No Train Operator would ever be watching the monitor continuously. They are taught to check the monitor before initiating the door closure, and most importantly in the period between the doors closing and starting the train. After moving off they should check intermittently, as far as possible, however once the pre-starting safety check is completed the main focus should be on the road ahead.
The emergency stop plungers were installed on the Jubilee line with the new signalling but then never commissioned. They are still there but locked shut. I think it was decided that it wasn't worth it. Then on the northern line, they weren't installed at all.
But looking at the report, the driver applied the brakes 6 seconds after starting to move and the train was stopped by 13 seconds.
On a crowded platform, it would take at least 6 seconds to locate and press a stop plunger.
The Victoria line has sensitive edge doors and emergency stop plungers.
Given the very low chances of someone getting dragged by a train, I wonder how many times it would statistically be predicted to happen again during the lifetimes of the northern line trains?
Would it be practical for the train to have an external CCTV camera pointing down every carriage , have have the cab monitor displaying a close up view of each carriage?
AIUI there would not be capability in the cab to display that many images at a useful size. The report also notes that there is a desire to minimise the number of separate images train operators have to monitor simultaneously.
The essential things in life are seen not with the eyes, but with the heart. --Antoine de St. Exupery
The other thing I took from the report is that the driver and platform assistant reacted outstandingly to the incident. They were both experienced.
The driver stopped the train quickly and the platform assistant operated the tunnel telephone to turn off the traction current.
Their actions saved her life. I mean, most drivers drive a train for an entire career and have never dragged someone along the platform. So to react so quickly was impressive imo. There was no 'stunned effect' he just stopped the train immediately. Probably for the first time in such circumstances for 14 years.
It proves that the driver was looking at the CCTV monitors - glancing forward for 5 seconds and he might have missed it once she was under
I read somewhere that trials had taken place for some Northern line trains travelling n/b from Morden in the am peak, to not enter service until Clapham south, so as to ease overcrowding at Clapham south/Common/North. This seems a very logical idea considering the ever increasing amount of journeys starting at the mentioned stations. Something will need to be done to remedy overcrowding or unfortunately incidents like the coat dragging one will happen more often sadly.
I read somewhere that trials had taken place for some Northern line trains travelling n/b from Morden in the am peak, to not enter service until Clapham south, .
Can't see running empty trains through Tooting and Balham in the middle of the peak going down well with the local inhabitants..........
I'll have to look for the article and read it again. It could of possibly said entering service at the stations you mentioned, I'm not entirely sure :-)
I'll have to look for the article and read it again. It could of possibly said entering service at the stations you mentioned, I'm not entirely sure :-)
The trial was 4x trains running empty from Morden Depot as far as Tooting Broadway. This was not deemed successful as it created more problems than it solved.
The root cause is of course too many people, no amount of tinkering with existing infrastructure will address that.
The root cause is of course too many people, no amount of tinkering with existing infrastructure will address that.
Wither the Express Tube plan for which many station tunnels were built in the late 1930's / early 1940's?
Also, harmonising the fares system so that PAYG passengers stop being financially penalised for travelling on a mainline service - rather than the Northern Line - will help encourage people who are price conscious to stop choosing the Tube Train option when other options are available.