When I was locked out of Rochdale, someone had the phone number to contact, as he had obtained it after he had been locked out a few times. The person at the other end authorised us to get a taxi to Manchester. Obviously this doesn't help people trapped in the station.
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Station locked up. Staff not shown.
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Tom B
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Surely there is a procedure for when an individual is tasked to open a station and they call in sick? Assuming they have phoned their boss to report in sick, the boss should then be organising a member of staff to cover.
Or alternatively suite the locks so that a key given to guards in the area can open the station doors?
Or alternatively suite the locks so that a key given to guards in the area can open the station doors?
DarloRich
Veteran Member
for goodness sake :roll:
How is it unlawful arrest when you can leave by the next train? I would suggest a claim to Northern for your lost time and expenses would be very much in order however!
Daz28
Member
Underground stations have a simple low tech solution. Each platform has a "station closed" sign which is typically hidden as a poster or tube map which can be unlocked so that the closed sign is then visible to the driver.
If the station closed sign is shown, the driver doesn't stop and let passengers off. Just make it part of the procedure when locking the station to put the closed sign out, and put it away when unlocking in the morning.
Low tech, low cost and no more trapped passengers.
If the station closed sign is shown, the driver doesn't stop and let passengers off. Just make it part of the procedure when locking the station to put the closed sign out, and put it away when unlocking in the morning.
Low tech, low cost and no more trapped passengers.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
there no doubt is but it is a hard job to get someone out of bed and into work instantly. How long would it take you, at 5 am, to bathe, do your ablutions, sort out your uniform, dress and transport yourself unexpectedly to an alternative place of work.
I am sure they got some one down as quickly as they could but that is never going to be quick enough for the poor sod trapped in the station.
You have forgotten something.
They have to get the keys! And that can be the problem. If you only have four sets of keys. Two Staff, the Relief and Spare set at an office, then you are going to be having some fun.
To be honest, electronic keys or not stopping in the first place is going to be the solution.
Or the even simpler solution, as used in reality, is to telephone the Line Controller and instruct Train Operators not to stop at the station!
Of course with all LU stations rostered to have staff present 24/7 (except Christmas day) the risk of this happening is minimal. I wouldn't say there's a need to deploy the Closed boards if the station was to be left unstaffed overnight as you'd just call the controller in the very unlikely event there wasn't anyone there in the morning.
If it's a subsurface station and there are issues with minimum numbers and there was someone present then obviously you'd do both.
Daz28
Member
Yes, but who does that?
To do that, someone has to know that someone hasn't turned up for work.
The closed sign is a fail-safe. Trains don't stop until someone turns up to open the station.
I like that solution a lot.
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You have the honour to be the first person I have ever seen spelling "phone" with an apostrophe!
I've heard of people doing it, but never actually thought there were any...
By the way, great picture of Rochdale station there MEN, although I'd certainly be interested to see when that particular train was there...
A friend of mine does it and it seems to have rubbed off!
Given all LU stations are staffed 24/7, if there is no cover for the night turn Supervisor then the Duty Station Manager would be aware.
Eh....?
24/7 = 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Apologies, I thought this was a common shorthand.
I can see how that would work on the Underground but it would be less practical on the national network. Stations are further apart and there are not the alternative methods of transport outside London, especially early morning or late at night. In this particular example the two stations either side of Rochdale don't have taxi ranks and probably don't have bus services at 06:00 so the passengers would just be abandoned at another station with no way of getting to where they want to go.
When you get called out in an emergency you don't have a bath and get dressed in uniform or a suit! Many people are on call, whether it is IT workers or shop managers who have to attend if the alarm is going off or any of the other dozens categories of workers who have to do it. You just get up and go in and get the job done.
If they were the same people who beat Adolf Hitler in the war I suspect they would now be too frail to break down the door (which I thought was actually metal shutters) at Rochdale station
DarloRich
Veteran Member
How silly of me. I am used to being a key holder!
Indeed - as i did several times at stupid o'clock in the morning when my former employers were broken into and the old bill knocked me up or rang. The chose me as i was the closet to the office and single. HOWEVER before i did any work or saw any clients that day i went home, got myself sorted and came back.
That said, I would assume that if you are covering for a sick colleague you would be expected to fulfill the full shift in a customer facing role. I would think it would be expected that you "wore you uniform with pride" and looked presentable.
Shower is only 2 mins, when on call just trousers and shirt will do for me, or even just jeans and jumper and cab wouldve already been called by the time I put the phone down to control. ill do my ablutions when I get somewhere.
Our GPR never have the keys on them unless they are the first in - they always pick them up on the way to work. If peoples control and management are on the ball then a cab/car will already be on the way to meet whoever it is who is to open it up.
It also depends if that person is sick and has called in, if they havent then you cannot act fast enough to get to a station to open it up by the time the first train is there anyway.
From posts in this thread it does seem to effect Rochdale quite often.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
But would they have an on call station open uperer? I just assumed they would get a call from person A to cry off then ring round person B to x until someone answered.
I dont know as I dont work for Northern but they should have something in place even if it is the on call manager who gets down there.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
Or the absolute fool-proof solution: a signal on the platform, similar to a letter-route indicator, that reads "Station Closed" or some abbreviation of it. The magic part is that it's illuminated by the station's front door being locked.
tsr
Established Member
That would be like the LU "Station Closed" platform signs, I suppose. But I think it would have to be a bit more foolproof/failsafe than just "locking the front door". Imagine if trains didn't stop for three hours because the lock on the door jammed but it was open - or something similar - and triggered the signal.
Could a blinking RA signal do the job, if it was wired to prevent operation during dispatch of a train when an emergency alarm is simultaneously activated, or when a service is stationary in the platform?
I'm 32 and through the constant drumming of an traditional teacher at school, I still type 'phone and 'paper.
Mintona
Established Member
All the stations in the Greater Manchester area have to call a certain other station to book on. For most stations this is just a call to say the booking office is open; the station will already be open via a side gate or whatever. But there are a few 'critical' locked stations, one being Rochdale, another Manchester Oxford Road, and if they haven't booked on with the other station within 5 minutes of their booked time, then the main station will phone control in York and a plan of action is put into place.
Who'd've thought this thread would see the invocation of Godwin's Law?
Just shows, you never can tell when it'll happen!
In my mind, the situation described wouldn't be an emergency that'd warrant dialling 999 to contact the police or fire brigade. We see a lot of stories these days about people misusing 999; it's only supposed to be used when lives are in danger or a crime is taking place. I know it's arguable that there's a small amount of danger arising from the fact that there's no fire escape, but unless there's actually a fire too, I wouldn't class that as lives being in danger.
Having said that, I suppose a call to 101 wouln't be a bad idea, although I don't think many people know about it yet.
michael769
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Perhaps such stations should have a sign on the inside of the door which says something to the effect of.
If all exits are closed please call [BTP non emergency number] for assistance.
Apparently, once a few technical details are ironed out in the coming months, there is a large-scale national publicity campaign planned for it.
It'd probably be quicker to tunnel out.
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