Southeastern worker let untrained friend dispatch trains

[Mojo]

From the ''News Shopper'' [what a bizarre name for a newspaper]
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/1...dispatch_trains_so_he_could_study_for_degree/

Erith Southeastern worker let untrained friend dispatch trains so he could study for degree

A Southeastern railway worker from Erith let an untrained friend stand in for him for more than a fortnight so he could study for a degree.

Oluwaseun Oyesanya, 36, of Lime Row, allowed pal Olutoba Olubode to wave off trains from station platforms even though he had no idea what he was doing.

The deception could have led to a crash and passenger deaths if a train had been cleared to leave Denmark Hill station at the wrong moment, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard last Tuesday.

Dispatchers conduct safety checks before trains depart, and must undergo training and obtain a licence before working in the job.

Chair of the bench Spyros Elia told Oyesanya it was “but for the will of God that somebody wasn't injured, perhaps even fatally, and maybe more than one person.”

Adjourning for sentencing at Blackfriars Crown Court on a date yet to be set, he said: “I just cannot stress how serious this is.

“We feel the sentencing powers available to us in this court are not sufficient to deal with it with the severity it deserves.”

The ruse took place between October 15 and 27 last year, when Oyesanya, who has no previous convictions, was employed by Southeastern.

In order to make a convincing show, he gave Olubode a fake ID badge, along with a personal crash course and a set of training books.

Alec Williams, prosecuting, said the measures let his friend “effectively home-school himself in how to become competent in despatching trains.”

He said the scam went unnoticed until January this year when Oyesanya turned up at the station to go about renewing his licence.

Mr Williams told the court: “Colleagues caught sight of him and were rather confused that the gentleman they saw was not the gentleman they had been working with.”

Following his arrest, the railway worker told police he thought Olubode was “doing it quite well and not putting anyone in danger.”

George Otchere, defending, said his client had acted out of a desire to provide for his family while keeping up with his studies.

He said: “The reason for the crime was that he was trying to do two things at the same time – trying to cater for his wife and daughter, and at the same time go to university.

“He shows remorse for what he has done.

“It's something he did unwisely, not realising the seriousness.”

Oyesanya was released on unconditional bail.

He admits fraud by false representation, which relates to his wages, and endangering the safety of persons conveyed by railway.

Not the first time I've heard of someone "selling" their job to a friend either! Heard tales from one ex-driver colleague that someone managed to arrange a depot swap to coincide with them moving back to their native country after they had sold their job to someone else!

 

[asylumxl]

Says a lot for the quality of his training that nobody noticed .

SouthEastern are probably jealous that he provided a better standard of training than their own.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

It does say something about supervision etc ....

 

[Starmill]

I do sometimes wonder if I could do it... I've watched it happen enough times. I'm not naive enough to assume it would be safe, but I have some blue trousers and a purple shirt that must make me look like I work for Northern on a dark platform, because I got mistaken for one once!

 

[Monty]

You read stuff like this and you try and tell yourself "This can't be true, it's not possible, there is no way it could happen" only realise that is. Absolutely astonished and speechless by these gentlemens recklessness and stupidity.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Would SouthEastern have allowed this man time off had he informed them that he required it for educational purposes?

 

[Monty]

Would SouthEastern have allowed this man time off had he informed them that he required it for educational purposes?

Possibly, it all depends if he actually asked or not. They may have offered to changed his shift pattern or allow him to take unpaid leave if he had no more rostered/adhoc leave to take. But still from reading the article it was far more beneficial to get someone to stand in for him, take the time off to study and get the money at the end of the month...

 

[telstarbox]

Jesus wept. Southeastern should be punished for this as well.

 

[Gemz91]

Makes you wonder if he had any dispatch irregularities, with the drivers/guards/other staff opting to turn a blind eye to the matter, going for the "no grassing/it'll be a one off incident" attitude instead.

 

[Mintona]

Nobody seems to have pointed out that there aren't any dispatch staff at Denmark Hill - it's all DOO dispatch with monitors. So this story makes no sense to me.

 

[westcoaster]

Nobody seems to have pointed out that there aren't any dispatch staff at Denmark Hill - it's all DOO dispatch with monitors. So this story makes no sense to me.

Was going to say this as well, maybe incase of a doo failure, or planed works during the station refurb.

 

[RJ]

Nobody seems to have pointed out that there aren't any dispatch staff at Denmark Hill - it's all DOO dispatch with monitors. So this story makes no sense to me.

Agreed - I use the station regularly and have never seen a train dispatched by platform staff. As far as I'm aware, the only grades manning the station daily are sales assistants and gateline assistants.

 

[SETCommuter]

Can I ask a question -as a commuter and not a railway employee, how dangerous could this really have been ?

What I mean is, if the "dispatcher" said the train could depart, presumably there would still need to be a green light for the driver to proceed ? If there is a green light, then it can't be dangerous can it ? Am I being too simplistic with this ? (Not including the dangers at the station/on the platform) but simply with telling the train to depart.

I am genuinely interested.

 

[Clip]

This was in the standard last week, any other day you wouldve thought it an April fool.

 

[Urban Gateline]

Can I ask a question -as a commuter and not a railway employee, how dangerous could this really have been ?

What I mean is, if the "dispatcher" said the train could depart, presumably there would still need to be a green light for the driver to proceed ? If there is a green light, then it can't be dangerous can it ? Am I being too simplistic with this ? (Not including the dangers at the station/on the platform) but simply with telling the train to depart.

I am genuinely interested.

The colour of the signal is not the only part of the dispatch procedure, maybe there are still people boarding/alighting and if "CD" is selected too early it could lead to someone trapped in the doors! Also related, would this person have checked if all the hazard lights on the train were out before giving the Right Away?

Dispatch staff have a special license for their duties, quite rightly so as they have rigorous training for their duties and alot of regulations and procedures they need to follow, someone without this is not qualified to do those duties!

As safety is always the number one priority it is good that SET sacked the employee involved, otherwise you never know what kind of dispatch irregularity with serious consequences might have occured...

 

[Ferret]

Can I ask a question -as a commuter and not a railway employee, how dangerous could this really have been ?

Well, we have had one extreme example of what happens when dispatch goes wrong in the last 12 months - and that resulted in the death of an intoxicated female.

 

[SETCommuter]

Well, we have had one extreme example of what happens when dispatch goes wrong in the last 12 months - and that resulted in the death of an intoxicated female.

But wasn't that the fully trained conductor that caused that ?

 

[Ferret]

But wasn't that the fully trained conductor that caused that ?

In part, yes. The point is, if a fully-trained conductor can do something that results in a death, an untrained person could well do the same.

 

[michael769]

Well, we have had one extreme example of what happens when dispatch goes wrong in the last 12 months - and that resulted in the death of an intoxicated female.

I am amazed anyone would pull a stunt like this given the consequences of the above event. Imagine what they courts would have done to this pair if something had gone seriously wrong!

 

[AlexS]

Not so applicable on South Eastern, but theoretically, the worse case scenario if a dispatcher cocks up, with the exception of an actual fatal incident in some other manner, is to dispatch a HST or other slam door train with a door open, as it's liable to swing open and strike structures/people/other trains etc.

Particularly crucial when dispatching one ECS DOO as there's no way of stopping it quickly once it's rolling.

As the standard of train dispatch is meant to be consistent everywhere, you can't really say that just because this particular dispatcher couldn't have done it, the offence is any less serious - it's a safety critical role for a reason and there's plenty of ways things can go wrong.

 

[SETCommuter]

In my experience, on (certain) Southeastern stations there is a dispatcher, a conductor and a driver. At some stations, both dispatcher and conductor are involved, at others, the conductor does it all and (on HS trains) it's just the driver.

So, could it be stated that there is no need to have a dispatcher at all ? Surely if a conductor does that job at most stations, it can be done at all stations ? Similarly, if a conductor doesn't believe it's safe to dispatch the train, he will "overrule" the dispatcher and again, the driver would "overrule" the conductor?

 

[AlexS]

In many cases it is done that way - however on a lot of types of train there's no way for the guard to observe the safe departure of the train from the platform (read no silly person comes running for it, picks their feet up, and drops underneath) which is why a lot of busy stations still have dispatch staff. This is particularly relevant to DOO trains where the driver often doesn't have a great view of the train when closing the doors and departing and the time savings of DOO could be lost by having to leave the cab to wander around the platform dealing with obstructions etc. Once the traincrew close their door, the view is then limited.

In situations where both DOO trains and trains with a guard provided mix, if the DOO trains are dispatched the trains with a guard tend to be as well to avoid confusion. Particular hazards may also have been identified at that location to require a dispatcher (concealed/multiple entrances, poor signal sighting etc).Other activities such as shunts and detraining are also generally managed by the platform staff.

Any person in the dispatch process can stop it if they feel it isn't safe to continue. The guard can't leave without the permission of the dispatcher and the driver can't leave without the permission of the guard. Any one of those people can question the previous link in the chain as to whether it is appropriate to move, however.

 

[SETCommuter]

In many cases it is done that way - however on a lot of types of train there's no way for the guard to observe the safe departure of the train from the platform (read no silly person comes running for it, picks their feet up, and drops underneath) which is why a lot of busy stations still have dispatch staff. This is particularly relevant to DOO trains where the driver often doesn't have a great view of the train when closing the doors and departing and the time savings of DOO could be lost by having to leave the cab to wander around the platform dealing with obstructions etc. Once the traincrew close their door, the view is then limited.

In situations where both DOO trains and trains with a guard provided mix, if the DOO trains are dispatched the trains with a guard tend to be as well to avoid confusion. Particular hazards may also have been identified at that location to require a dispatcher (concealed/multiple entrances, poor signal sighting etc).Other activities such as shunts and detraining are also generally managed by the platform staff.

Any person in the dispatch process can stop it if they feel it isn't safe to continue. The guard can't leave without the permission of the dispatcher and the driver can't leave without the permission of the guard. Any one of those people can question the previous link in the chain as to whether it is appropriate to move, however.

At Ashford International, the mainline trains are dispatched by the dispatcher & conductor whereas the HS trains are not dispatched by anyone, just the driver.

So, should the case be made that dispatchers are not required at all here ?

 

[AlexS]

Not necessarily - in today's cost cutting times, the station will have been assessed for a requirement for dispatch staff and for whatever reason they'll have decided they are required at that location.

 

[A0]

Not necessarily - in today's cost cutting times, the station will have been assessed for a requirement for dispatch staff and for whatever reason they'll have decided they are required at that location.

I don't think that cost is the issue here - it's a simple one of people acting with the responsibility that their job holds - and it was as much a problem under BR as it is today.

The unions are part of the problem - on the one hand they bemoan employees being supervised and disciplined if they've done something wrong - on the other they bemoan any reduction in staffing.

Turning back to the responsibility issue - take a look at this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowden_rail_crash where the guard was in the cab - in contravention of the rules at the time, and there is suspicion he was actually at the controls at the time, though it cannot be proven as both he and the driver were killed in the accident.

 

[Mintona]

At Ashford International, the mainline trains are dispatched by the dispatcher & conductor whereas the HS trains are not dispatched by anyone, just the driver.

So, should the case be made that dispatchers are not required at all here ?

At Ashford, HS trains to London do require the platform staff to 'TRTS' them. If these trains were dispatched by the OBMs then they would be dispatched by platform staff as well, but as the OBMs don't do it the need for platform staff is redundant. The HS trains were designed to be DOD (driver only dispatch) and so have the appropriate monitors and cameras on board (although they can also be dispatched by a guard if the conditions of service change). Whereas all the other trains don't but do have a guard who dispatches, and so are also dispatched by the platform staff.

The only station HS trains are dispatched by platform staff is St. Pancras, where the CD/RA method is used.

 

[SETCommuter]

At Ashford, HS trains to London do require the platform staff to 'TRTS' them. If these trains were dispatched by the OBMs then they would be dispatched by platform staff as well, but as the OBMs don't do it the need for platform staff is redundant. The HS trains were designed to be DOD (driver only dispatch) and so have the appropriate monitors and cameras on board (although they can also be dispatched by a guard if the conditions of service change). Whereas all the other trains don't but do have a guard who dispatches, and so are also dispatched by the platform staff.

The only station HS trains are dispatched by platform staff is St. Pancras, where the CD/RA method is used.

Hi, got to admit I don't know what those acronyms mean but from what I can gather, you either need 3 members of staff to dispatch a train or 1 !! Seems a very odd way of doing things.

 

[Tomnick]

The unions are part of the problem - on the one hand they bemoan employees being supervised and disciplined if they've done something wrong - on the other they bemoan any reduction in staffing.

I don't think the unions make a habit of getting upset over the correct use of the disciplinary processes - most disputes seem to have resulted from heavy-handed discipline or those cases where there's some dispute as to whether the employee's done anything wrong in the first place!

On the topic of dispatchers - not only do they see trains away safely, but they also provide a presence on the platforms and can help the punters or do other duties between trains - a worthwhile cause, I think!

 

[island]

Nobody seems to have pointed out that there aren't any dispatch staff at Denmark Hill - it's all DOO dispatch with monitors. So this story makes no sense to me.

This is what my problem is.

 

[Jatos]

To be honest, from what I can see safe despatch is more common sense and care than anything, although I think this incident should not have happened, I am not thinking oh, this was really dangerous, and questioning rail safety either.

Its clear the sacked employer did train his employee well, even if he still should not have done this!