Accidental Passcom Activation

[Manchester77]

This predated Twitter (I suspect it was back when it was Wagn), and I guess these days the guy would probably be Tweeting the TOC, Daily Mail, his MP and the European Court of Human Rights instead of just having to watch the train leave without him.

Not to mention setting up several I Hate WAGN Facebook and YouTube pages!

I've been on a train where someone's accidentally hit it and as you say it is usually a packed train.

Also I remember on the BBC series the tube there being a short part where the were delays on the circle and Hammersmith lines and the controller saying it was down to passenger alarm pulled and then going on to say about little kids seeing it and grabbing them!

 

[cjp]

Anyone on here ever activated a passcomm for a genuine reason? The closest I came was when testing them and the door release handles on Croydon trams.

A couple of times and having spoken the train carried on until a station where matters could be dealt with the driver having called upon the emergency services to meet the train.
On the last occasion the driver was none to happy about the delay to his train because we got to the station before the ambulance
Who would pay for any delay?

 

[sarahj]

The problem is when people push them by mistake, and its quite easy to do in the little loo on a 377, and then just ignore the driver saying hello. Its very anoying when your working say a 12 car train, you plan on how your going to work it, and then, 'can the guard contact the driver'. Passcom is coach 2, and where are you, coach 12. So its a run through 11 packed coaches, just to find, someone has pushed it, then ran away..... If you and the driver know its a mistake, not too much hastle, just reset at the next station.

 

[maniacmartin]

I have used a Passcom for a genuine reason, on the Underground, when drunks had opened the connecting doors and and were running between the cars. The driver's response: "If they want to die, they will die" or similar. On LU, the Passcom causes the train to continue until the next station

 

[ainsworth74]

So its a run through 11 packed coaches, just to find, someone has pushed it, then ran away.....

Though seeing as there are dire warnings of 'penaltys for misuse' in some ways it's not that surprising that people leg it if they do activate one accidentaly.

 

[Muzer]

I wonder if rather than "penalty for improper use" they could have "penalty for intentional misuse". Not sure if that would encourage more people to stay and apologise though...

 

[PermitToTravel]

A couple of times and having spoken the train carried on until a station where matters could be dealt with the driver having called upon the emergency services to meet the train.
On the last occasion the driver was none to happy about the delay to his train because we got to the station before the ambulance
Who would pay for any delay?

The TOC.

 

[Crossover]

I have firmly come to the conclusion today that 185's passcoms are not fit for purpose, if they can be activated by someone leaning on the bottom part of the handle. Why can they not be covered in some way like the egress handles?

Leaving on the 1820 from Manchester Picc towards Cleethorpes (though I was only heading to Stockport), we set off, got about 2 carriage lengths down the platform, and (being in the area between the cab and 1st class) I heard an alarm go off in the cab - not one of the usual warnings either. We immediately stopped and didn't go anywhere for a couple more minutes. We got going again and soon after an announcement was made advising people in the vestibules to stand clear of the red handles next to the doors, as leaning on them can activate them and bring the train to a stand as a matter of course (I guess the driver stopped, rather than override, in our case given we were still very fully platformed)

 

[Mojo]

Is being able to push the handles not part of the design to ensure that customers with disabilities are easily able to operate them as well? I know when covers were put on some of our trains as a trial basis many different designs were tested to ensure that they can still be operated by customers without full use of their fingers.

 

[Crossover]

I'm not sure, but it seems clear that on such units that are quite often packed to the gunnels (though not so tonight) that they should be a little more tactile so that they aren't easy to set off accidentally. I daresay that had they been built and been recessed, rather than flush with everything else round it, they would have probably been better and less prone to such accidental activation

 

[Starmill]

When you mentioned that before, Mojo I did have a think about it. To be honest I'm not sure how it could be because the design of a lot of other handles only works if you pull down. At least the driver didn't override it given you were still on the platform, but that must be a farce!