Disruption at Clapham Junction 16/08 caused by a passenger falling ill

[andrewkeith5]

I was on the 1806 London Victoria to Brighton express service this evening. This was the service where a passenger was taken ill between Victoria and Clapham Junction. From my understanding the passenger was very seriously ill and their condition meant the train was unable to move from the platform for circa 45 minutes. This put platform 13 out of action for around an hour.

I thought it worth posting to commend the staff at Clapham Junction on dealing very well with what was clearly a very challenging incident at one of the busiest times of the weekend. Unfortunately the timetable of southbound trains didn't play into your favour, and although I was slightly concerned for the safety of passengers on the very crowded platform 15 (the only platform southbound services could call), overall I think the situation was managed very well.

The situation wasn't really helped by the relatively slow arrival of an ambulance, although I'm sure there was good reason for the delay.

I was also pleased to see that most of the affected passengers didn't seem too put out by the situation. The plan to send people heading south back to Victoria to catch trains at their start was an interesting decision but with the crowding of the station - and what I'm sure was a similarly bad situation at East Croydon, I think it was the only option. Although I'm not sure letting the Gatwick Express and some other trains pass through almost empty without stopping was a good idea - an extra stop would have helped clear the crowds much more quickly. I decided to simply wait until the whole situation died down and was only delayed by around 1:10hrs whilst I waited for a service which was relatively quiet.

Of course, if anyone does know the person who was taken ill, I hope that they recover and get back to full heath quickly.

 

[yorkie]

... Although I'm not sure letting the Gatwick Express and some other trains pass through almost empty without stopping was a good idea - an extra stop would have helped clear the crowds much more quickly.....

Southern are very protective of their mostly empty 'Express' service and don't like calling at intermediate stations, even at times of disruption. I've known them do it occasionally but only when they really have no choice. It's madness.

 

[tsr]

Southern are very protective of their mostly empty 'Express' service and don't like calling at intermediate stations, even at times of disruption. I've known them do it occasionally but only when they really have no choice. It's madness.

It seems they would mostly only call at intermediate stations during CSL2 (Customer Service Level 2) incidents, which is where assistance to passengers is raised to a higher level due to the severity of disruption. I may be wrong, but I don't think CSL2 was declared tonight.

 

[ushawk]

It seems they would mostly only call at intermediate stations during CSL2 (Customer Service Level 2) incidents, which is where assistance to passengers is raised to a higher level due to the severity of disruption. I may be wrong, but I don't think CSL2 was declared tonight.

Correct, most cases of Code Red and in all cases of Code Black where possible.

Tonight was Code Yellow, minor delays but services could run. The GatEx has made extra stops during a Yellow in the past, all depends on the time of disruption and what services are running.

The incident at Clapham didnt even make it onto NRE, so they obviously didnt class it as a severe incident. On a side note, the involved service terminated at Clapham, then ran empty to Haywards Heath. The return service to Victoria then started there with an additional stop, fairly sensible instead of cancelling the entire service.

 

[21C101]

Presumably the passengers were sent to Victoria as main line trains would have been diverted via Herne Hill and Streatham/West Norwood to East Croydon (which one or two Gatwick expresses are, or used to be, routed via to ensure route knowledge for such contingencies)

 

[Juniper Driver]

I've had two of these recently,though not as serious as what happened here I find passengers rally together and have been a big help to me and the guard.Thanks.

 

[Yabbadabba]

Presumably the passengers were sent to Victoria as main line trains would have been diverted via Herne Hill and Streatham/West Norwood to East Croydon (which one or two Gatwick expresses are, or used to be, routed via to ensure route knowledge for such contingencies)

There were no diversions like that on this night, just all trains on the slow line until the cleared the effected train.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

The first responder paramedic got there very quickly, within a few minutes of the incident but the ambulance itself took a good 20-25 minutes to arrive. One thing that could have been improved: the ambulance staff were left to their own devices to try and locate the casualty in an eight-car train - the first responder took quite a while to find the correct carriage though I was able to direct the second crew.

The casualty was conscious and sitting up when they took him off the train so hopefully there was a good outcome. The train was already very crowded, close to crush-loaded in places when it left Victoria - perhaps it was some stress-related thing?