Driver injured due to electric shock.

[MKB]

Terrible news just conveyed to us stuck on *****. Apparently *** train behind us has brought down overhead wires and driver has been electrocuted. Absolutely awful.

 

[fraser158]

Wow that's awful, I didn't think that would be possible.

 

[O L Leigh]

Shouldn't we wait for something a bit more official before commenting...?

O L Leigh

 

[MKB]

We were told by TM on this train. It's been over 90 minutes so I'm sure the TOC will have already contacted next of kin. But pls delete if mods think this news should not be in public domain yet.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Liverpool Echo now reporting TOC as saying that driver was injured but talking so hopefully not as serious as it first sounded.

 

[The Planner]

Why would the TM tell you that?

 

[IanXC]

Shouldn't we wait for something a bit more official before commenting...?

O L Leigh

I've removed details of the services involved, given how recent the event is. Please ensure comment is not passed on specifics until an official announcement has been made.

 

[MKB]

It's difficult ethically because worry is now extended to families of all drivers not just the one affected.

Battery backup has now run out and we are in darkness about to be evacuated.

 

[All Line Rover]

For a driver to be electrocuted by such an incident on any train, yet alone one as modern and structurally sound as a 390, would be incredible. As already said, it also seems strange for a TM/guard to tell passengers such disturbing news.

 

[O L Leigh]

Some people do erroneously use the word "electrocuted" when they mean "shocked".

O L Leigh

 

[Bayum]

I do wish there weren't so many pessimists on this site who are quick to disagree with someone's versions of events especially when they are on the train.

Virgin have confirmed that one of their drivers has been 'injured' and numerous other tweets are reporting that the TM has indeed told the passengers that their driver has been electrocuted.

A quick google search would have brought this up:

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/local-news/live-breaking-news-liverpool-merseyside-7810934

A Virgin Train driver has been injured. This is confirmed by a spokesman from Virgin Trains

Train service providers are telling passengers there is a 'problem with overhead cables' between Crewe and Runcorn
A large number of passengers are stuck on services between London and Liverpool since the delays began around 7.30pm
There is NO estimation of when services will resume
Advice from train providers is to find alternative transport

 

[MKB]

TM was actually a bit more graphical and I toned it down.

 

[All Line Rover]

I wouldn't trust the Liverpool Echo's journalism. First they say that delayed services include the 17:36 from Dagenham New Road to Liverpool Lime Street, and the 18:34 from Liverpool Lime Street to Dagenham New Road. I didn't know that Dagenham had been relocated to the Midlands. Then they say that delayed passengers from London to Liverpool 'are starting to vent on Twitter', and attach an image of a tweet complaining to Southeastern about a delayed train between Ramsgate and Broadstairs!

 

[O L Leigh]

I do wish there weren't so many pessimists on this site who are quick to disagree with someone's versions of events especially when they are on the train.

Er, no. The OP is on a different train as even the edited post makes clear.

I can't speak for others, but I'm not doubting that the OP is accurately reporting what the TM has said but rather the veracity of what the TM reports. As such I think it's best to wait until something slightly more official to confirm or deny the details before wading in with lots of theories and the like so that we know what we're actually dealing with.

O L Leigh

 

[All Line Rover]

I do wish there weren't so many pessimists on this site who are quick to disagree with someone's versions of events especially when they are on the train.

It would seem that MKB is on a London Midland train.

 

[Bayum]

Er, no. The OP is on a different train as even the edited post makes clear.

I can't speak for others, but I'm not doubting that the OP is accurately reporting what the TM has said but rather the veracity of what the TM reports. As such I think it's best to wait until something slightly more official to confirm or deny the details before wading in with lots of theories and the like so that we know what we're actually dealing with.

O L Leigh

TRAINS: Here's what we know so far:

A Virgin Train driver has been injured. This is confirmed by a spokesman from Virgin Trains
Train service providers are telling passengers there is a 'problem with overhead cables' between Crewe and Runcorn
A large number of passengers are stuck on services between London and Liverpool since the delays began around 7.30pm
There is NO estimation of when services will resume
Advice from train providers is to find alternative transport

TRAINS: A Virigin spokesman has just told the ECHO they are still trying to establish what has happened to a train driver who has been injured. It's understood to have happened on a Virgin service near Runcorn.

The Virgin spokesman said that the injured driver was able to speak and was "being attended to".

Want anything more official?

 

[O L Leigh]

Thank you. Which confirms what I suspected, which is that the TM on the OP's train has either exaggerated or merely misreported the actual severity of the incident.

O L Leigh

 

[All Line Rover]

Want anything more official?

All we know is that the driver is 'injured' and is 'being attended to'. Whereas the OP says that an LM guard said that a VT driver 'has been electrocuted', and that the LM guard was 'actually a bit more graphical' than that; thus suggesting that the VT driver has suffered second or third degree burns. I'm not saying that the OP is wrong, just that it is best not to speculate.

 

[IanXC]

As such I think it's best to wait until something slightly more official to confirm or deny the details before wading in with lots of theories and the like so that we know what we're actually dealing with.

Absolutely. Can I remind all posters in this thread of a particular line in our Forum Rules:

Do not post information that may lead to the personal details of any individual being identified without their permission unless already publicly available.

In this instance identifying the service involved, for instance, without a source breaches this. There are family and friends who deserve to find this news out through a more appropriate channel than forum hearsay and conjecture.

 

[strowger]

Deleted

 

[Bayum]

It is quite common for uneducated people to use the word "electrocuted" to mean "received an electric shock".

I was embarrassingly upset and offered condolences on more than one occasion before I realised this.

I was looking through such an example only last week for my school's Electricity topic.

The dictionaries I looked in suggested that the definition of 'electrocuted' was to 'receive an electrical shock that injures or kills', suggesting either use would be appropriate.

 

[richardio123]

Well an official statement about the driver has been released from Virgin Trains to the Liverpool Echo

DRIVER UPDATE: Our reporter Gemma Jaleel has just spoken with a Virigin Train representative.

The ECHO understands overhead cables have come down onto the track just outside of Runcorn. The driver managed to stop the train before hitting the cables. He got off the train to see if everything was okay and to look for identifying markers to report back to head office.

During this, he has received quite severe electric shock and is currently on his way to hospital.

 

[Bayum]

Further updates confirming driver being severely shocked.

DRIVER UPDATE: Our reporter Gemma Jaleel has just spoken with a Virigin Train representative.

The ECHO understands overhead cables have come down onto the track just outside of Runcorn. The driver managed to stop the train before hitting the cables. He got off the train to see if everything was okay and to look for identifying markers to report back to head office.

During this, he has received quite severe electric shock and is currently on his way to hospital.

Such a sad situation to be in.

I'm sure the reports and statements are exaggerated or misreported.

 

[All Line Rover]

Is such behaviour in accordance with safety guidelines?

 

[Crossover]

Is such behaviour in accordance with safety guidelines?

That was a thought I'd had. Surely in a dewirement/suspected dewirement it is safest for all to stay on board the train?

 

[scotraildriver]

I doubt any train driver would leave his cab without contacting the ECO to establish the status of the overhead line. If he did he will have serious questions to answer. Everyone knows the rules on dealing with the overhead line. And we do not report to "head office" I suspect more speculative b...s... reporting. Clearly if the OHL is down everything is not ok and you don't leave your cab to look for "identifying markers" Clearly something has gone wrong but I doubt it is anything like what is being reported.

 

[dk1]

Driver is recovering according to early VT tweet this morning.

 

[MKB]

My phone died so couldn't post any more last night. Handling of the incident by LM was appalling. After being led to a nearby country road we were completely abandoned by LM staff. Taxis arrived occasionally but would only go to Liverpool where they had apparently been called from.

Four of us were still there at 2230. We needed to get back to Crewe to our pre-booked hotel and two others had bikes that wouldn't fit in the taxis that came.

We eventually got one of the taxi drivers to radio for a local cab to take us to Crewe but he decided to go via M6 J16 which was shut for scheduled maintenance, so we had to stay on to J15 ten miles on. We arrived at Crewe at 2350.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

I'm sure the TOC will have already contacted next of kin.

That's not for the TOC to do.
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Whether the term is electrocuted, shocked (which is misleading in itself) or received an electric shock is pointless semantics.

 

[edwin_m]

Whether the term is electrocuted, shocked (which is misleading in itself) or received an electric shock is pointless semantics.

No it isn't. Use of the word "electrocution" means a death is involved.

 

[muz379]

No it isn't. Use of the word "electrocution" means a death is involved.

whilst that is the dictionary definition how many people in everyday life would use the word electrocuted to describe someone who has received an electric shock but not died as a result . Id be willing to bet the rail staff involved who where describing the events did not have their dictionaries out to check the absolute definition .