Euston overcrowding

[londonmidland]

Whilst on X/Twitter this evening, I noticed ‘Euston’ is/was on the trending list. Upon clicking it, I noticed various images and videos of Euston’s concourse and corridors severely overcrowded, as well as people running on the platform. A lot of trains to and from Euston have also been reported as being full and standing throughout.

We were told that the practices used at Euston are ‘safe’ and that there are no issues or concerns of safety anymore. Clearly, the pictures and videos linked below show otherwise. It only takes one person to trip and fall for before a serious safety incident occurs, amongst the stampede of people rushing to their platforms and trains.

Why are Network Rail still allowing this to happen?

The pictures below show a severely overcrowded concourse at London Euston.

The pictures below shows at London Northwestern Railway service full and standing, from London Euston

Passengers running on the platforms at London Euston. Video on X/Twitter
X/Twitter

 

[Horizon22]

I suppose the question is where do these people go?

They'd have to go into the external patio/paved area. Was there disruption or were services just being boarded ridiculously late as per?

 

[londonmidland]

Was there disruption or were services just being boarded ridiculously late as per?

A few tweets I’ve read would suggest it was the latter.

 

[Horizon22]

A few tweets I’ve read would suggest it was the latter.

All the signs saying platform closed and a train full and standing might suggest differently, however services can get like this on Sunday evenings from all London termini, especially with engineering works (if any).

 

[MerlinRail 804]

Don't they also show some platforms quite late too?

 

[Kite159]

As for that "full & standing" train, I notice the coach was labelled as "A" which suggests it could be the first available coach reached from the concourse. The "Wisdom of the Norm" does state there is only ever one set of doors on a train, and they need to board at the first available door.

Now if that photo was taken from the coach right at the front it would be newsworthy, but generally from London terminus stations where loading is from the rear, the rear coach can be full & standing when the front coach is carrying only a man and his dog as people simply don't walk down. Although having the platforms announced at the last minute as is typical of Euston with short turnarounds of services doesn't help things.

But be careful, your employer might get a threatening letter from Sir Hendy for daring to criticise the wonderful Euston

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

All the signs saying platform closed and a train full and standing might suggest differently, however services can get like this on Sunday evenings from all London termini, especially with engineering works (if any).

The train was the 1545 to Crewe looking at the platform number and time from the Twitter video

 

[Vectron383]

Not going to lie I’m impressed by the consistency of safety issues at Euston. Especially now that it’s transpired that the then-head of Network rail got someone sacked for calling it what it is.

 

[30907]

The train was the 1545 to Crewe looking at the platform number and time from the Twitter video

Which was immediately followed by two LM cancellations, which might account for the relatively heavy loading (LM seem to have had a bad day staffing-wise).
The concourse situation is more concerning, as there were no significant delays - though no Birmingham services were running.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Which was immediately followed by two LM cancellations, which might account for the relatively heavy loading (LM seem to have had a bad day staffing-wise).
The concourse situation is more concerning, as there were no significant delays - though no Birmingham services were running.

Maybe additional PAX as MML shut north of Luton although would have thought ECML offered better connections.

 

[sp503]

IMO there’s one simple thing they need to implement to avoid a stampede, that is, to automatically delay the train if the boarding started late. Say if the boarding for the 1730 train started only at 1728, the screen should automatically show the train ‘delayed’ to, say, 1738, to allow 10 minutes for the boarding procedure. This could make passengers less anxious about missing the train and avoid aggressive movements like pushing people away. (I am fully aware of the fact that the rush is also partly due to the prospect of not getting a seat, but getting a seat vs missing the train are of two completely different magnitude and people’s behaviour would differ somewhat.)

This should also be made mandatory so that staff would be free from any urge to rushing passengers just to try making up for a minute.

 

[Kite159]

..

IMO there’s one simple thing they need to implement to avoid a stampede, that is, to automatically delay the train if the boarding started late. Say if the boarding for the 1730 train started only at 1728, the screen should automatically show the train ‘delayed’ to, say, 1738, to allow 10 minutes for the boarding procedure. This could make passengers less anxious about missing the train and avoid aggressive movements like pushing people away. (I am fully aware of the fact that the rush is also partly due to the prospect of not getting a seat, but getting a seat vs missing the train are of two completely different magnitude and people’s behaviour would differ somewhat.)

This should also be made mandatory so that staff would be free from any urge to rushing passengers just to try making up for a minute.

Don't give LNR ideas, they will probably delay it by 10 minutes only to rip out most of the stops. So a Birmingham train is First Stop Northampton or a Crewe train is nonstop Rugby - Stafford.

 

[Bletchleyite]

A few tweets I’ve read would suggest it was the latter.

There has been severe disruption on WMT all day, many cancellations due to staff shortage and short formings on the Trent Valley, plus the MML being closed displacing passengers onto routes via Tamworth.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Has there been any rain in London today? If so, that would explain why few if any would want to watch the ‘outside’ screens.

 

[Travelmonkey]

It has been grey all day, I arrived in Euston about 1130 this morning and was speaking with the Gold Comanad manager of a TOC who'd been drafted in for today and I kinda feel for the bloke, luckily I'm heading back north with Chiltern this evening and it is much more Chil than the WCML.

 

[Benjwri]

Has there been any rain in London today? If so, that would explain why few if any would want to watch the ‘outside’ screens.

Yes a lot of rain.

In reality this isn’t as much a case of bad management at Euston. I can imagine their only option otherwise would be closing the station. These kind of situations happen at every station in disruption.

 

[Horizon22]

Yes a lot of rain.

In reality this isn’t as much a case of bad management at Euston. I can imagine their only option otherwise would be closing the station. These kind of situations happen at every station in disruption.

Exactly. I've seen Paddington and London Bridge in a similar situation. Although Euston's attitude towards boarding (delayed) trains is already well known and can't have helped.

 

[bramling]

Has there been any rain in London today? If so, that would explain why few if any would want to watch the ‘outside’ screens.

Not sure about London, however here in Hertfordshire my weather station is now up to 60mm of rain today, and there’s still over an hour to go. That is quite an exceptionally high figure.

 

[Russel]

Network Rail seem to have an odd approach to safety, they are on a mission to remove foot crossings, install tactile paving and yellow lines on platforms and plaster warning signs on just about anything, yet the Euston fiasco is allowed to rumble on.

 

[bramling]

Network Rail seem to have an odd approach to safety, they are on a mission to remove foot crossings, install tactile paving and yellow lines on platforms and plaster warning signs on just about anything, yet the Euston fiasco is allowed to rumble on.

If one says to one’s self often enough something that is untrue, eventually you end up believing it.

Clearly Network Rail as an organisation are content to delude themselves that there isn’t an issue at Euston, which doesn’t reflect well upon them.

Unfortunately it’s not uncommon for large organisations to function in this way. TFL is no better, and note where Mr Hendy comes from…

 

[Irascible]

If one says to one’s self often enough something that is untrue, eventually you end up believing it.

"The normalisation of deviance" - if nothing bad has happened yet then it isn't going to happen. CF disasters ( Shuttle Challenger is a famous example ) & responses to the pandemic etc...

This is why we have H&S laws, no matter how much people complain about them.

 

[Travelmonkey]

Someone is sadly gonna either get seriously hurt or killed before they acknowledge the glaring issues. I could see when in the assist lounge it was overflowing and that's only a small % of travelers,

 

[bramling]

"The normalisation of deviance" - if nothing bad has happened yet then it isn't going to happen. CF disasters ( Shuttle Challenger is a famous example ) & responses to the pandemic etc...

This is why we have H&S laws, no matter how much people complain about them.

The problem is that everything is reactionary. For whatever reason, such laws don’t seem to concern people enough into acting *before* a reasonably foreseeable event occurs. Look no further than the disgrace of Grenfell Tower for an example of that.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Looking at Real Time Trains for today there was obviously a lot of disruption, late running, platform changes and cancellations. There would also have been some divertees from St Pancras/Thameslink and poor weather deterring people from waiting outside.
I think that the circumstances went far beyond some ‘late boarding’ advice (controlled by Avanti for all TOCs with no NR involvement we have been led to believe from previous discussions).

What is the answer in the short term? It’s hard to imagine anything besides an ‘outer cordon’ effectively ‘closing’ the station to intending passengers, non-stopping the Underground, holding people back on Eversholt Street in the rain, etc..

Anyone got any more effective ideas?

 

[Mikey C]

Has there been any rain in London today? If so, that would explain why few if any would want to watch the ‘outside’ screens.

The heavy rain was early in the morning, or later this evening, not during the afternoon.

The number of times Euston "trends" on X is extraordinary, far far more than any other London terminus. These crush incidents seem to happen so regularly, a horrible station to use.

 

[WarrenTManager]

The Guardian journalist Barney Ronay tweeted about Euston around midday on Sunday. It was not complimentary and has had a lot of engagement.

 

[Horizon22]

The heavy rain was early in the morning, or later this evening, not during the afternoon.

The number of times Euston "trends" on X is extraordinary, far far more than any other London terminus. These crush incidents seem to happen so regularly, a horrible station to use.

But why should Euston get so much more attention than any other London terminus, that also periodically experience significant disruption and crowded concourses?

Is it because of the actions of Network Rail & TOCs (management) locally? The actual physical layout of the station? How the disruption is managed? Extra focus due to the ORR report? Probably a combination of these, but also I imagine Euston has a bit more exposure now to such events whereas if similar occured elsewhere it wouldn't be seen as newsworthy.

 

[vinnym70]

But why should Euston get so much more attention than any other London terminus, that also periodically experience significant disruption and crowded concourses?

Euston just doesn't seem to cope. I use it rarely and my experiences have always been below par. I can't add value as to why that's the case but it really is a poor relative to most of the other London termini.
That's not just necessarily on the network rail side of things, the experience can be miserable if you're arriving on the tube... the tube station is possibly the hottest on the network in my experience.
It all contributes...

 

[Irascible]

The problem is that everything is reactionary. For whatever reason, such laws don’t seem to concern people enough into acting *before* a reasonably foreseeable event occurs. Look no further than the disgrace of Grenfell Tower for an example of that.

Yes - and it only takes a moment of stress ( fire, bomb alert etc, even if not a genuine event ) to turn a crowd into a crush. Which, again, is why we have regulations at all, and why normalisation of deviance is a big problem. As the other quote sort-of goes, "if you think being thorough is expensive, wait until you have an accident..."

When I lived in London alerts were a constant background noise & I don't think residents would really worry too much unless it turned into an event, but terminii are full of non-residents.

 

[BayPaul]

IMO there’s one simple thing they need to implement to avoid a stampede, that is, to automatically delay the train if the boarding started late. Say if the boarding for the 1730 train started only at 1728, the screen should automatically show the train ‘delayed’ to, say, 1738, to allow 10 minutes for the boarding procedure. This could make passengers less anxious about missing the train and avoid aggressive movements like pushing people away. (I am fully aware of the fact that the rush is also partly due to the prospect of not getting a seat, but getting a seat vs missing the train are of two completely different magnitude and people’s behaviour would differ somewhat.)

This should also be made mandatory so that staff would be free from any urge to rushing passengers just to try making up for a minute.

Alternatively, hit their pockets... Any train that departs less than 10 mins after the platform is announced is treated as being cancelled to the first stop for all statistics, delay repay etc.