Railway suicides - a sensitive question

[Dr_Paul]

Thanks for the information in respect of the matter of potential trespass. I was very much misinformed about the procedures.

 

[Trackman]

Until the early 1990s the Guard was expected to move the body clear of the line. If the guard thought it was suspicious then they had to mark the position of the body prior to its removal. I only saw this done once when I was a young ticket examiner,the guard came back as white as a sheet. Thankfully times (and rules) have changed.

Never heard of this. Why did they have to move the body? On a different track? out of section?

 

[Falcon1200]

It’s a very difficult question to ask a driver when you speaking to them after they have just potentially struck someone.

I agree, but would hope that by now all TOCs have briefed their Drivers on the reason for the call, and what to expect; And I'm sure that the BT Police treat the Driver with the necessary sympathy and understanding during the call.

 

[800001]

I agree, but would hope that by now all TOCs have briefed their Drivers on the reason for the call, and what to expect; And I'm sure that the BT Police treat the Driver with the necessary sympathy and understanding during the call.

Yes, they know they have to, and the reasons why, however it still doesn’t make it any easier

 

[Ashley Hill]

Never heard of this. Why did they have to move the body? On a different track? out of section?

The body was moved to keep the trains running. It was in still in the 1988 rule book but the rule was withdrawn by the early 90s.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Never heard of this. Why did they have to move the body? On a different track? out of section?

You would need to move the body to prevent it from becoming further disrupted by trains running over it

 

[LAX54]

Train Drivers, when ever they unfortunately are involved in an incident where they hit, or believe they have hit someone, are asked to contact the BTP Fatality hotline as soon as possible, this gives an immediate sense of what has happened, and assists the BTP with the classification of the incident.

Based up on the drivers initial accounts can determine how long potentially the line may be closed while BTP investigate.

We used to get a call from Control, after a fatality asking the Driver to call the BTP fatality line, Signaller was supposed to connect the driver via the GSMR, although this did not always work, plus many Signallers gave the driver the number to call, and said call them when they felt they were able to do so.

 

[dk1]

The body was moved to keep the trains running. It was in still in the 1988 rule book but the rule was withdrawn by the early 90s.

Yes I remember that. Something that always worried me in my signalman days.

 

[Bow Fell]

Yes, they know they have to, and the reasons why, however it still doesn’t make it any easier

I know, it seems absolutely heartless and something I even remember doing when being told a driver has struck someone, my first question was “Have they called the fatality hotline?” rather than “Is the driver ok?”

Don't underestimate the pressure that both the TOC’s and NR controls are under to ensure this is done by the driver as soon as possible.

I remember a conversation afterwards about this and don’t get me wrong, when you are sat in a comfortable control room to how desensitised you become to fatalities, from the initial emergency GSMR call (which that alarm is never nice to hear) to recovering the service, you forget you’ve just dealt with a persons death.

 

[Horizon22]

Not particularly so, when taking a long term view. What does happen though is that you get a ‘spate” of them in quick succession, which makes it feel that the rate is going up.

Yes normally sadly centred around certain periods of the year (which I won’t share for obvious reasons).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jun 2024 ==

I remember a conversation afterwards about this and don’t get me wrong, when you are sat in a comfortable control room to how desensitised you become to fatalities, from the initial emergency GSMR call (which that alarm is never nice to hear) to recovering the service, you forget you’ve just dealt with a persons death.

It’s the alarm noise that makes everyone freeze.

 

[Cowley]

I think that’s probably a good place to end this on.

Thanks for your contributions everyone.