Shh Ive had a SPAD!

[paul1609]

"Southern Railway has apologised after train staff were caught
misleading passengers in a conversation overhead on the intercom.
The driver was heard asking an onboard colleague not to tell
passengers she had just jumped a red signal.

Instead, the train guard announced on the intercom the train was
simply awaiting clearance before moving on.

Southern said staff on the Victoria to Hastings service had tried to
deal with the incident "without causing alarm".

The driver of Tuesday's 1847 BST service was then overheard saying she
had not been granted clearance to continue the journey.

Moments later, the train guard told passengers that because of a fault
to the train, the service would terminate at Streatham Common.

Passengers told BBC London 94.9 their reaction to the indiscretion
turned from laughter to anger after their service was terminated.

Derek Epps, of Southern, stressed that passengers were safe at all
times "and all the correct procedures were carried out".

"I think it's fair to say that it's incredibly embarrassing," he said.
"We did it with the best intention.

"The intention was not to cause unnecessary alarm to our passengers.
It should not have been broadcast across the train.""

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6617063.stm

 

[theblackwatch]

Rather embarrasing, and just adds fuel to commuter's opinions that they are not always told the truth when delays occur.

I've been involved in at least three SPADs as a passenger over the years - two of which involved the same loco four years apart!

 

[Kris]

After the Clapham crash and for quite a few years afterwards - we weren't allowed to say 'Signal Failure' when reporting delays to pasengers. Instead we had to say 'A fault in the electronic equipment' to avoid spreading panic.

When the Pigs arrived it was the first time that we had PA equipment and it was retro-fitted to slammers. You can't imagine now that we used to have to walk through to every coach and tell people loudly what the delay was, or any other info.

People moan about the lack of info now but they used to be more responsible for themselves then.

 

[Coxster]

According to a mate of mine who drives for Southern this is a common fault when you have a /1 and /4 set together - it's happened to him before!

 

[Nick W]

The sad fact is, never believe anything a member of railway staff says unless it's in official writing.

And they want passengers to be honest?

 

[ChrisCooper]

I always think it's best to be honest with people. People tend to be much happier and more comfortable to know what's going on than not, since when they don't know they often put two and two together, or start wondering what they arn't being told and why. I have noticed the railways have become very bad for lying to passengers though, particularly when it comes to delays. I've known quite a few times when the announced reason for delays is different to what I've known to be the truth. It's particularly noticable with subtle things, like "this train is delayed due to following a slow moving freight" (e.g, it's not our fault, it's the FOC or the signallers), that forgets to mention that had the train not had a fault and left late it would have been well ahead of the freight.