Should the Emergency Brake Trigger a Passenger Announcement?

[devon_belle]

This was going to be an off-the-cuff remark in the Bedford collision thread, but in line with the mods' wishes I will create a separate one.

In the Bedford collision there was 9 seconds of fairly harsh braking before the crash (according to RAIB preliminary article). However, at least one passenger interviewed said that they did not notice any braking before the collision. It occurs to me that if passengers had been more prepared for an impact, rather than a harsh stop, there may be a small chance some injuries would be reduced. That is highly speculative and not backed up by the report.

Trains brake hard all the time, but the emergency brake is only applied sparingly – should the application trigger an automated passenger information system (PIS) announcement? If so, what should it say? Perhaps not 'brace, brace, brace'.

As far as I'm aware no trains do this, but there are some other automated responses to emergency brake trigger such as Desiro's driver doors opening (or so I am told).

 

[Highlander1]

I would say this could cause panic for passengers. Most emergency breaking is caused by passenger alarms/passcom being pulled accidentally or unnecessarily and no action is required from the passengers onboard. If it happens regularly people would just ignore it.

 

[eldomtom2]

I know that Japanese trains have automatic announcements for the emergency brake being applied - it seems to usually be “the emergency brakes have been applied, please hold on” or similar.

 

[Bald Rick]

No.

There are many examples, every day, of trains braking in emergency.

Very, very few are as a precursor to a collision.

Very few of those collisions result in passenger injuries.

An announcement would, in my opinion, be very likely to cause more total risk to passengers in terms of panic or trying to protect themselves (such as escape the train) than the very rare risk from collisions.