Station Overrun (Partial)

[Sirius]

I was wondering what the operational factors behind an operational incident I encountered some years ago (at least five!) on the rail network where the train I was on partially overran the platform at one station.

I must stress at this point that I note that other discussions often deem it more appropriate that details are left out, especially for incidents that may be under investigation, and I fully appreciate and support the rationale of members here in doing so.

I was on the train to work one day when it overran the station by approximately 50m or so. The train came to a halt and it was apparent that the driver was taking advice on how to proceed (the comms system didn't sound fully isolated and while you couldn't make out the conversation you knew there was communication). Now, it is a busy stretch of the suburban rail network around Glasgow with at least 4tph in each direction and stops around 2-3 minutes apart on average.

In this case after some delay passengers were taken from the train through a manually operated door at the rear of the unit (a Class 318 I believe) which was still at the platform level. I'm not aware of whether passengers on the platform were allowed to board through this method due to being in the middle carriage.

The complete delay for those passengers continuing was at least 20 minutes and the delay was having a knock on effect on the trains following (again, roughly 4tph at even frequencies) which no doubt would impact all trains through the upcoming junctions.

Now as someone who is a passive observer the common sense approach would have been to continue to the next station and apologise to the passengers who had to wait no more than 15 minutes there to complete a 2 minute journey back to their original destination. For those on the platform at the missed stop they could have got the next train which was delayed anyway as a result of the incident.

Was/is there a reason for the TOC/staff themselves to have carried out actions that to a lay person seemed odd given the high frequency of services in the area?

 

[380101]

What the driver did is standard procedure in ScotRail if a train has overshot a platform with part of the train still on the platform. The signaller can give permission to the driver to draw the train back onto the platform, but if there is a door that can be used still on the platform they use that as it is quicker than drawing the train back onto the platform. If the train has overshot by 400m or more off the platform then it must continue on to its next stop.

I imagine the rules are similar in most other TOCs.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've only ever seen it happen once, on Merseyrail in the 1990s. As you'd expect back then, what they did was open the doors normally with the frontmost passenger door roughly at the bottom of the platform ramp and other doors platformed. Nobody fell out.

 

[Right Away]

Use of a local door seems to be the best option if part of the train is adjacent to the platform. On trains where the guard releases the doors, the driver must give the buzzer code 2-2 (do not release doors) if the train is overrunning the platform.

If the train has completely overrun the station, the driver MAY be given authority by the signaller to make a wrong direction move to return the train to the platform. As mentioned, to do so the overrun can't be greater than 400 metres. There is no need to change the end train lights for wrong direction movements of under 400 metres so you might see the unusual situation of the train moving with tail lights on the leading end during the move. If the train has passed over an automatic level crossing after the station, the train will have to continue forwards. Another situation when authority will be refused is if there is another train in the section immediately behind.

Fortunately I have never been in that situation, but colleagues who have describe it as 'the walk of shame' when you have to walk through the train to change ends to make the move back to the platform, with a train load of passengers looking at you!

 

[noddingdonkey]

Many years ago I was on a 142 which overshoot the Leeds-bound platform at Mirfield but the back of the set was still platformed. The guard simply opened the local door and did a PA advising alighting passengers to use the door at the rear of the train and we were underway with a minimum of fuss.

From memory I suspect it may have been leaf fall season. I guess provided the overrun didn't include a SPAD there was no reason to make too big a deal of it?