Thameslink Driver taken ill at Elephant & Castle this evening?

[BritishRail83]

A bloke at work tonight told me that he was on a Thameslink service from Bromley South and that when the train arrived at Elephant & Castle the Driver came out the cab clutching his chest saying he needed an ambulance. The passengers managed to find a nurse to came to his aid. My thoughts and prayers go out to this poor chap and I hope he is ok.
Did anyone else hear about this on here?
I understand that the train is DOO and that Elephant & Castle is unstaffed in the evening?

 

[EM2]

It certainly happened, paramedics attended and took the driver to hospital.

 

[Rich McLean]

Thoughts are with the driver, and from what is described, sounds like it could of been a heart attack. Horrible place to happen as well, especially on a DOO service.

 

[asylumxl]

Thoughts are with the driver, and from what is described, sounds like it could of been a heart attack. Horrible place to happen as well, especially on a DOO service.

I disagree that it's a horrible place to happen. There's quite a few hospitals nearby, so I'm inclined to say it's a good place to seek help.

Anyway, I hope the driver is alright and has a speedy recovery.

 

[Antman]

I disagree that it's a horrible place to happen. There's quite a few hospitals nearby, so I'm inclined to say it's a good place to seek help.

Anyway, I hope the driver is alright and has a speedy recovery.

Kings College hospital is just down the road from there, I hope he is ok

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Thoughts are with the driver, and from what is described, sounds like it could of been a heart attack. Horrible place to happen as well, especially on a DOO service.

Could have been lots of different causes.

Still, if it was a heart attack, Kings is a cath lab so the call to needle time would have been good.

 

[Clip]

Hope the driver recovers no matter what the issue.

 

[trentside]

Hope this chap is alright - never nice to hear about a colleague in difficulty

 

[BritishRail83]

The train was the 2B79 20:30 Sevenoaks to Blackfriars with class 319.

Wishing the driver a speedy recovery.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Thoughts with the driver, here's hoping he recovers.

 

[bicbasher]

I think St. Thomas's Hospital is a tad closer to the station than Kings.

However, I hope the driver is recovering well.

 

[causton]

My thoughts go out to that driver!

Shouldn't complain too much about the fact the train it was due to form from Blackfriars was saying it was in the platform, when it wasn't running then! What an unfortunate event for the driver. After about 10 minutes of the train not being there, station staff did let on that there was a medical incident, but did not specifically mention the driver.

 

[tony6499]

I hope the driver is ok but I wonder what happened to the train as the rule book states you can't leave a train on a running line ?

With a guard it is not a problem but a DOO leaves a train without protection full of passengers.

 

[Rich McLean]

I disagree that it's a horrible place to happen. There's quite a few hospitals nearby, so I'm inclined to say it's a good place to seek help.

Anyway, I hope the driver is alright and has a speedy recovery.

I meant in the cab of a moving train, not the actual location
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I hope the driver is ok but I wonder what happened to the train as the rule book states you can't leave a train on a running line ?

With a guard it is not a problem but a DOO leaves a train without protection full of passengers.

A nearby driver manager, spare driver (unlikely) or another driver pulled off another job could have moved the train in good time

 

[RPM]

I hope the driver is ok but I wonder what happened to the train as the rule book states you can't leave a train on a running line ?

With a guard it is not a problem but a DOO leaves a train without protection full of passengers.

Is that a serious concern? I kind of think if I'm suffering a heart attack then the niceties of the rulebook can go hang.

 

[DelayRepay]

I hope the driver is ok and makes a full recovery.

It is fortunate that he was able to get the train to a station. What would have happened if this was between stations and it was left to passengers to try to summon help? I wouldn't have a clue where to direct an ambulance to, and I wouldn't have a clue how to contact the TOC control or signaler for help.

This is a serious question: If I phoned 999 and said I was on a train somewhere between two stations, would the emergency services be able to locate the train? Would they contact Network Rail?

Fortunately these circumstances are rare but given DOO trains are common, is there any advice for passengers who have to deal with a situation where the driver is ill/injured?

 

[tony6499]

Is that a serious concern? I kind of think if I'm suffering a heart attack then the niceties of the rulebook can go hang.

And what about the train if it is full of passengers and an unconscious or seriously ill driver ?

There is a safety concern there

 

[cf111]

I hope the driver is ok and makes a full recovery.

It is fortunate that he was able to get the train to a station. What would have happened if this was between stations and it was left to passengers to try to summon help? I wouldn't have a clue where to direct an ambulance to, and I wouldn't have a clue how to contact the TOC control or signaler for help.

This is a serious question: If I phoned 999 and said I was on a train somewhere between two stations, would the emergency services be able to locate the train? Would they contact Network Rail?

Fortunately these circumstances are rare but given DOO trains are common, is there any advice for passengers who have to deal with a situation where the driver is ill/injured?

I will preface this by saying that I am more than happy for people to correct/shout at me if this is not good advice!

If you were able to gain access to the driving cab to tend to the driver and they hadn't or were unable to raise help themselves then the best thing to do would be to hit the big red button with the picture of the train on it on the radio in the attached picture which will connect you to the signaler, I'd dial 999 as well.

If you weren't able to get to the driver at all then calling 999 stating that you are on the HH:MM service from X to Y would be the best option. The emergency services will contact Network Rail to find out where the train is and advise of access points to the railway, as well as stopping traffic if required.

And what about the train if it is full of passengers and an unconscious or seriously ill driver ?

There is a safety concern there

I agree there is a concern, but there are some risks that you cannot fully remove but only mitigate and this is one of them. I don't think it is perhaps wise to get into a discussion of DOO, but rather to take it from the angle of 'it's here to stay on certain lines and there's little we can do about changing that at this point.'

 

[cjmillsnun]

And what about the train if it is full of passengers and an unconscious or seriously ill driver ?

There is a safety concern there

Please lets not get into another DOO argument.

There is CSR/GSMR on these trains, the signallers will know where the train is, and can issue an all trains stop notice to protect the train. With GSMR they can also talk to the passengers.

 

[Dieseldriver]

The driver becoming incapacitated whilst at the controls of a DOO train is a serious negative aspect of DOO. There are plenty of scenarios that could pan out which could delay getting assistance to the driver on a train which would in the meantime have no qualified members of staff on board able to carry out their duties. This thread is inevitably going to lead to a discussion on DOO as it is massively relevant.

Sincerely hope the driver recovers fully and is able to return to driving duties.

 

[LowLevel]

If the DSD (new name for the dead man's pedal) is released on DOO-P (presumably on ECS trains too) whether CSR or GSMR it sends an alarm to the box (it sounds like what I can only describe as a woody woodpecker laugh in the cab with GSMR) after a short period. The agreed process is for a train to be asked to have a look and a coded announcement to be made on the train by the signaller which basically asks any members of staff on board to investigate as the driver is unresponsive.

I shall resist commenting on whether the system is fit for purpose as I suspect there will be a long debate anyway but suffice to say as a guard a dead/incapacitated driver is a particularly nasty scenario to potentially have to deal with.

 

[Tangent]

If you weren't able to get to the driver at all then calling 999 stating that you are on the HH:MM service from X to Y would be the best option. The emergency services will contact Network Rail to find out where the train is and advise of access points to the railway, as well as stopping traffic if required.

Identifying a milepost, bridge plate or signal plate would allow the railway authorities and the emergency services to identify access points fairly quickly. And a smartphone is likely to have some sort of map app.

 

[Murph]

If you were able to gain access to the driving cab to tend to the driver and they hadn't or were unable to raise help themselves then the best thing to do would be to hit the big red button with the picture of the train on it on the radio in the attached picture which will connect you to the signaler, I'd dial 999 as well.

From the look of it, I'd guess that any qualified GMDSS radio operator (marine radio, including small leisure craft) would probably have a reasonable chance of putting out a basic "mayday" via GSM-R. GMDSS has the big red button for emergencies as well. Speaking as someone with a GMDSS license, I'd certainly try that in first preference to 999, if it was available, with the thinking that it would probably allow easier tracing of the distress call to the train and current location (GMDSS transmits the station identity and location automatically). I'd either delegate 999 to someone else, or do that after the GSM-R call if necessary. So, not necessarily a big group of people, but some non-railway folks might well instinctively go for the GSM-R set if it's readily recognisable as a radio and available to them.

I'm pleased to hear that the passengers provided care for the driver in this case, and wish him a speedy recovery.

 

[SussexMan]

...and a coded announcement to be made on the train by the signaller which basically asks any members of staff on board to investigate as the driver is unresponsive...

Have I understood you correctly? Are you saying that a signaller can take control of the PA system on a train and make an announcement?

 

[the sniper]

Have I understood you correctly? Are you saying that a signaller can take control of the PA system on a train and make an announcement?

Yes, they can, with GSM-R. It'd be interesting to know if it's ever actually happened outside of a training scenario though.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Another possibilitty if, as happened here the driver (brave bloke and hats off to him) managed to get the train to a station and release the doors then a platform help point could also be used to contact the TOC. Hope this chap recovers and gets back where he belongs, i.e. on the rails soon

 

[DownSouth]

Identifying a milepost, bridge plate or signal plate would allow the railway authorities and the emergency services to identify access points fairly quickly. And a smartphone is likely to have some sort of map app.

There is also the emergency services' ability to track an emergency call quite accurately, thanks to triangulation from the cells operated by all cellular networks, not just the caller's home network.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

It is fortunate that he was able to get the train to a station. What would have happened if this was between stations and it was left to passengers to try to summon help?

I seem to remember that a similar situation happened up north - whether it was DOO or not I don't know, but the driver was airlifted out due to the relative remoteness.

 

[SPADTrap]

I seem to remember that a similar situation happened up north - whether it was DOO or not I don't know, but the driver was airlifted out due to the relative remoteness.

Aboard an FTPE 185 I think. Helicopter Heroes I think was the tv program! Sure the clip is available on BBC somewhere.

 

[BzRail]

Yes, they can, with GSM-R. It'd be interesting to know if it's ever actually happened outside of a training scenario though.

Yes it has. I think it was last year, I was on an FCC train stopped at Elephant and Castle. The driver was out of his cab trying to fix a door problem in the rear (8th) carriage on a 319.

A loud announcement came over the train PA asking the driver of <headcode> to contact the signaller (or something similar). I assumed this was GSM-R, and the signal person was trying to find what was going on.

Best wishes to the driver, hope all turns out well.