Train delayed by man on roof

[lookingforit35]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-14317169

I dont wish to speculate about why anyone would want to do so.

But how do we think this happened - climbed on at station/at signal? And how and when did the driver become aware?

 

[philjo]

Fortunately it isn't a route with 25kv ohle!

How would he get onto the roof?

 

[Intermodal]

I bet that medical assessment they're talking about was of the psychiatric kind....

 

[ushawk]

Nice to know my train earlier was delayed for a very good reason then :roll:

 

[NightatLaira]

This used to be a big problem around Walton-on-Thames in the early 00s... they called it 'train surfing' - then oneday a kid was doing it and got whacked off by an overhead signal gantry near Hersham iirc, (died of course). It stopped after then...

 

[syorksdeano]

How the hell has he managed to get on the roof? Having said that I will be travelling the Cross Country "Cattle truck" service on Friday so I might be able to get a seat

 

[NightatLaira]

They climb up the bit between the carriage ends when a train is in the station as people are boarding/disembarking. Often it isn't noticed. They then sit or stand on the roof bit and dare each other to do stunts as the trains are moving along.... and that's how the accidents happen.

If a train driver becomes alerted to this during a journey (normally by radio from another passing service) the driver of the train with the 'surfers' has to to slow to a stop wherever they are on the network, even if it's in the inner lines of a four-track.

Many drivers will attempt if at all possible to stop in a station but this isn't always possible, and if they stop in the middle of nowhere (like this one did - then the 'surfers' effectively cannot get down, as it's effectively a 4metre drop to the ground from the top of a train without a platform to land on (same as jumping out of your upstairs window) - so they end up marooned on the roof until the emergency services get there - like this chap.

 

[HugePilchard]

British Transport Police (BTP) said a 39-year-old man was removed from the top of the train

Of course, what they should have said is:

British Transport Police (BTP) said a man who was old enough to know better was removed from the top of the train

 

[pendolino]

Many drivers will attempt if at all possible to stop in a station but this isn't always possible, and if they stop in the middle of nowhere (like this one did - then the 'surfers' effectively cannot get down, as it's effectively a 4metre drop to the ground from the top of a train without a platform to land on (same as jumping out of your upstairs window) - so they end up marooned on the roof until the emergency services get there - like this chap.

What makes you say that? I'd stop as soon as I possibly could, and I can't imagine any other driver doing anything than that if they'd been told there was someone on the roof. I really don't think any driver would carry on to the next station if that's what you're suggesting.

 

[466.networkers]

This used to be a big problem around Walton-on-Thames in the early 00s... they called it 'train surfing' - then oneday a kid was doing it and got whacked off by an overhead signal gantry near Hersham iirc, (died of course). It stopped after then...

If you look at a Southeastern Networker, you will notice some yellow cowling at the ends of the trains.

This was installed on every single unit to stop people, mainly in London, 'surfing' on the ends of the trains as the design had a slight flaw of a step big enough for someone to stand on whilst holding on to the bars that (IIRC) were under the windscreen before they were removed ...

FCC's 365s do not have the same design no step cowling but since the introduction of cab air con and the 'smiley face' cab end design it is more difficult to stand on the ends due to the redesign.

 

[Flamingo]

I was once told that a group of paras (back in the mid 90's) decided they would dare each other to climb out the vestibule window of a HST, across the roof and in the opposite side whilst it was going through Wiltshire.

It ended in tears.

 

[class377man]

He's clearly not all there. Whether he's a perfectly sane drunken idiot or genuinely mentally disturbed remains to be seen.

 

[jon0844]

They should make him get around in a mobility scooter from now on...

 

[Flamingo]

They should make him get around in a mobility scooter from now on...

Very good!

 

[SprinterMan]

I remember in 2005? reading about a guy who tried this "train surfing" at thorpe bay on a c2c train. If I remember correctly a part of him came into contact with the OHL and he ended up with 70% 3rd degree burns. I'm unsure if he survived. I don't know what posseses people to do this but it is a ridiculous thing to do and hope to god the practise stops.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

If you look hard enough at the picture, what is he holding in his right hand?

 

[Solent&Wessex]

The biggest shock in that picture is the size of the train. It has 4 carriages! Up here in the windswept north you are lucky to get 3 coaches in the peak, let alone off peak. People have to nearly stand on the roof just to get home.

 

[Flamingo]

Well, it's rough oop north

 

[Fincra5]

Well its a lot of speculation as to what he had in his had. Various ideas at the depot, ranging from an axe to a chainsaw. It was probably a beer.

I was lucky to be on the last train through before the block and power cut between Hove and Angmering

 

[whhistle]

There's been a lot of incidents on the railways recently, whether this is due to the holidays beginning or not I don't know?

HERE is another one:

Railway electric shock victim in danger warning
A man badly injured when he suffered an electric shock from overhead wires as he played near a railway as a boy is warning others of the dangers.

Nathan Wood, 25, from Tamworth in Staffordshire, was throwing domestic electrical wire over a railway bridge with his cousin when he was aged 12.

 

[CardiffKid]

The biggest shock in that picture is the size of the train. It has 4 carriages! Up here in the windswept north you are lucky to get 3 coaches in the peak, let alone off peak. People have to nearly stand on the roof just to get home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TQWCth8E2o

Watch from 2:35 minutes in

 

[sprinterguy]

If you look at a Southeastern Networker, you will notice some yellow cowling at the ends of the trains.

This was installed on every single unit to stop people, mainly in London, 'surfing' on the ends of the trains as the design had a slight flaw of a step big enough for someone to stand on whilst holding on to the bars that (IIRC) were under the windscreen before they were removed ...

FCC's 365s do not have the same design no step cowling but since the introduction of cab air con and the 'smiley face' cab end design it is more difficult to stand on the ends due to the redesign.

It's not a design flaw, it's a feature prevalent on most second gen multiple units from 313s and Pacers onwards (A few of the most modern designs don't have it, but the Turbostars and Electrostars do) which I've always been led to believe was to allow maintenance access to the windscreens, lighting clusters and wipers.

 

[jon0844]

I think the poor man simply misunderstood what 'OUT' meant on his ticket.

 

[millemille]

The guy on the roof of the 377 is a well known alcoholic (and scouser) from Worthing. He always carries around a small drinks bottle filled with Vodka and orange. The item in his hand will be the lock for his bike which he always has on his person.

The South Eastern 465/466's has the waist rails removed and the step boards covered with the angled section of the anti-climber pod cowls to prevent surfers getting on the intermediate and trailing cabs at stations, predominantly in the Woolwich Arsenal area.

The 365's have not had this mod done because the class of chav is better north of the river.

Mike (former Networker Engineer - ex Met Camm/Connex/Atkins - and now chip shop owner in Worthing where the guy on the roof of the train buys his chips.)

 

[jon0844]

I guess the overhead wires also play a part in stopping people from climbing up top.

 

[Wyvern]

They dont do it twice.

 

[Mainliner]

Watch from 4:10...Gene Wilder's face at 4:19!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oevp0M5DXpI

 

[Fincra5]

Apparently said man had some copper cabling, from the track area(?), and was hitting the roof at the back.

 

[dieselbashdave]

I'm glad that when pickled I behave with a tad more decorum than climbing atop a train!

Incidentally, I wonder what would have happened if it was a Super Voyager or something else with a roof-mounted exhaust and rheostat brake cooling grid? Grilled alive I would imagine.

 

[LE Greys]

Perfectly normal means of travel (although illegal) in some parts of the world.

http://society.ezinemark.com/bangladeshi-passengers-head-home-in-overcrowded-trains-77367a066663.html

And you think our lines are overcrowded!