I wondered about that and was part of the point of my question - would the driver be unreasonably reprimanded. My take is that if enough journeys are taken then sooner or later a human error will occur. Would a driver with an inevitable enquiry pending be in a fit state to continue with the journey? Would he remember to contact the bobby (as the late pull up and subsequent thinking time, even without reversing, has to be unexpectedly blocking the line)?
When I missed a station as a Trainee Driver, my Driver Trainer picked up the four points on his 'license'* and three extra ride outs with a Driver Manager as I hadn't yet received a 'license'*. I had approached West Hampstead Thameslink on the Up Fast, having received advanced warning of a diverging route set at the Jcn (just after the station) and had concentrated on the junction rather than the station. I realised as we approached but we had little option but to carry on to Kings Cross Thameslink without stopping (the signaller was unlikely to let us set back across the junction).
It was amazing how the two hundred or so passengers waiting between the platform edge and the yellow line failed to move when the train was hurtling through at 60mph!
*It's not a license like a road driving license, but it is part of the qualification to drive trains.
It may be hard to believe, but this happened just before Christmas. I must admit I was surprised; I can only imagine that, because it was the last train of the night, the train crew felt it was only kind to let the passengers on, and it was easier to get them to walk down the track than reverse to the station....
I managed to stop a train with the front set of doors just barely on the platform at Harlington once, I checked all was okay and let the passengers out before carrying on to Bedford. The next day the Driver manager calls me and my trainer into his office to tell us we'd been taken off our 'job' and to discuss it.
It transpires that the daughter of a Company Director claimed to be on the train, at the front, and told her father what happened (in her eyes), the Company Director fired off an email in the morning claiming that the front door was not only off the platform but also liable to give an unsuspecting passenger a nasty fall to the ballast off the end of the platform ramp (though the second door was on the platform as she had apparently used that door instead).
The DM failed to produce any evidence of this except a CCTV still of the back of the train, claiming it proved we'd overshot and not reported it. After two hours of sitting in the depot waiting for them to get some more evidence (they didn't get any) we were 'let off' and had to finish off the days work.
So if you really think this is a regular occurrence, I suggest you make a complaint in regard to unsafe working and breaches of the railway rules.
....Of this I do have photographic evidence - and it's not a one-off. If somebody can explain to me how to post a photo, I'll show you!
Either upload your photo to a photo sharing website (photobucket, Flickr, etc) and post a link in your post (you may need to shrink the picture depending on how big it is), or use an attachment.
Still, can't grumble too much for 50p I guess 
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