this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2024
120 points (99.2% liked)

World News

39445 readers
2453 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News [email protected]

Politics [email protected]

World Politics [email protected]


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Summary

A passenger on London’s Elizabeth line was forced to run several meters along a platform at Ealing Broadway station after his hand became trapped in the closing doors of a departing train on 24 November.

Railway staff intervened to pull him away, and the train stopped after moving 17 meters. The passenger sustained minor injuries.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is investigating the incident, part of a series of similar “trap and drag” cases, to improve safety measures.

Transport for London and the operator, MTR, are cooperating fully.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] pageflight 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Wikipedia lists many countries that use platform screen doors as a safety measure, for both train and bus platforms. Below, Bogotá.

Bogotá

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

The Elizabeth line is already built with platform screen doors, although I believe they're only on underground sections. I don't know enough about this station to say whether it had them; I expect not.

Platform screen doors tend to be used underground mainly for airflow management. They are not primarily for safety.

They work less well outside. No overhead structure to anchor to, weather has a larger impact (particularly snow/ice), and they can become something to climb rather than an obstacle.

[–] TheBat 3 points 1 week ago

Some metro projects in India are using them outside though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I haven’t personally traveled on this station before but looking online at pictures it seems this station is overground not underground and doesn’t have the platform screen doors.

I do know other lines have started to add platform screen doors as well on the London Underground namely Waterloo Underground Station and the Jubilee line.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

On underground lines, the PSDs are mostly for air-sealing. It allows you to air-condition the platforms without trying to cool the tunnels, and it helps the piston effect of moving trains pull air through the tunnels, rather than just swirl air around each platform.

Also probably helps for fire engineering.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Ah, interesting, thanks!

Not a lot of passenger rail here in the US, though now that you show that picture, I think I recall seeing an internal airport train that has some kind of similar screen.

pokes around

Yeah, I think that it's the airport train at Atlanta that I'm thinking of, looks like they have them.

reads further

It sounds like the goal of these are somewhat different. Hmm. According to that article, there are some problems with providing direct passenger access to the space with the rail lines -- people committing suicide using the train, people falling onto the tracks, people intentionally running around in the rail tunnels via access from the platform, unwanted movement of air between the passenger and rail area, and people tossing garbage into the track area, and this avoids those issues; the passengers still get access to the train interior when there's a train present, but not to the track.

considers

It might also provide a second safety mechanism -- I assume that the train can't move if either the safety mechanism on the station platform door or the train door detects that its door is obstructed from closing, but I think that this would still permit the potential for people running late for a train aiming to halt the train from leaving by tripping the safety mechanism on both doors.

kagis

Hmm.

https://old.reddit.com/r/tall/comments/613ogj/guys_head_gets_stuck_between_train_doors_xpost/

Based on the comment on this post, on the London subway, they partially mitigate people trying to block the train from leaving by not always fully reopening the doors if they hit an obstacle. This guy apparently got his head wedged in the door, and I guess whatever degree to which they will reopen, if any, wasn't enough to retract it.

Wow...really? Tube doors close HARD there's no mechanism that makes it release.

Seriously? That's really dangerous. In Melbourne our train doors close fairly weakly, and if they hit something they open straight away. Never heard of anyone getting stuck in a train door around here.

If you take the tube in London for a couple of weeks you'd want them to close hard. The amount of idiots who end up delaying hundreds of people because they can't wait 90 seconds for the next train is staggering.

But it's not that bad, really. The doors aren't violent, they're resolute.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

The doors aren't violent, they're resolute

New sign on doors:

"The door WILL close.

Puny human flesh is not an obstacle worthy of stopping the inevitable closure of the door."

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Hey look it's star citizen