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Thursday 28 March 2013

Clearing Trains at Queens Park

A number of residents have raised the issue of trains being cleared at Queens Park.

The old system was that station staff would clear the trains that terminated there.  This was ended recently, and tannoy announcements relied on.  There were complaints that as the trains were not specifically cleared, people were sometimes driven into the sidings, and I have heard anecdotes of people getting out of the sidings and walking on to the tracks.

The train drivers thought this was so dangerous that they started clearing the trains themselves.  However, this led to operational delays. The whole thing was escalating with threats of industrial action.

With the help of Navin Shah, I have been investigating this.  I understand that the RMT and ASLEF are now working with TfL to get possible solutions together rather than go to industrial action.

However, I think all this is very concerning.  The amount of money that TfL hope to save cannot compensate for reduced safety, or probably even the disruption to the network.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are jumping on this one a bit Late aren't you?

Anonymous said...

Staff were introduced to clear trains a few years ago, when a left-behind passenger panicked, used the inter-car doors, and was thrown on to the track when the train went over the points, and died.

That will only cease to be a risk when new trains, with joined-together cars, are introduced in about 2021, just like the current London Overground trains.


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