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Chris from Nailsea
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« on: August 27, 2012, 15:43:47 » |
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From the Slough & South Bucks Observer: A mother fears she will never travel on a train with her child again after watching a train leave the station with her four-year-old daughter still onboard.
Christina Parker, from Burnham, was returning home from a trip to Windsor with her daughter Chantel and sister Nikki Parker when the incident happened.
When the First Great Western train arrived at Burnham station on Wednesday, August 1, Miss Parker unloaded her bags and pushchair and turned to pick up her daughter only to find the train doors had shut behind her.
Despite efforts to raise the alarm, the train departed with Chantel still onboard with her aunt.
The pair got off at the next station - Taplow - and got a taxi back to the family home in Cleares Pasture.
Miss Parker said: "If a child gets separated from their parent on the train, anything could happen to them. They could be abducted or injure themselves or even fall onto the train tracks. It was very lucky my sister was still on the train with my little one or else anything could have happened."
Miss Parker was given a ^10 voucher by First Great Western as a gesture of goodwill, but the 20-year-old added: "It would be nice if the train company could do something to make it safer for children and their parents. I would not want to travel on the trains with my child again after this."
A First Group spokesman said: "Prior to the doors closing, there is a clear and audible warning. I do not understand why the customer did not hear the noise. We are investigating further."
The spokesman added that Miss Parker had been offered free train travel more than the value of her initial ticket and had been offered reimbursement for the cost of the taxi fare.
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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JayMac
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« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2012, 01:29:55 » |
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There is but a few seconds between the hustle alarm sounding and the doors closing. It's sufficient time to ensure you are not going to be trapped in closing doors, but nowhere near enough time to continue unloading your pushchair and child.
The comments from the FGW▸ spokesman appear to be putting some blame on the mother. That despite this not being the first occasion a mother has been separated from a child on a FGW DOO▸ service.
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"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
- Sir Terry Pratchett.
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eightf48544
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« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2012, 08:34:15 » |
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Didn't this happen before also at Burnham?
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bobm
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« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2012, 09:49:09 » |
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BerkshireBugsy
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« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2012, 11:04:40 » |
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I have read both this thread and the linked thread with interest. One thing that appearrs clear is that forum members disagree on whether leaving a child on the platform constitutes an emergency. IMHO▸ if my 7 year old son was left on the platform and I was on the train I would consider it an emergency. I would be interested to know what the TOCs▸ position would be on this. I am guessing each use of the emergency stop facility must be reviewed to determine if it has been improperly used. Dave |
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eightf48544
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« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2012, 16:14:53 » |
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I think that any TOC▸ would consider pulling the Emergency Handle in these circumstances to be justified. They wouldn't want the adverse publicity they'd get if they tried to prosecute.
Interesting that both incidents were at Burnhamn wonder if it's to do with it being an island paltform and the driver has to open the right hand side doors. The only station between Paddington and Reading where this required for the regular service.
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2012, 17:37:53 » |
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....hey hang on a minute. The child wasn't left behind on the train by itself  Two people got overcarried, thats all  |
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bobm
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« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2012, 17:44:42 » |
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I agree SandT. Fifteen minutes of fame....
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eightf48544
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« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2012, 08:38:49 » |
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Agreed but the point is why were they overcarried? The driver was either a bit too quick or the passengers very slow.
For the general public whoever is at fault the blame will lie with the TOC▸ it comes with the territory.
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IndustryInsider
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« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2012, 09:42:59 » |
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And with over a million people using Burnham station every year, you will occasionally get incidents like this happening I'm afraid. If it was happening every week at all the stations on FGW▸ then there would be a serious issue to address, but it is very rare.
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To view my GWML▸ Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/ |
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2012, 17:53:29 » |
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.....well I'm sorry but this has really wound me up  Station stops such as at Burnham are generally 30 seconds. Whenever I use the train I'm always near a door ready to get off well before the station stop. You can't expect the driver to wait in case somebody is a little bit slow in moving...the timetable would just fall apart. |
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bobm
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« Reply #11 on: August 29, 2012, 18:08:40 » |
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I agree with you S&T▸ - but these days bus operators seem to encourage people to remain in their seats until the bus stops and I think it has rubbed off on some people when using the train.
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #12 on: August 29, 2012, 20:51:25 » |
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I agree with you S&T▸ - but these days bus operators seem to encourage people to remain in their seats until the bus stops and I think it has rubbed off on some people when using the train.
.....I'm not surprised about that based upon experience from some of my more recent bus trips.....  |
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johoare
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« Reply #13 on: August 29, 2012, 21:07:34 » |
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I guess she was lucky/less worried as she knew that her Sister was staying on the train otherwise I imagine she might have had her four year old in the (otherwise empty) push chair before she took that off the train.. I am pretty sure she wouldn't have left her on her daughter on a train otherwise...
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eightf48544
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« Reply #14 on: August 30, 2012, 09:29:06 » |
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I'm interested in S&T▸ 's views it reflects very much what was prelevent when I worked on the Southern in the 60s. Namely that we could run a very good railway if we didn't have any passnegers.
That's why it's very much easier to shift 2000 tons of aggregate (unless the brakes fail) than 2000 plus passengers a day from from Burnham.
Plus ^a change (plus c'est la m^me chose).
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