serious saftey issue- who best to contact please.

[whole diary]

[Electric train]

Sorry if I^ve caused any issues posting that question.

In hindsight the passenger alarm would have been a good idea, but as we were so close to the destination and said issue couldn^t happen again before the destination ( and there was no way I^d be able to get to the alarm as the train was packed) I decided to report it at the station. I also called FGW^▸ (First Great Western), and I have to say how impressed I was with the person I called. There was no log made of when I reported the issue at the station, but that^s not to say it wasn^t dealt with. I still feel it^s best not to go into details, but I can assure you all I^m not using this forum as publicity or for scare mongering, I generally didn^t know how to best to report the issue.

Thank you,

Simon.

As a member of the public you can only report these things to a member of staff at the time or just after even as a Railway employee it can be the best way, you were quite correct to follow it up as you did, the incident should have been logged by the staff member at the very least that area will get a cascade brief to remind staff of the correct process

[matt473]

Sorry if I^ve caused any issues posting that question.

I'd say do not apologise as it raised a very important topic on what people can/should do if they suspect something is happening on the railway that can endager safety. It has proved to be a very useful topic and you have not given away details that could cause problems so if anything this was a very useful topic you started and I for one am greatful.

[grahame]

Simon - there's nothing to apologise for.  I for one am very happy that you set the scene and then asked what you should do.   The fact that it lead to an animated debate, and calls made in a way that otherwise may not have happened, confirmed you were exactly right to ask.

In fact .. there is probably scope for a sticky "What to do in an emergency" type thread to include
- Bridge Strikes
- Level crossing (?)malfunctions
- People, animal, shopping trolleys and sleepers on the line
- burning telepgraph polls
- Threatening behaviour on the train
- landslip and washout, tree across the line
- sparks and flames coming out of a train
- other incidents
It's probably fair to assume that - for the most part - these things will be picked up by rail staff and you'll just be repeating a report, but I'm sure that the rail authorities would far rather have two reports rather than none at all if the none at all resulted in a serious accident ...

[Tim]

There is a system (called CIRAS^▸ (Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System)) for STAFF to report safety concerns if they feel that the normal company channels are not viable.  They do not accept reports from teh public though and say..

"Members of the public with a concern about operational safety should contact: Network Rail - 08457 114141 or, if the matter is urgent, the British Transport Police - 0800 405040."

[Chris from Nailsea]

For bridge damage, it is rather more obvious as NR^» (Network Rail - home page) provide emergency number and location details on handy signs.

However ... such signs are not necessarily kept up-to-date: see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9028.msg92276#msg92276 

[hornbeam]

I did call FGW^▸ (First Great Western) again to ensure the details of my call had been logged, and was informed nothing had been logged on their system- after informing them twice! ive now contacted the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about).

[Phil]

Well done, Simon. Good for you for not giving up in the face of corporate indifference.

[inspector_blakey]

Very disappointed to hear that neither the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) staff on the day nor customer services took the complaint seriously and pursued it. In the circumstances you've done absolutely the right thing.