Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 20:35 02 May 2025
 
- Trump disliked Trudeau. Here's why Carney may fare better
- Activists say ship aiming to sail to Gaza was attacked by drones
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 tomorrow - Walk to Pilning
10/05/25 - BRTA Westbury
10/05/25 - Model Railway Show, Calne
13/05/25 - Melksham TUG / AGM

On this day
2nd May (1859)
Wilton South station opened

Train RunningCancelled
19:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
20:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading
Short Run
15:50 Penzance to Gloucester
19:12 London Paddington to Bristol Parkway
19:51 Worcester Foregate Street to Bristol Temple Meads
20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa
20:10 Gloucester to Bristol Temple Meads
20:28 Paignton to Exmouth
21:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Shrub Hill
Delayed
18:18 Carmarthen to London Paddington
19:48 London Paddington to Swansea
20:23 Swansea to London Paddington
An additional train service has been planned to operate as shown 21:16 Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads
An additional train service has been planned to operate as shown 21:52 Gloucester to Worcester Shrub Hill
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
May 02, 2025, 20:50:30 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[116] In memory of the Weymouth Harbour Tramway on the anniversary o...
[54] Steam excursion - except there's much more diesel than steam!
[49] Taplow-Hassocks
[49] 2025 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury...
[36] Bath Spa station - dealing with future capacity issues - ideas...
[34] Low passenger numbers due to train unreliability
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 [2] 3
  Print  
Author Topic: Arrest after 'man gets into train driver's cab'  (Read 20293 times)
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 19310



View Profile
« Reply #15 on: December 10, 2015, 20:38:44 »

Presumably a terrorist trained to use a Class 57?

Yes I know about 9/11 and their training, but I'm unaware of any training schools where terrorists can get private train driving lessons suuficient for them to take control of a mainline train. Maybe a driving day on a heritage railway, but that's it.

For what reason should we be protecting train driving cabs? I think the threat is non-existent. A terrorist is far more likely to want to be in a passenger area.
Logged

"Good news for regular users of Euston Station in London! One day they will die. Then they won't have to go to Euston Station ever again." - David Mitchell
LiskeardRich
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 3571

richardwarwicker@hotmail.co.uk
View Profile
« Reply #16 on: December 10, 2015, 20:40:18 »

I did wonder what drivers would think of the suggestion. Thanks for clarifying a-driver.

I was a bit surprised how quickly this thread escalated to 'terrorist threat' when there was zero evidence. 

I have heard today from a normally reliable internal source at GWR (Great Western Railway) it was a mental health patient involved, still wearing the hospital tags.
Logged

All posts are my own personal believes, opinions and understandings!
chrisr_75
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1019


View Profile
« Reply #17 on: December 11, 2015, 01:33:50 »

I did wonder what drivers would think of the suggestion. Thanks for clarifying a-driver.

I was a bit surprised how quickly this thread escalated to 'terrorist threat' when there was zero evidence. 

I have heard today from a normally reliable internal source at GWR (Great Western Railway) it was a mental health patient involved, still wearing the hospital tags.

Not at all surprising, it was either that or someone drunk/high on something rather than anything more sinister. As suggested earlier, I would imagine the driver probably coaxed them in in some way in order to remove them from the rather hazardous environment of the trackside rather than it being a forced entry of some sort.
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 43970



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #18 on: December 11, 2015, 05:50:36 »

From the BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

A danger of unauthorised access to (or operation of) rail equipment:

Quote
A Boston subway train which left its station without a driver and travelled to four other stations was tampered with, say officials.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said "somebody who knew what they were doing" was involved.
The train, which was heading towards central Boston, was carrying 50 people, none of whom were hurt.
The train operator was mildly injured because the train brushed him as it began to move.
Mr Baker told Boston's Herald Radio that officials have not determined whether the tampering was "negligence versus something else".
Officials found that a safety device meant to prevent the rail cars from operating without a driver was altered.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 13351


View Profile Email
« Reply #19 on: December 11, 2015, 08:04:28 »

Or 'faulty' maintenance by authorised person(s)
Logged
TaplowGreen
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 8647



View Profile
« Reply #20 on: December 11, 2015, 08:41:12 »

Presumably a terrorist trained to use a Class 57?

Yes I know about 9/11 and their training, but I'm unaware of any training schools where terrorists can get private train driving lessons suuficient for them to take control of a mainline train. Maybe a driving day on a heritage railway, but that's it.

For what reason should we be protecting train driving cabs? I think the threat is non-existent. A terrorist is far more likely to want to be in a passenger area.


Well if they hadn't considered it before, any terrorists looking for targets now know they have another soft one to aim at.
Logged
Tim
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 2738


View Profile
« Reply #21 on: December 11, 2015, 10:35:45 »

Presumably a terrorist trained to use a Class 57?

Yes I know about 9/11 and their training, but I'm unaware of any training schools where terrorists can get private train driving lessons suuficient for them to take control of a mainline train. Maybe a driving day on a heritage railway, but that's it.

For what reason should we be protecting train driving cabs? I think the threat is non-existent. A terrorist is far more likely to want to be in a passenger area.
 
Quite right.  When NR» (Network Rail - home page) reopened a yard at March on part of the old Whitemoor marshalling yard,  the prison service objected on trains operating again on the (perhaps) reasonable ground that noise would disturb prisoners in MHP Whitemoor which had been build on part of the site and also on the rather stupid grounds that someone could hijack a train and drive it into the prison wall as part of an escape bid!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/3174107.stm
IMHO ('in my humble opinion'), whilst a driver in a cab might want to take precautions about someone wanting to enter the cab to mess about or nick his/her bag, a terrorist is more likely to be able to do more damage with a truck or bus than a train.
Logged
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 13351


View Profile Email
« Reply #22 on: December 11, 2015, 10:49:34 »

I have heard today from a normally reliable internal source at GWR (Great Western Railway) it was a mental health patient involved, still wearing the hospital tags.

Somewhat surprised they let them on the sleeper in the first place....
Logged
IndustryInsider
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 10457


View Profile
« Reply #23 on: December 11, 2015, 10:51:31 »

Well if they hadn't considered it before, any terrorists looking for targets now know they have another soft one to aim at.

Access to the cab does vary from train to train.  Without going into details it's fair to say that newer trains are generally more difficult to access without keys than older ones.  Agreed with others that it's a very unlikely target for a terrorist, when compared to the ease of sitting on board with the passengers.  A terrorist would have to do an awful lot of training to be able to drive a train and cause an accident, and would, as a result, be in possession of all the relevant access keys as a result so it wouldn't matter if the door was locked or not anyway!
 
That's not to say that drivers shouldn't be vigilant, and most are, though locking the access door on, for example, a Turbo, is a little awkward and potentially dangerous for the driver to escape in an emergency - as 'a-driver' stated.
Logged

To view my GWML (Great Western Main Line) 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/
LiskeardRich
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 3571

richardwarwicker@hotmail.co.uk
View Profile
« Reply #24 on: December 11, 2015, 20:39:58 »

I have heard today from a normally reliable internal source at GWR (Great Western Railway) it was a mental health patient involved, still wearing the hospital tags.

Somewhat surprised they let them on the sleeper in the first place....

But if its someone who is discharged and not accompanied there are no checks when boarding as long as someone has a ticket.
Logged

All posts are my own personal believes, opinions and understandings!
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 13351


View Profile Email
« Reply #25 on: December 12, 2015, 14:52:46 »

Even with the hospital tags?
Logged
chrisr_75
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1019


View Profile
« Reply #26 on: December 12, 2015, 17:16:19 »

Even with the hospital tags?

Why would a hospital tag mean anything to any train crew or station staff?
Logged
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 13351


View Profile Email
« Reply #27 on: December 12, 2015, 17:34:49 »

It would pique my interest sufficiently to maybe have a quiet word...peoke din't generally go around wearing these
Logged
PhilWakely
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2168



View Profile
« Reply #28 on: December 13, 2015, 19:44:49 »

...peoke din't generally go around wearing these

Assuming you have had a hospital stay, have you ever tried removing these tags without a pair of scissors or even thought about it upon discharge?
Logged
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 13351


View Profile Email
« Reply #29 on: December 13, 2015, 20:13:17 »

In my very recent experience, hospitals won't let you out wearing them as they could be a security ridk. Yes, seriously.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: 1 [2] 3
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page