Deaths on the railway in 2012

[mralexn]

Is it just me, or does it seem like there is a major problem at the moment with people jumping in front of trains.
It seems 2 - 3 people a day are taking their life this way.
My thoughts are with the drivers / crew and family members of the people involved.
It does however seem really bad at the moment.
so am i right in thinking that this problem is becoming worse and worse ?

 

[142094]

From what I have read it is largely cyclical in nature - there does seem to be more at the start of the year compared to any other time.

 

[the sniper]

I would be interested to know if this January has seen more than normal.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Up to 31 in 30 days this year I believe.

 

[ushawk]

31/32 this year yes - got to remember that some arent suicides but are accidents, like the person who was hit when getting her phone from the line at Wimbledon, and the young girl hit by the Stansted Express at Bishops Stortford.

There is little the railways as a whole can do to stop the suicides though, the accidents can be attempted to be prevented, but they will always happen.

 

[callum112233]

January blues, credit card bills etc. It's a sad but true fact. No one likes January.

 

[mikeg]

Although according to some ONS figures I read sometime ago there are more suicides in general in the summer than the winter. Don't know if this is still the case or if the railways are different.

 

[DownSouth]

31/32 this year yes - got to remember that some arent suicides but are accidents, like the person who was hit when getting her phone from the line at Wimbledon, and the young girl hit by the Stansted Express at Bishops Stortford.

There is little the railways as a whole can do to stop the suicides though, the accidents can be attempted to be prevented, but they will always happen.

I agree. The death of a member of the public on the railways should always be assumed to be an accident unless the police investigation verifies that it was actually suicide or murder. Even if a suicide note is found, police will still investigate whether it's genuine or planted by somebody else as a hoax or even a murder cover-up.

January blues, credit card bills etc. It's a sad but true fact. [sic] No one likes January.

That's bull****. Just because somebody's uninformed and incorrect opinion is repeated by others does not make it a fact. Five minutes on Google reveals numerous reports citing proper academic research showing suicide rates in the UK are higher in spring-summer (May being the peak month) with no results suggesting the opposite. This is a trend repeated in other first-world nations in the Northern Hemisphere, and the inverse has been shown in the Southern Hemisphere during the October-January spring-summer period.

Therefore any increase of fatalities on the railways of the UK during winter months is more likely to be an increase in accidental fatalities. Research has probably been conducted into this (which I can't find without access to an academic database) but the only thing I can think of is that shorter daylight hours and weather conditions making for lower visibility.

 

[142094]

I agree. The death of a member of the public on the railways should always be assumed to be an accident unless the police investigation verifies that it was actually suicide or murder. Even if a suicide note is found, police will still investigate whether it's genuine or planted by somebody else as a hoax or even a murder cover-up.

The fact is that people who do commit suicide on the railway often do it on the spur of the moment and do not plan it in advance, and therefore do not leave a suicide note.

That's bull****. Just because somebody's uninformed and incorrect opinion is repeated by others does not make it a fact. Five minutes on Google reveals numerous reports citing proper academic research showing suicide rates in the UK are higher in spring-summer (May being the peak month) with no results suggesting the opposite. This is a trend repeated in other first-world nations in the Northern Hemisphere, and the inverse has been shown in the Southern Hemisphere during the October-January spring-summer period.

I expect that is looking at suicides in general and not on the railway. From a paper I've just read (by van Houwelingen and Beersma, 2000), it shows that most railway suicides happen at the beginning of the working week, and during the morning peak rush.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Around 220 a year on the National Network - locations etc are analysized in depth but difficult to prove trends - certain London routes have patterns - Harrow , Chadwell Heath , GW around Southall and mitigating arrangements in hand. (and have been for some years)

Scotland seems very high at the moment for some reason....2 ove the weekend.

All very bad news all round , for everyone.

 

[Simondo]

Dear all,
thought i'd chip in here as i have experience of the events relating to this thread. I'm not a rail employee but work as a state registered Paramedic for South Central Ambulance service - my excuse for being on this site is i am a rail fan as it happens ( not as a spotter but firmly enjoy diesel locos).
I can confirm, the suicide rate by any method generally increases around new year. The use of a train to achieve this is certainly increasing. I have attended 2 fatal incidents this year alone and prevented another - seemingly always at the same locations.
I think the person in a crisis is so focused about completing their aim, they cannot have any comprehension about the knock on effect of their actions and using a train is pretty definitive. I don't know if it could be described as more 'fashionable' to go this way but it's certainly easy, costs nothing and ,i guess, relatively painless if quick so therefore it is becoming a much more used method.
I have also had colleagues attend fatals as a consequence of alcohol and general stupidity around a railway line / station so i guess these incidents are rather ad hoc as opposed to a specific cause.
I don't think anything will stop this. As social pressure like debt increases, so will people's desire to 'get out of the stress', meaning unfortunately, the train will continually be a target.

 

[amcluesent]

I'm minded that media reporting creates a self-reinforcing use of the railways by peeps who suicidal, planting the idea in their mind to end their life on the track. Folks are easily led into 'copy cat' behaviours

 

[mralexn]

I'm minded that media reporting creates a self-reinforcing use of the railways by peeps who suicidal, planting the idea in their mind to end their life on the track. Folks are easily led into 'copy cat' behaviours

I would agree, however for a suicidal person, this is a very quick and painless way to die.
I cant imagine youd last very long being hit by a HST ..

 

[calc7]

I'm minded that media reporting creates a self-reinforcing use of the railways by peeps who suicidal, planting the idea in their mind to end their life on the track. Folks are easily led into 'copy cat' behaviours

There's statistics to prove that when the media stops sensationally reporting serial killings, numbers drop. I imagine it's much the same in this case.

 

[LE Greys]

I would agree, however for a suicidal person, this is a very quick and painless way to die.
I cant imagine youd last very long being hit by a HST ..

Well that's what you might think, but it isn't always the case. It's possible to be hit in such a way that you are critically injured, but don't die straight away (especially at less than full speed) or end up paralysed for life. It also doesn't leave much to bury, which sometimes has to be collected in a bin-bag. There's a story about a Castle-class arriving at Paddington with a head sitting on the bufferbeam. The rest of the body was found at Slough, and belonged to a platelayer who had not got clear in time. It seems the crew did not even notice the impact.

In general, there are cleaner and surer ways.

 

[Greeny]

I would agree, however for a suicidal person, this is a very quick and painless way to die.
I cant imagine youd last very long being hit by a HST ..

If the train is going at high speed you are right. However, I have attended fatalities where the injured party did not die straight away, and where they jumped under a train from the side, from under a platform and were severed at the waist which probably took them a short time to die. I've also had a three man fault team killed by a train doing 10mph. I can assure you that was not very quick. I also had one on the Bootle Branch who completely mis-judged it and only had his arm ripped off.

To be honest (and I know that I'll probably be criticised for saying it) I never could feel any sympathy at all for suicides because of what their actions put other people through (especially the poor sod driving the train).

G.

 

[mralexn]

Well that's what you might think, but it isn't always the case. It's possible to be hit in such a way that you are critically injured, but don't die straight away (especially at less than full speed) or end up paralysed for life. It also doesn't leave much to bury, which sometimes has to be collected in a bin-bag. There's a story about a Castle-class arriving at Paddington with a head sitting on the bufferbeam. The rest of the body was found at Slough, and belonged to a platelayer who had not got clear in time. It seems the crew did not even notice the impact.

In general, there are cleaner and surer ways.

You are very right, but i wouldnt want to get into a convo about the best way to jump in front of a HST :P
How did the crew not notice that they hit someone at Slough until the service got into Paddington?

 

[AlterEgo]

Person under a train at Barlaston...

So many since January.

 

[mralexn]

Person under a train at Barlaston...

So many since January.

A person has been hit by a train near Stoke-on-Trent.

 

[LE Greys]

You are very right, but i wouldnt want to get into a convo about the best way to jump in front of a HST :P
How did the crew not notice that they hit someone at Slough until the service got into Paddington?

I think it was early morning, so probably dark. The view forward from a steam engine isn't exactly brilliant, and the driver might have been checking the signals at the time. He must have whistled, and just assumed that everyone had cleared the four-foot safely. Also remember that GWR engines are right-hand-drive, so if someone was clearing to the left, then that side of the bufferbeam is out of view.

 

[amcluesent]

It's surely time that NR plays D:ream's "Things can only get better" at all stations?

 

[142094]

Some of the research that I've been reading is that 90% of suicide attempts end up as a fatality, although as others have pointed out in is not necessarily an quick and painless way to do it. The 90% fatality rate lowers significantly for Metro/underground type systems.

 

[mralexn]

Some of the research that I've been reading is that 90% of suicide attempts end up as a fatality, although as others have pointed out in is not necessarily an quick and painless way to do it. The 90% fatality rate lowers significantly for Metro/underground type systems.

id imagine that would be because they have a "suicide pit" so youd just end up there, and (take away the electric danger) tube stock is genually a lot lighter and does not travel at such a high speed as a HST etc. does

 

[Bald Rick]

id imagine that would be because they have a "suicide pit" so youd just end up there, and (take away the electric danger) tube stock is genually a lot lighter and does not travel at such a high speed as a HST etc. does

The Underground, Met line aside, has trains stopping at all stations. So not only slow speed, but the driver is already braking. It's also pretty difficult to get on to the LU lines other than at a station.

A fair proportion of main line railway fatalities are from station platforms in front of trains that aren't stoppping.