Emergency alarm - how often are they pressed?

[Schweir]

Following on from the "Reading commuter" thread, a few people noted that commuters pressed the emergency alarm/cord when the train passed through their station. Now I am wondering how frequently these emergency alarms are pressed? Have you ever experienced someone pressing the emergency cord (or even pressed it yourself)?

 

[MrB]

Not an emergency alarm - but did once experience a passenger hammering on the driver's door non stop for 15 minutes because they'd got on a fast train from London to Tunbridge Wells and only wanted Lewisham.

Was an interesting experience to say the least!

 

[greatkingrat]

Speaking as a driver, twice in the last year (one person fainted, one kids messing about).

 

[thejuggler]

Once last year. The Guard reminded passengers the red handle in the toilet does not lock the door!

A couple of years ago I was on an ECML service between Leeds and Wakefield which lost overhead power resulting in a full emergency stop.

 

[SPADTrap]

Had an egress pulled on the offside at Chesterfield a few weeks ago. The only alarm that didn't sound was the fire alarm! First I've had on a 222.

 

[GW43125]

I was on a train once which was detained outside Clapham Jn for almost half an hour due to the weather, during this wait at least one handle was pulled (it got really warm). I've seen a call for aid hit by accident once, as well as one time a passcomm which refused to reset and shut the line down for half an hour in the peak.
I've come very close to hitting one myself after the toilet door handle got stuck; but never had to use one (yet!)

In all purposes, if I can find the guard rather than stopping the train, I will.
The exception being if, on slamdoor stock, I find a door on the catch; or on any stock if I see someone trapped or in danger, I will immediately stop the train regardless. I would rather stop the train then explain myself and get a telling-off from the guard than not stop the train and see something dodgy happen that I could have prevented.

 

[LowLevel]

I've had plenty of occasions where I've had people pull the cord on my train and every one so far has been a mistake.

I however have done it twice myself - once when we smashed into a fallen tree and the other time when someone was running along the train banging the window.

 

[37057]

I've come very close to hitting one myself after the toilet door handle got stuck; but never had to use one (yet!)

Can't talk for other units but the alarms in the bogs on Desiros don't initiate a brake application, it's there for communication only. There should be a tool in the emergency cupboard to release standard door catches!

 

[GW43125]

Can't talk for other units but the alarms in the bogs on Desiros don't initiate a brake application, it's there for communication only. There should be a tool in the emergency cupboard to release standard door catches!

It was on a desiro, I wasn't aware of this so waited until we got into the station. But I'd managed to wiggle it free by then. I promptly got the guard to lock it out.

 

[181]

Sadly (?) I've never found an excuse to pull one -- it's one of those things that you wouldn't normally do because it's wrong (quite apart from getting you into trouble), but you find yourself faintly hoping for a situation that would justify it (without being too serious).

As I may have said before, I do though remember my father pulling one, at Minffordd (BR, not Ffestiniog) in 1984. The train overshot the platform and restarted before the several disembarking passengers in the front coach (it wasn't just us) had reached a door adjacent to the platform; once the situation had been explained, it set back into the station for us.

This prompted Dad to tell the story of arriving at Upper Warlingham in the early 1950s in pre-Grouping non-corridor stock. Usually when the train was longer than the platform it drew forward to allow people at the back to get out, but on this occasion it didn't; he pulled the cord and it broke, with yards of chain pouring out while the train continued unimpeded to the next station.

 

[GW43125]

Sadly (?) I've never found an excuse to pull one -- it's one of those things that you wouldn't normally do because it's wrong (quite apart from getting you into trouble), but you find yourself faintly hoping for a situation that would justify it (without being too serious).

I know that feeling. It's probably just because of the desire to press a red button marked "do not press"-that type of thing.

Whenever I'm on a train travelling at fair what (ie 100mph+), there's always a part of me that thinks "let's pull the handle and dump the brake, it'll be funny". Obviously I know better than that so wouldn't.

 

[221129]

Have pulled a few, and reset a few and the amount I have seen or heard go off ive lost count.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

On at least three separate occasions during last year I was on a SWT / SWR 455 when someone sitting in the longitudinal seat nearest the doors accidentally pressed the "help" button with their shoulder - one of them actually leaning on it...

 

[GW43125]

On at least three separate occasions during last year I was on a SWT / SWR 455 when someone sitting in the longitudinal seat nearest the doors accidentally pressed the "help" button with their shoulder - one of them actually leaning on it...

I’ve nearly done that. The other good one is desiro/electrostar loos where if you’re standing up and the driver accelerates or brakes sharply, you can go into a button. Or alternatively on electrostars, the button is perfectly positioned for someone standing back with their elbows out to whack it.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I’ve nearly done that. The other good one is desiro/electrostar loos where if you’re standing up and the driver accelerates or brakes sharply, you can go into a button. Or alternatively on electrostars, the button is perfectly positioned for someone standing back with their elbows out to whack it.

It is very surprising that those buttons do not have flaps over them given how vulnerable they are to being set off accidentally. One of the 455 instances I was getting off at the next stop and told the Guard where the affected alarm was and she said: "Oh no; not again!" which suggests it happens rather a lot.

 

[bb21]

Passcomm activation is very common - kids messing about; grown-up idiots messing about; babies accidentally pulling while parents looking away; accidental activation for all sorts of reasons; passengers panicking because someone seemingly fell ill; passengers panicking because someone in front of them fell onto the platform while disembarking; passengers panicking because they were in the wrong part to get off at their station; passengers panicking because doors did not release as expected; passengers panicking because they didn't know the time or where they were; passengers panicking because it was too hot onboard; passengers panicking because there was no one else around in their carriage (at midnight); passengers panicking because they were locked in the onboard loo; passengers panicking because they'd overslept their stop and now 2 hours down the line at 1am...

 

[GW43125]

Reminds me of one occurrence st Chertsey. Before the extension you could just get the doors for the front 5 on the platform but could only open front 4. So someone in the 5th carriage didn’t listen and egressed it when the doors didn’t open. Cue 13 mins delay whilst it reset then didn’t...

 

[TheNewNo2]

Jubilee/Northern/Piccadilly lines combined usually get a couple of PEA activations per day, mostly due to ill passengers.

 

[TheEdge]

I know that feeling. It's probably just because of the desire to press a red button marked "do not press"-that type of thing.

I had an incident a few years back that saw me needing to pull multiple emergency egress handles on a 170. Now I could have neatly opened the panels and pulled the door side panel open to get to them I deduced correctly the 170 was damaged enough already and me smashing the perspex panels with a t-key wasn't going to hurt and was just fun!

 

[driver9000]

I went years without having one pulled and then seemed to go through a period when they were being pulled almost daily. All by accident or curious children, never had a genuine emergency as a reason for one being pulled. On the units I work the alarm handles can be very sensitive so just brushing against one can be enough to trigger the alarm. The most common is the "Call for Aid" alarms being pressed by passengers mistaking the big red button with ALARM written on it for the toilet flush.

 

[700007]

I've had one on a TfL Rail 315 and (at the time) a London Midland 350. Both were due to people messing around but as a result, this disrupted services. The 315 was at the height of rush hour on a day when it had snowed at London Liverpool Street. Whilst this was being reset, it meant trains were delayed in and out of Liverpool Street as for an extra few minutes trains were trying to find a spare platform to pull into (as they were down to 3 instead of the usual 4). The 350 was during the off peaks at around lunch, but it meant we were about 10 or so minutes leaving London Euston to head to Tring. Luckily during this time of day, running late on this path doesn't badly affect any subsequent passenger trains as gaps between trains are quite spaced out.

 

[185143]

I pressed one on my last Nottingham tram, completely unintentional-the tram was rammed so I parked myself in the corner and leant against the wall. Then I hear a noise behind my bag...

I've pressed an alarm in the ballroom on a 185 when I was at the front of a 6 car with my Grandma in a wheelchair, and the guard had forgotten about us.

Never had to pull one for an 'emergency' as such-though I was once on the Manchester WAG and observed the door in the DVT swing wide open (while the train was flying down the Chat Moss at linespeed!) But I just alerted the guard as he was in the office.

Had a few alarms on 142s in particular pulled maliciously, people having had a few too many in Liverpool thinking it's funny... also had one go off on a 507 running semi fast when someone wanted off at Aigburth.

Anyone else had an egress pulled by accident, while the train was moving?

 

[NSEFAN]

I've seen kids pull the emergency chord once, but not maliciously. It was on the Chiltern class 121 DMU at Princes Risborough. They didn't know how to open the door and assumed that the red chord immediately above it was to open it!

 

[driver9000]

Anyone else had an egress pulled by accident, while the train was moving?

Not by accident but by stupidity. The Egress alarms went off when leaving a station one morning and the train stopped. When I went to look the passengers who had pulled it had pulled the door on the opposite side of the platform after standing there staring at the open door to the platform whole other passengers got on and off.

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

On our Comeng trains in Melbourne the PEI(Passenger Emergency Intercom) gets pressed often. Mainly because they've changed the door handles to ones that can't be used to force the doors and the passenger looks in confusion and sees a button and presses it. This is of course with the button being labeled Emergency use only and a yellow note next to the PEI with what to do in an emergency.
The doors even have the opening instructions on them:

The end result is the driver gets an alert on the DDU and answers it. Up comes the CCTV of an empty door because by the time the driver answers someone else opens the door.

At least the PEI doesn't slam the brakes on. Just puts the CCTV image up on the DDU and the intercom activates when the driver answers it.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

I came close to pulling one recently, when a lady passed out on a very hot Birmingham-bound Desiro. There was a few seconds whilst the passengers around her were working out how to handle it, before a gent knocked on the guard's door and he came out. The situation was dealt with very well by the guard and by an off-duty police officer who was onboard, who responded to his PA call for someone with medical training. When we reached New Street there were people there waiting to help too. It was all quite impressive, really.

The lady came round in a few minutes, and it was fine. Standard situation - hadn't eaten that morning, train was busy and quite warm, big coat cos it's cold outside... must happen all the time.

 

[physics34]

been a driver for over 10 years and i reckon i get an average of 5 pass coms pulled a year. Indeed around 3 of these are accidental in toilets etc

 

[Kite159]

A couple times on the last Salisbury service of the night when some drunks nearly missed their stop at Overton & at Whitchurch, pulled it as the train was accelerating away

 

[pompeyfan]

I’ve had two egress handles pulled. One was at a busy London terminal when 2 was just about to be given on the bell, but interlock was lost, the other was when a train was leaving the platform, passenger had boarded the wrong service and panicked and pulled the egress. New trousers for the driver were required.

 

[edwin_m]

I pulled the egress on a Croydon tram at full speed as part of an official test. This applies several fairly powerful brakes. Had to make sure I was correctly positioned so I didn't swing round on the handrail I was holding with the other hand, and slam into the door I'd just released.