Stand behind the line!

[Backroom_boy]

Platform staff seem to be very hot on the 'stand behind the yellow line' at the moment; has there been some update in policy?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Platform staff seem to be very hot on the 'stand behind the yellow line' at the moment; has there been some update in policy?

Might possibly be the case. Was there a particular location (or locations) that you observed this at?

We had a lengthy discussion about passengers being somewhat brusquely requested to stand behind platform lines fairly recently; see link below. (Thread now closed).

Station platforms, it's gone too far, it's crossed a red line (literally)

I was waiting for a train on Platform 14 Manchester Piccadilly today. A container train stopped in the platform and I was looking at its brake rigging, just out of interest, as you do. Next thing some railway employee was shouting at me to "step back behind the red line". I must admit that...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[AndrewE]

Try that here.. where trains arrive at the same time off single lines from both directions! (In Italy, not surprisingly.)

 

[mmh]

Perhaps we should bring back unlocked slam door trains. They were a very effective deterrent against people standing at the platform edge.

 

[Bikeman78]

Might possibly be the case. Was there a particular location (or locations) that you observed this at?

We had a lengthy discussion about passengers being somewhat brusquely requested to stand behind platform lines fairly recently; see link below. (Thread now closed).

Station platforms, it's gone too far, it's crossed a red line (literally)

I was waiting for a train on Platform 14 Manchester Piccadilly today. A container train stopped in the platform and I was looking at its brake rigging, just out of interest, as you do. Next thing some railway employee was shouting at me to "step back behind the red line". I must admit that...

www.railforums.co.uk

I've read the linked thread. An entertaining read! Hope the people at Piccadilly don't go on the Victoria line at peak time. They'd have a meltdown. Trains run in faster and people stand closer to the edge.

 

[Backroom_boy]

Might possibly be the case. Was there a particular location (or locations) that you observed this at?
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Wimbledon just this evening and Totnes last weekend. Both times with stationery or slow moving trains and a yellow line a good metre and a bit from the edge

 

[mmh]

I've read the linked thread. An entertaining read! Hope the people at Piccadilly don't go on the Victoria line at peak time. They'd have a meltdown. Trains run in faster and people stand closer to the edge.

London Underground really shouldn't be our goal for either passenger experience or passenger safety.

 

[class 9]

Platform staff seem to be very hot on the 'stand behind the yellow line' at the moment; has there been some update in policy?

Certainly not EMR staff at Sheffield, Chesterfield and Derby, they're regularly stood right on the edge of the platform when you roll in!

 

[Bertie the bus]

There is nothing new about it and as far as I can tell it all stems from the RSSB declaring that passengers boarding/alighting trains is the cause of the highest number of causalities. Some people who have absolutely no understanding of risk have then interpreted it as passengers waiting on platforms is high risk, which in turn has normalised rail staff verbally abusing and threatening passengers for just waiting for a train.

 

[mmh]

Safety concerns aside, it's surely just common courtesy not to do it? Or am I missing some vital need to be closer to the edge? (With apologies to Yes. One there for our more mature viewers

 

[Bertie the bus]

I have no idea how you come to the conclusion standing within a couple of yards of a platform edge is bad manners. Although I would be interested to know in what other settings it is considered acceptable to shout in someone's face if they don't display common courtesy.

 

[ABB125]

Sometimes there isn't a yellow line to stand behind.
Sometimes the platform is narrower than the distance the yellow line should be from the edge...

Sometimes the "platform" is pretty much non-existent, and it becomes a case of "stand behind the (running) line"! As modelled here by @Nunners


On balance, though, I think I'd rather have a better platform with a yellow line than a low, narrow "platform" without!

 

[gmaguire]

At Putney on a few separate occasions recently, I’ve witnessed the same man in a yellow hi-vi shouting about standing back behind the yellow line.

 

[ABB125]

At Putney on a few separate occasions recently, I’ve witnessed the same man in a yellow hi-vi shouting about standing back behind the yellow line.

Was he stood beyond the yellow line? That seems to be the case more often than not when I've seen members of staff shouting at people to stand behind. Quite apart from the hypocrisy of it, it's not exactly setting a good example, is it?!

 

[cuccir]

I've noticed staff monitoring this much more rigourously in recent months (at Durham) and shouting more forcefully at people to stand back.

 

[Urban Gateline]

Platform staff seem to be very hot on the 'stand behind the yellow line' at the moment; has there been some update in policy?

Sounds like not much has changed then, when I was platform staff we were also trained to tell people to get back behind the yellow line, but then it made sense at a station with high speed passing trains. Always found it surprising those glued to their phone making seemingly important calls but wandering close to the platform edge, oblivious of the dangers.

It also slows trains down on approach if people are standing too close and the same for DOO/Guard dispatch, we often had to tell people waiting for the following train to stand back from the current one otherwise the Driver/Guard won't close the doors and it simply causes delays, so it's not quite so petty as people think, there are good reasons staff ask people to stand back behind the yellow line!

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Avanti stations are getting worse with the shouting, often platform staff have wireless mics now and so make quite blunt comments over the tannoy system.

I don't think it should be blunt/rude, however, there are always people who ignore the request to stand behind the yellow line, and I find it hard to watch from cab windows seeing how close people get to the train when it's still moving.

It's no better when trying to depart either, and I quite often have to delay departure due to people not moving away from the train, or just standing close to the edge so they can be the first onto the next service.

Is there a genuine reason why people feel the need to stand so close to the edge? PTI incidents are always top of the list, trips and falls too/from trains amongst the highest within that category. (My TOCs latest safety brief)

 

[The exile]

Why is it that at several stations those who rely on the tactile paving to find out that they are approaching the edge are apparently ok to get closer to the edge than everybody else; the tactile paving being several inches inside the yellow line?

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

I know there's been a number of tumbles from platforms in Glasgow over the last 2 years mix of accidents and lack of tactile paving effecting blind people's ability to detect the edge

 

[Fokx]

I don’t know the definite reason but I imagine it’s largely due to the amount of passengers on the railway at the moment, many of whom quite simply haven’t travelled in 2 years, and with weekend services busier than ever on a reduced timetable, the result is that you’ve literally got passengers fighting each other to get on the train.

Why some passengers want to be within licking distance of a train is beyond me.

For the poster that mentioned platform staff behind the yellow line but shouting bluntly at passengers doing the same, the member of staff is PTS trained and authorised to be there, the passenger isn’t. On a crowded platform, it’s ironically the best place for visibility for the staff member observing the PTI, with the hi-viz making them easy to spot for drivers of approaching trains.

In regards to bluntness it is the easiest and fastest way to give an instruction and is more commanding. In the same way that cabin crew will shout “BRACE BRACE” in the event of an emergency landing. For example “GET BACK!” Is much easier and faster than a polite “Excuse me, could you please not stand so close to the edge of the platform as your presence may cause of a health and safety hazard”.

 

[alxndr]

I have no idea how you come to the conclusion standing within a couple of yards of a platform edge is bad manners.

I probably wouldn't call being near the edge "bad manners" but I do remain well away from it out of courtesy for drivers. I don't want to be the one to give drivers concerns as to my safety whether I'm a passenger or at work.

 

[Ediswan]

In regards to bluntness it is the easiest and fastest way to give an instruction and is more commanding. In the same way that cabin crew will shout “BRACE BRACE” in the event of an emergency landing. For example “GET BACK!” Is much easier and faster than a polite “Excuse me, could you please not stand so close to the edge of the platform as your presence may cause of a health and safety hazard”.

On a plane, if you have been paying attention, the polite explanation has been given.

 

[dan4291]

I probably wouldn't call being near the edge "bad manners" but I do remain well away from it out of courtesy for drivers. I don't want to be the one to give drivers concerns as to my safety whether I'm a passenger or at work.

Glad someone thinks about that!

It can be very nerve-wracking approaching a platform at high speed and having someone stood or walking inside the yellow line. I have to sound the horn at someone too close to the platform edge almost every shift, but even then sometimes they still don't move, or do move at the last second. Ultimately you just don't know what they're going to do next or what's going through their mind, if they're paying attention of course!

I personally think there should be a higher profile, maybe even hard-hitting, education or PR campaign to try and drill the importance of standing back behind the yellow line into people, especially at stations with high speed non-stop trains going through them. Hopefully it'll make enough people think twice.

 

[Hadders]

I think part of the problem is too many people don't know how to behave on a platform. At my local station I regularly see people wandering close to the platform edge as a train arrives, headphones on, eyes on their phone without a care in the world. I wouldn't want to drive a train into a platform and if I was a member of staff responsible for the platform I'd want people to move back.

Us on here know how to behave but many don't.

 

[yorkie]

Try that here.. where trains arrive at the same time off single lines from both directions! (In Italy, not surprisingly.)

At some continental locations the procedure is not to move to the platform until the train has actually arrived.

On a plane, if you have been paying attention, the polite explanation has been given.

Indeed I don't think the analogy is quite right. The problem with analogies is people can be very keen to post them, but many are flawed.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I think part of the problem is too many people don't know how to behave on a platform. At my local station I regularly see people wandering close to the platform edge as a train arrives, headphones on, eyes on their phone without a care in the world. I wouldn't want to drive a train into a platform and if I was a member of staff responsible for the platform I'd want people to move back.

Us on here know how to behave but many don't.

It still blows my mind how many people I see cycling on a platform, and often close to the edge too. I’ve even seen some pull wheelies on bikes on the platform, which terrified me to see, frankly.

 

[TheEdge]

It still blows my mind how many people I see cycling on a platform, and often close to the edge too. I’ve even seen some pull wheelies on bikes on the platform, which terrified me to see, frankly.

I've given a few people an earful for that over the years.

It can be very nerve-wracking approaching a platform at high speed and having someone stood or walking inside the yellow line. I have to sound the horn at someone too close to the platform edge almost every shift, but even then sometimes they still don't move, or do move at the last second. Ultimately you just don't know what they're going to do next or what's going through their mind, if they're paying attention of course!

Stratford London is horrific for this when you run fast through platform 9 on clear aspects. Doing 70, the platform appears from behind a lift shaft and the dozens of people thinking the train approaching at speed is their Southend service and all start moving towards the edge or walking along the edge to get to "their" door.

 

[ABB125]

At some continental locations the procedure is not to move to the platform until the train has actually arrived.

Especially at stations such as Brno Horni Herspice (pictured in my previous post, and again here), where you're liable to be sandwiched between two trains if you wait on the platform!

 

[Fokx]

On a plane, if you have been paying attention, the polite explanation has been given.

The same applies to station, depending on which one you’re at, there’s usually PA announcements, floor markings and posters in display cases

Indeed I don't think the analogy is quite right. The problem with analogies is people can be very keen to post them, but many are flawed.

For the reason above I wouldn’t state it’s flawed at all.

In an emergency situation it is much more appropriate and commanding to be blunt and straight to the point.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Why is it that at several stations those who rely on the tactile paving to find out that they are approaching the edge are apparently ok to get closer to the edge than everybody else; the tactile paving being several inches inside the yellow line?

I would imagine that they are more a warning for approaching the platform edge so those that use them know they are close to the train rather than a line for them to stand at. Useful as a 'gone too far' line if you will.

Most people who have such poor vision tend to have assistance booked or have a guide with them.

Why is it that at several stations those who rely on the tactile paving to find out that they are approaching the edge are apparently ok to get closer to the edge than everybody else; the tactile paving being several inches inside the yellow line?

I would imagine that they are more a warning for approaching the platform edge so those that use them know they are close to the train rather than a line for them to stand at. Useful as a 'gone too far'

Most people who have such poor vision tend to have assistance booked or have a guide with them.