Station operations
The rail industry needs to ensure every step of a passenger’s journey is safe across the network of over 2,500 stations in the UK.
Managing risk in stations is a critical priority for Britain’s railways. Stations serve as bustling hubs where passengers embark and disembark, making it essential that we ensure their safety and wellbeing.
RSSB’s monitoring has shown an increase in sitting on the platform edge (SOPE) incidents (see chart). This is a hazardous activity that has resulted in serious injuries and its prevalence has increased after the Covid-19 pandemic. RSSB has worked to improve the data for these incidents, by standardising the terminology in order to improve data gathering and analysis, for example.
The data and evaluations draw a link to favourable seasonal conditions, the station profile and passenger demographic. We are also looking into the individual’s intention and motivation, as a lack of station furniture and canopy may also be a factor in some cases. A SOPE steering group has been formed and will be used to identify good practice to mitigate and stop SOPE incidents, such as education campaigns and CCTV cameras that can make announcements.
Trap and drag incidents have been a concern, with RAIB publishing a safety digest into three that occurred on the London Overground. Episode 65 of RSSB’s RED safety video series discusses how we can improve safety at the platform-train interface (PTI). Additionally, following extensive engagement and investment, the RSSB PTI Risk Assessment Tool is being enhanced to better meet the needs of duty holders in identifying and classifying risk.
A reporter raised concerns about staff not following an operators dispatch process consistently, with staff taking shortcuts including:
As a result of the report, the train operators have agreed to several actions including refreshing awareness that enough staff must be present and in the correct positions to dispatch trains and that going forward staff will be monitored unobtrusively.