Despite the improvements in technology, train doors still pose a risk to passengers, says RSSB’s Marianna White.
Early in my railway career, when I was a Duty Station Manager, I provided cover when required for train dispatch. Back then, a lot of the trains on my patch were slam-door, including British Rail Class 312s dating from the 1960s, Mark I stock from the 50s and Mark IIIs from the 1970s.
Slam-door trains were exactly that, you slammed them shut. To open them, you pulled down a droplight and used a handle on the outside of the carriage. There was no central locking.
The challenge for a dispatcher was making sure everyone had boarded or alighted safely from the many doors on a 312. This wasn’t easy on a 12-car set and a curved platform, so more than one train dispatcher was required at peak times.
Often, you’d see passengers opening the doors and literally hitting the ground running before the train stopped. I’ve even seen passengers run after a train that’s already pulling out, open the door and climb aboard. Scary stuff to us now, but back then it was just what people did, despite much whistle blowing and shouting from staff on the platform. As you’d expect though, there were many accidents and many deaths, often involving people falling from moving trains.
Often, you’d see passengersopening the doors and literally hitting the ground running before the train stopped.
Central locking started to be fitted to existing trains from the early ‘90s. Some, like the Class 442s, and the Mark IV carriages that you can still see on the East Coast Main Line and some trains in Wales, were fitted with central locking and power doors from new. At the beginning of 2002, around half of all injuries involving train doors
closing on passengers occurred on slam-door stock. This proportion decreased steadily to a handful of incidents in 2006 as more slam-door trains were converted or withdrawn.
We saw a rise in injuries from non-slam-door stock initially, mainly because passengers – especially those outside London – didn’t know what hustle alarms were. This and doors being seen to close made many passengers rush as they thought a train was about to leave, when it was to maintain the ambient temperature of the saloon.
Nowadays, slam-door stock is confined to preserved railways and charter trains. But, despite the improvements in door technology, the dispatcher’s task is still vital, because there is still risk at the platform-train interface. RED 65 helps highlight that, and shows what you can do to reduce it.
Mark I coaches were introduced in 1951, with no central locking. All withdrawn by 2010, they see main line service now only on charters.
Mark II vehicles appeared from 1963. They also had no central locking. The Class 312s were derivative of this type. Central locking was fitted to some stock from the late 1980s.
Mark III vehicles appeared from 1975. Central locking was fitted from the late 1980s. Some coaches were fitted with automatic plug doors in the present century.
Main article image courtesy of Phil Scott, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
