Network Rail’s Claire Volding reports on the latest episode of RED, which looks at platform-train interface risk.
We all love how RED brings important safety subjects to life and makes us think. The latest episode (65) is no exception. It focuses on platform train interface (PTI) incidents, which represent 48% of the total passenger fatality risk on the mainline network.
Many of the experts who appear were filmed at Liverpool Street station on a chilly Friday in February. Among them, Jenny Saunders, GTR’s Customer Services Director. Jenny is accountable for the overall safety of passengers and customer-facing staff across her network, and as she says, ‘managing PTI risk is a huge part of that’.
She makes sure GTR works to its own standards and uses industry guidance and best practice to continually review PTI performance. She also chairs the cross-industry People on Trains and in Stations Risk Group (PTSRG), which comprises senior and specialist managers who are passionate about cutting passenger and staff accidents. Feeding into this group is the industry PTI Working Group (PTI WG), which focuses on PTI safety more specifically.
‘Given the combination nationally of aging infrastructure, diverse rolling stock and the financial challenges facing our industry, PTI risk management must continue to feature highly,’ says Jenny. ‘Some of the solutions will lie in long-term strategic interventions that require investment; however, it’s important that we drive continuous improvement locally in the meantime.’
‘Passenger behaviour is critical to reduce risk when it comes to safety at the PTI,’ she adds.
‘But we shouldn’t see this only as a people problem. We need to provide a customer experience that makes it easier for passengers to make safe choices. As an industry, we want passengers not to rush, not to travel under the influence of alcohol, to use the handrails and heed our safety warnings, but sometimes our environments can make it easy for them to take that less safe choice.’
Given the combination nationally of aging infrastructure, diverse rolling stock and the financial challenges facing our industry, PTI risk management must continue to feature highly
Sean Hutchison, Head of Operational Standards at Arriva Rail London (ARL), agrees that ‘passenger education and behaviour are major factors in PTI incidents, particularly trap and drag. How many times do we still see people running for closing doors and trying to block them in the same way people block the doors of a lift? There are multiple options available for trying to educate passengers, but I think this area would benefit from some industry focus as the general perception of passengers seems to be that the train cannot and will not move if they obstruct the doors, but we all know that isn’t always the case.’
Thomas Anteh, a Dispatcher with c2c, advocates avoiding distraction when dispatching trains. ‘This might mean restarting the dispatch process where necessary and using audible tools like whistles to aid me,’ he explains. ‘We need to target potential hazards and have the confidence to challenge unsafe behaviour such as cyclists and scooters being ridden on the platform.’
Tony Ellis, Principal Strategy Implementation Manager, RSSB, reminds us that ‘we can all play a part in improving safety by raising awareness to our customers, empowering our workforce to make positive interventions, and embracing technological advances that mitigate incidents’. The maintenance of any technology used as part of the dispatch process ‘needs to be at such a level that the person in charge of dispatch has confidence in it, is aware of its limitations and has faith that any faults reported with be dealt with adequately. This can be something simple like the arrangements to ensure the bodyside cameras are clean, through to the frequency of checking the alignment of the cameras and station lighting’.
As Chair of the PTI WG, South Western’s Luke Burgess leads the focus on driving innovation and reducing risk for operators. ‘This includes reducing new technologies,’ he says, but also ‘conducting investigations into incidents, engaging in conversations with industry and providing leadership around coordination between different operators’.
Peter Jukes, Senior Stations Ops Lead at MTR, looks at ways to help to reduce PTI risks across all its stations. He is the author for the Train Dispatch Method Statement for all stations in the Central Operating Section of the Elizabeth Line (Abbey Wood to Paddington), so he’s always looking at how we might improve our station staff knowledge of the risks of the PTI. ‘The majority of the Central Operating Section stations have platform screen doors (PSDs), so we have a reduced risk at the PTI, but of course PSDs have different issues, especially from a reliability point of view.’
PTI risk has become increasingly complex in recent years as passenger numbers have grown and new technologies like automation and digital signalling have come in. For Peter, ‘the best way to address the risk is through the development and maintenance of nontechnical skills, which focuses on communication, situational awareness, teamwork and leadership – all essential for safe system operation’.
By addressing these skills, ‘we can help improve safety culture in a railway environment and training needs can be quickly identified, allowing railway employees to address issues before they lead to a potential incident or accident’, says Peter.
