As a railwayman, I’m horrified. I wouldn’t go anywhere near LUL lines without an isolation. Good, God, but I don’t like going near third rail lines unless I absolutely have to, but this:
A schoolgirl was spotted dicing with death as she stepped over a live rail at a Tube station.
The teen crossed the tracks at Latimer Road station, in west London, as gobsmacked passengers looked on, this morning.
London Underground were made aware of the shocking (heh! – Ed) incident, on the Hammersmith and City line, after a traveller phoned in and sent a picture.
That said, maybe it’s Darwin at work…
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Edited to add:
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said the crossing highlighted the threat to safety caused by leaving stations unstaffed.
Okaaay…
Steve Griffiths, London Underground’s Chief Operating Officer, said: ‘The safety of our customers and staff is always our first priority.
‘We have carried out an urgent investigation into this incident and the station was staffed at the time. We would also like to remind customers that, for their own safety, they should not go onto the tracks.
Okaaay…
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: ‘RMT warned Tube bosses again and again that the job cuts they were proposing would leave many stations unstaffed.
‘This is exactly what happened at Latimer Road where it took a passenger with a mobile phone to let London Underground know that a schoolchild has been wandering across electrified track while trains run.’
So?
However, TfL has denied the claim that the incident was down to a lack of staffing and said that Latimer Road is staffed, but only at the gate line.
This could run and run…
Thing is, passengers shouldn’t need staff at the station to keep them from crossing open lines. Those that do get everything that’s coming – and when it hits, they will be the losers. My sympathy here is with the driver and those who have to clear up the mess.
As you say, this is a job for Darwin.
Next, young people stick their hands in the fire and Health and Safety claim it’s the Tory cuts and Brexit adversely affecting parental supervision. The rest of us merely say, “You cannot tell numpties what to do. They will find out for themselves, only then, it will be too late.” Let us just hope they do not breed beforehand.
As J H said, give Darwin a chance.
The RMT jumping on this to demand more staff is the most breathtakingly cynical move I’ve yet seen from a union, and that’s saying a lot.
You will be lucky to see a LUL staff member going anywhere near a group of youths of the ‘effnic’ persuasion in London, let alone tell them to do/stop doing something. They don’t want to get stabbed!
When it comes to cynical opportunism, the RMT is in a league of its own. I have personal experience of these charlatans and they are not a nice bunch. They are a plague on the rail industry. They work to the same formula whatever the situation: safety = more jobs or fewer jobs = less safe. It never alters.