top of page

Fatalities

Here we explain to you what fatality means on the railways.

 

The railway can also use 'One Under' or 'Person Struck By A Train'

When there is a fatality on the railway there are inevitable delays; a lot of work is being done to reduce their occurrence and the subsequent disruption to services

 

Whenever there is a fatality on the railway, Network Rail follow a strict procedure:

  • If the person was struck by a train it is brought to an immediate stop, blocking the line and possibly delaying other trains in the area

 

 

  • A specialist funeral company will attend and remove the deceased

 

  • Our mobile operations team will then determine if the train is safe to proceed

 

  • The driver of the train is always replaced

 

Of the fatalities on the railway in 2013/14, seven occurred on a level crossing, 18 involved people trespassing on the railway and 286 were suicide or suspected suicide.

Around 4% of suicides in the UK take place on the railway, but the emotional, human and financial costs are disproportionately high as they can take place in view of passengers, station staff and drivers and result in considerable disruption to services.

What we’re doing to reduce fatalities

While our efforts in this area are clearly focussed on prevention, we have started working more closely with the BTP and have improved our procedures to reduce the time before rail services can resume.

 

Trespass prevention:

  • We’re working to make more people aware of the dangers on and around the railway, focussing our efforts on trespassing hotspots and recently electrified routes

 

  • Our community safety managers work with schools, charities, local councils and the BTP on safety campaigns aimed at high-risk groups: children aged 11-16 years and young people aged 18-24

 

 

  • Our Track Test campaign is aimed at the highest risk group, males aged 16-24, and uses personalities from sport and music in a series of YouTube videos

 

Level crossing safety education:

  • We regularly run a TV campaign about the dangers of level crossings

 

  • Our level crossing awareness teams work with communities to educate people about using level crossings

 

  • We provide educational resources for teachers and parents about the dangers on and around the railway how to use level crossings safely

 

Prevention of accidents in stations:

Our station safety campaign to alert people to the dangers in our stations has the following elements:-

  • Posters and videos in stations

 

  • A viral internet campaign featuring CCTV of incidents

 

Suicide prevention:

  • In 2010, we entered a partnership with The Samaritans to tackle the complex issues around rail suicide

 

  • The partnership has included the training of over 6,000 people who work for train companies, the British Transport Police and Network Rail with the skills, confidence and knowledge to identify and approach people exhibiting suicidal behaviour

 

  • We worked with the Samaritans and train operators to review the design of stations and other parts of our infrastructure to make locations less attractive for someone considering taking their own life; the changes include:

    • Removing benches from all fast line platforms

    • Installing fences to separate stopping and fast-line platforms

    • Installing fences at platform ends and anti-trespass guards to stop people using stations to access the railway

    • Installing lighting along dark sections of platforms and painting yellow hatching at the end of platforms

    • Smart cameras which alert us to unusual movements of people close to the tracks including at level crossings

    • Posters and signs raising awareness of Samaritans helpline in stations and at level crossings

 

  • We now hold regular awareness days with the Samaritans at key stations

 

  • We visit GPs and medical centres to understand what is going on in the community and any associated increase in risk

 

  • The Samaritans offer support in person to distressed individuals

 

  • To get a better understanding of actions that could help prevent incidents, we carry out further investigations afterwards and have improved the sharing of information between us and the BTP

 

  • Around 400,000 minutes of delays were attributed to suicides in 2013/14, an increase of 35% from 2012/13

 

We have given you the statement from Network Rail's website on 'Fatality'.

If you would like to know more about topics discussing about the delays you can find it by clicking HERE.

 

 

bottom of page