07.06.16
Rise in LU passenger falls linked to S-Stock and staffing cuts
Passenger falls between the platform and train on the London Underground are increasing, which unions are blaming on staffing cuts, increasing passenger numbers and the new S-Stock trains.
An FoI request by the Evening Standard found that incidents have been steadily increasing for the past five years. There were 119 in 2010; 123 in 2011; 154 in 2012; 224 in 2013; 300 in 2014; and 307 in 2015, a 63% in five years.
Finn Brennan, Aslef district organiser, said: “These figures demonstrate the pressure that train drivers and other staff are operating under as levels of overcrowding increase. It is only their professionalism that has meant many more people have not been seriously injured or killed when these incidents happen.”
He said that the figures were also due to the new S-Stock trains, which are designed to be level with the platform in order to improve wheelchair access.
However, this causes a wider gap between platform and train at stations with curved platforms, such as the Metropolitan lines at Baker Street. This had the biggest number of falls, with 166 since 2003. Blue lights have now been introduced at the station to alert passengers to the gap.
The stations with the next greatest number of falls were Embankment, with 108, and Finchley, with 101.
Despite the criticisms, the S-Stock has been voted one of the top 10 transport design icons in London.
Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT, which is calling for an investigation into an incident when a passenger fell between the train and platform last week, said that increased staffing cuts were “unleashing a poisonous cocktail across the tube network that threatens life and limb”.
Steve White, London Underground’s operations director, said: “While the Tube is rightly recognised as one of the safest metros in the world, we are not complacent and are working hard to further minimise accidents and injuries.”
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