Last Friday week there was a suicide - 'person hit by a train' - at
West Drayton on the FGW main line.

Now there has been yet another suicide at H&H on Sunday night at about
21.50.

Speaking of the 4'th suicide in as many months, John McDonnell MP H&H
stated "We need to get everyone around table and examine all possible
measures we can take to stop this from happening, because it has got
to a point where we can't just stand back."

Yet John has been trying and failing to get FGW and Network Rail
management to such a meeting for over a year. BOTH ORGS ARE DRAGGING
THEIR FEET ON THE ISSUE.

FGW management is not interested due to likely not renewing its
franchise next year. Network Rail management is just arrogant and
refuses to attend any meeting to do with any issues on this line
whatever they are.

Of course Crossrail is in the wings - so they should be concerned
too.

The suicides are partly cultural - Google 'community southall
suicides' - there's a damning report about this focusing on the
failure of arranged marriages between Western highly-educated women
and their appointed partners who usually come from rural backwaters in
Asia. Inevitably it is the women that sadly decide suicide - sometimes
with the kids in tow.

Yet they are also partly due to the economic climate - job losses,
unemployment, feelings of being unable to cope, financial cut-backs of
support agencies, etc.

All that there is at Hayes & Harlington Station are a few grubby
Samaritan posters. These are not even written in the local Asian
languages - but only in English.

Cash-strapped Hillingdon Council offered to pay for extended CCTV at
the Station, but Network Rail did not even bother to acknowledge the
offer. The money has likely been reallocated.

But then there is no use for CCTV is no-one bothers to monitor it in
real time. The staff at H&H seem to prefer sitting in their cozy staff
room. Some of the suicides have been from the normally gated and
locked platform 1 (down fast). So what where the staff doing when
unauthorised individuals have gained access to platform 1? Obviously
nothing.

I fear that this issue will not be easily solved.

CJB.