A few years ago, I found myself alone in a southbound tube train with only a
bulky item of baggage left near the doors for company. Thinking it was my duty
to draw attention to this "suspect package", and being about to get out at the
next station anyway, I followed the LU instructions to report this item to a
member of staff. As there was nobody on the platform, the first person I saw
was the man on the ticket barrier. Of course by then the train would have been
well on its way.
AFAIK the bag was harmless, as I heard no more about it. But I had done my
duty.
Last night I heard on the news that LU "no longer needs" so many staff, and
that people will no longer be needed in ticket offices or or on the barriers. I
suspect that either the news teams know this is crap, but don't care, or that
probably like some of the management, they don't use public transport very
often. Hence they won't have witnessed the patient way some staff have to deal
with sometimes reasonable and sometimes quite stupid questions. They won't have
experienced the bewilderment and frustration of waiting for information on an
apparently deserted station. Nor will they have seen the Greater London Schools
Athletics teams vaulting gracefully over the automatic ticket barriers.
But what I would like to know is the procedure for reporting suspect packages
when one arrives at completely unpersonned stations. (And there I thinking we
were having too many "terrorist alerts"! )
I'd also be interested to hear the mayor's ideas on how removing staff will
square with his past pledges to make stations safer for women and elderly
passengers.
And talking of which, if LU wants to redeploy staff, how about putting guards
on trains to deter vandalism and anti-social behaviour? It might reassure the
rest of the travelling public that someone actually cares, and encourage us to
stand up to the yobboes..

"CharlesPottins" wrote in message
...

A few years ago, I found myself alone in a southbound
tube train with only a bulky item of baggage left near the
doors for company. Thinking it was my duty to draw
attention to this "suspect package", and being about to
get out at the next station anyway, I followed the LU
instructions to report this item to a member of staff.
As there was nobody on the platform, the first person
I saw was the man on the ticket barrier. Of course by
then the train would have been well on its way.

I would have pulled the red lever in the carriage, and got the driver to
deal with it.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

On 01 Jul 2004 08:20:11 GMT, (CharlesPottins)
wrote:

A few years ago, I found myself alone in a southbound tube train with only a
bulky item of baggage left near the doors for company. Thinking it was my duty
to draw attention to this "suspect package", and being about to get out at the
next station anyway, I followed the LU instructions to report this item to a
member of staff. As there was nobody on the platform, the first person I saw
was the man on the ticket barrier. Of course by then the train would have been
well on its way.
AFAIK the bag was harmless, as I heard no more about it. But I had done my
duty.
Last night I heard on the news that LU "no longer needs" so many staff, and
that people will no longer be needed in ticket offices or or on the barriers. I
suspect that either the news teams know this is crap, but don't care, or that
probably like some of the management, they don't use public transport very
often. Hence they won't have witnessed the patient way some staff have to deal
with sometimes reasonable and sometimes quite stupid questions. They won't have
experienced the bewilderment and frustration of waiting for information on an
apparently deserted station. Nor will they have seen the Greater London Schools
Athletics teams vaulting gracefully over the automatic ticket barriers.
But what I would like to know is the procedure for reporting suspect packages
when one arrives at completely unpersonned stations. (And there I thinking we
were having too many "terrorist alerts"! )
I'd also be interested to hear the mayor's ideas on how removing staff will
square with his past pledges to make stations safer for women and elderly
passengers.
And talking of which, if LU wants to redeploy staff, how about putting guards
on trains to deter vandalism and anti-social behaviour? It might reassure the
rest of the travelling public that someone actually cares, and encourage us to
stand up to the yobboes..

Couple of months ago I found myself in a similar situation in the rear
carrage of a Thameslink train.

My actions were to remove myself to the next one up and then wait for
the next station (St Albans). I then used the PassCom to hold the
train whilst the driver and platform assistant ambled down and removed
the package.

Keith J Chesworth
www.unseenlondon.co.uk
www.blackpooltram.co.uk
www.happysnapper.com
www.boilerbill.com - main site
www.amerseyferry.co.uk

On Thu, 1 Jul 2004 at 08:20:11, CharlesPottins
wrote:

A few years ago, I found myself alone in a southbound tube train with only a
bulky item of baggage left near the doors for company. Thinking it was my duty
to draw attention to this "suspect package", and being about to get out at the
next station anyway, I followed the LU instructions to report this item to a
member of staff. As there was nobody on the platform, the first person I saw
was the man on the ticket barrier. Of course by then the train would have been
well on its way.

I suppose the correct procedure would have been to pull the
communication cord, or whatever it is called nowadays - the red
emergency thingy they suggest you only pull if the train is in a
station. This would have alerted the driver that something was wrong,
and he could have radioed for help/advice once he knew what the problem
was.
--
Annabel Smyth
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/index.html
Website updated 6 June 2004

But the official advice was to draw the attention of station staff to it.
Must admit, as I was going to work that morning and getting out that stop, I
wasn't keen to hang around anyway.
I assume the station staff will be able to contact the driver and/or the next
station. Presumably they also have to contact emergency services just in case
it is a bomb.
Incidentally, what's the advice on the Dockland Light Railway?

In message ,
CharlesPottins writes
But the official advice was to draw the attention of station staff to it.
Must admit, as I was going to work that morning and getting out that stop, I
wasn't keen to hang around anyway.
I assume the station staff will be able to contact the driver and/or the next
station. Presumably they also have to contact emergency services just in case
it is a bomb.
Incidentally, what's the advice on the Dockland Light Railway?

Presumably 'Tell the Train Captain' as I believe all trains have one
onboard.
--
Spyke
Address is valid, but messages are treated as junk. The opinions I express do
not necessarily reflect those of the educational institution from which I post.

I would probably have pushed that big green emergency intercom button on the
station platform


"CharlesPottins" wrote in message
...
A few years ago, I found myself alone in a southbound tube train with only
a
bulky item of baggage left near the doors for company. Thinking it was my
duty
to draw attention to this "suspect package", and being about to get out at
the
next station anyway, I followed the LU instructions to report this item
to a
member of staff. As there was nobody on the platform, the first person I
saw
was the man on the ticket barrier. Of course by then the train would have
been
well on its way.
AFAIK the bag was harmless, as I heard no more about it. But I had done my
duty.
Last night I heard on the news that LU "no longer needs" so many staff,
and
that people will no longer be needed in ticket offices or or on the
barriers. I
suspect that either the news teams know this is crap, but don't care, or
that
probably like some of the management, they don't use public transport very
often. Hence they won't have witnessed the patient way some staff have to
deal
with sometimes reasonable and sometimes quite stupid questions. They won't
have
experienced the bewilderment and frustration of waiting for information on
an
apparently deserted station. Nor will they have seen the Greater London
Schools
Athletics teams vaulting gracefully over the automatic ticket barriers.
But what I would like to know is the procedure for reporting suspect
packages
when one arrives at completely unpersonned stations. (And there I thinking
we
were having too many "terrorist alerts"! )
I'd also be interested to hear the mayor's ideas on how removing staff
will
square with his past pledges to make stations safer for women and elderly
passengers.
And talking of which, if LU wants to redeploy staff, how about putting
guards
on trains to deter vandalism and anti-social behaviour? It might reassure
the
rest of the travelling public that someone actually cares, and encourage
us to
stand up to the yobboes..

And don't believe what you see on the news. According to the BBC the
central line isn't automated in any way


"CharlesPottins" wrote in message
...
A few years ago, I found myself alone in a southbound tube train with only
a
bulky item of baggage left near the doors for company. Thinking it was my
duty
to draw attention to this "suspect package", and being about to get out at
the
next station anyway, I followed the LU instructions to report this item
to a
member of staff. As there was nobody on the platform, the first person I
saw
was the man on the ticket barrier. Of course by then the train would have
been
well on its way.
AFAIK the bag was harmless, as I heard no more about it. But I had done my
duty.
Last night I heard on the news that LU "no longer needs" so many staff,
and
that people will no longer be needed in ticket offices or or on the
barriers. I
suspect that either the news teams know this is crap, but don't care, or
that
probably like some of the management, they don't use public transport very
often. Hence they won't have witnessed the patient way some staff have to
deal
with sometimes reasonable and sometimes quite stupid questions. They won't
have
experienced the bewilderment and frustration of waiting for information on
an
apparently deserted station. Nor will they have seen the Greater London
Schools
Athletics teams vaulting gracefully over the automatic ticket barriers.
But what I would like to know is the procedure for reporting suspect
packages
when one arrives at completely unpersonned stations. (And there I thinking
we
were having too many "terrorist alerts"! )
I'd also be interested to hear the mayor's ideas on how removing staff
will
square with his past pledges to make stations safer for women and elderly
passengers.
And talking of which, if LU wants to redeploy staff, how about putting
guards
on trains to deter vandalism and anti-social behaviour? It might reassure
the
rest of the travelling public that someone actually cares, and encourage
us to
stand up to the yobboes..

CharlesPottins wrote:
Incidentally, what's the advice on the Dockland Light Railway?

To speak to the Train Captain, I'd assume. All trains have a member of
staff on Board.
--
To reply direct, remove NOSPAM and replace with railwaysonline
For railway information, news and photos see
http://www.railways-online.co.uk

Chris wrote:
I would probably have pushed that big green emergency intercom
button on the station platform

Emergency buttons/switches/handles etc. are normally red, e.g. the
passenger alarms on LU trains. Why are the emergency buttons on the
new(ish) circular help panels on the platforms green? They must get a
lot of false alarms from people who assume that green means the friendly
information button. Why aren't they red?
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)