Crossing London tube tracks
 

It is very easy to find oneself on a tube platform with a group of
potential assailants positioned between oneself and the exit. In such
situations the only means of escape, should the group turn hostile,
would be across the tracks to the neighbouring platform.

What is the recommended method of crossing tracks in these situations?

There seem to be a variable number of rails making up the tracks,
usually about 5. Which of these are 'live'?

Will stepping on a live rail result in immediate death? What is the
safe distance from a live rail? Is it safe to tread on a live rail
with only one foot with the other in the air, in order to avoid
earthing the current?

Crossing London tube tracks
 

In message
wrote:

It is very easy to find oneself on a tube platform with a group of
potential assailants positioned between oneself and the exit. In such
situations the only means of escape, should the group turn hostile,
would be across the tracks to the neighbouring platform.

What is the recommended method of crossing tracks in these situations?

Don't.


There seem to be a variable number of rails making up the tracks,
usually about 5. Which of these are 'live'?

There are 4 rails, all carry electrical currents at different potentials.


Will stepping on a live rail result in immediate death?

Not unlikely

What is the safe distance from a live rail?

The platform.

Is it safe to tread on a live rail with only one foot with the other in
the air, in order to avoid earthing the current?

No.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

Crossing London tube tracks
 

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:50:23 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

It is very easy to find oneself on a tube platform with a group of
potential assailants positioned between oneself and the exit. In such
situations the only means of escape, should the group turn hostile,
would be across the tracks to the neighbouring platform.

What is the recommended method of crossing tracks in these situations?

There seem to be a variable number of rails making up the tracks,
usually about 5. Which of these are 'live'?

Will stepping on a live rail result in immediate death? What is the
safe distance from a live rail? Is it safe to tread on a live rail
with only one foot with the other in the air, in order to avoid
earthing the current?

"Do not step on any rail".

Crossing London tube tracks
 

On 27 Mar, 18:09, Graeme Wall wrote:

What is the recommended method of crossing tracks in these situations?

Don't.

So, your recommendation would be to remain on the platform and be
assaulted? I'm sure the death-rate for crossing tracks is not
negligible, but surely it is not as high as the death-rate from being
stabbed in the chest?

There seem to be a variable number of rails making up the tracks,
usually about 5. *Which of these are 'live'?

There are 4 rails, all carry electrical currents at different potentials.

So just avoid all of them then? Thanks for the info. Could be
especially useful if the assailants attempt to give chase and are
unaware of what will happen to them if they tread on the rails.

What is the safe distance from a live rail? *

The platform.

I live near a tube track and have, over the years, seen thousands of
workmen cross the tracks (as well as a few drunk teenagers). They all
survived, so your statement that it is impossible to get near a track
safely is untrue.

Crossing London tube tracks
 

In message
wrote:

On 27 Mar, 18:09, Graeme Wall wrote:

What is the recommended method of crossing tracks in these situations?

Don't.

So, your recommendation would be to remain on the platform and be
assaulted? I'm sure the death-rate for crossing tracks is not
negligible, but surely it is not as high as the death-rate from being
stabbed in the chest?

How many people have been electrocuted by live rails and how many have been
stabbed on Underground stations?


There seem to be a variable number of rails making up the tracks,
usually about 5. *Which of these are 'live'?

There are 4 rails, all carry electrical currents at different potentials.

So just avoid all of them then? Thanks for the info. Could be
especially useful if the assailants attempt to give chase and are
unaware of what will happen to them if they tread on the rails.

How many people have been chased by potential assailants on Underground
stations?


What is the safe distance from a live rail? *

The platform.

I live near a tube track and have, over the years, seen thousands of
workmen cross the tracks (as well as a few drunk teenagers). They all
survived, so your statement that it is impossible to get near a track
safely is untrue.


I ddn't say it was impossible, I said the safe distance was from the
platform. The workmen are trained to cross the tracks safely and the power
is often switched off when they cross anyway.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

Crossing London tube tracks
 

In message
,
writes
It is very easy to find oneself on a tube platform with a group of
potential assailants positioned between oneself and the exit. In such
situations the only means of escape, should the group turn hostile,
would be across the tracks to the neighbouring platform.

As I understand it you cannot cross the rails to another platform on the
tube except where the stations are in the open air. On the sub-surface
lines (i.e. not the tube), you can, though.


What is the recommended method of crossing tracks in these situations?

By the footbridge, subway or equivalent.


There seem to be a variable number of rails making up the tracks,
usually about 5. Which of these are 'live'?

You should assume that all of them are live.


Will stepping on a live rail result in immediate death?

It might and it might not. It depends what is insulating your feet.
However, you don't have to step on a rail to contact it: you could brush
against it or, if the voltage is high enough and you get close enough to
the rail without touching it, you could get a flashover.

Note that stepping on a live rail doesn't seem to affect the pigeons.

What is the
safe distance from a live rail?

Stay on the platform. It is against the law for an unauthorised person
to be on the track.

Is it safe to tread on a live rail
with only one foot with the other in the air, in order to avoid
earthing the current?

--
Jane
British OO, American and Australian HO, and DCC in the garden
http://www.yddraiggoch.demon.co.uk/railway/railway.html

Crossing London tube tracks
 

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:50:23 -0700 (PDT) someone who may be
this:-


Nice try. I have removed one group.

It is very easy to find oneself on a tube platform with a group of
potential assailants positioned between oneself and the exit.

Anyone could be a potential assailant. There are many situations
where one could be a long way from an exit with people ("potential
assailants") between one and the exit, so the fact that the tube has
been picked on is interesting.

In such
situations the only means of escape, should the group turn hostile,
would be across the tracks to the neighbouring platform.

Tube stations seldom have adjacent platforms which one could cross
the line to. That is because tube stations are in tube tunnels. Even
if there was an adjacent platform one would have to cross the
suicide pit to reach it.

You are perhaps trolling about the "surface" lines, which are not on
the surface but are just under the surface and are built like above
ground railways. Higher platforms, generally adjacent platforms and
no suicide pits. I will assume that this is what you are trolling
about.

What is the recommended method of crossing tracks in these situations?

It is recommended not to cross the line. Not all advice is good, but
this is.

There seem to be a variable number of rails making up the tracks,
usually about 5.

Usually four, though five may exist in a few places for a short
distance to provide an overlap when the outside rail crosses from
one side to the other.

Which of these are 'live'?

All of them. The voltage in each of them varies however. There are
clues to which are at the highest voltage with respect to the ground
should one look with open eyes.

Will stepping on a live rail result in immediate death?

Immediate death would be a blessing. However, the power supplies
involved in such rails tend not to cause immediate death, but
instead generally cause a slow roasting. I doubt very much that it
is a pleasant way to die. Only in films do people die in a shower of
sparks when they make contact with such rails.

What is the safe distance from a live rail?

There are clues for those who observe with open eyes.

Is it safe to tread on a live rail
with only one foot with the other in the air, in order to avoid
earthing the current?

People may observe that the top of rails, where one would normally
tread, tends to be shiny and thus slippery. As a result anyone
treading on one is likely to slip off it and they may then damage
themselves in a number of ways.

Railway lines are places for people who have enough skill to
minimise the dangers they face. These dangers can never be reduced
to zero. Electricity is just one of these dangers, at least as
dangerous are the big things which run on wheels along the lines.




--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

Crossing London tube tracks
 

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:53:37 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On 27 Mar, 18:09, Graeme Wall wrote:

What is the recommended method of crossing tracks in these situations?

Don't.

So, your recommendation would be to remain on the platform and be
assaulted? I'm sure the death-rate for crossing tracks is not
negligible, but surely it is not as high as the death-rate from being
stabbed in the chest?

There seem to be a variable number of rails making up the tracks,
usually about 5. *Which of these are 'live'?

There are 4 rails, all carry electrical currents at different potentials.

So just avoid all of them then? Thanks for the info. Could be
especially useful if the assailants attempt to give chase and are
unaware of what will happen to them if they tread on the rails.

What is the safe distance from a live rail? *

The platform.

I live near a tube track and have, over the years, seen thousands of
workmen cross the tracks (as well as a few drunk teenagers). They all
survived, so your statement that it is impossible to get near a track
safely is untrue.

Not getting killed by something does not mean that it was "safe".

Crossing London tube tracks
 

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:53:37 -0700 (PDT) someone who may be
wrote this:-

There are 4 rails, all carry electrical currents at different potentials.

So just avoid all of them then?

That is good advice. The best way of doing this is to remain on the
platform.

I live near a tube track and have, over the years, seen thousands of
workmen cross the tracks (as well as a few drunk teenagers). They all
survived,

Not all of them do. Go to news.bbc.co.uk and type "girl
electrocuted" and "boy electrocuted" into the search box you will
read of many of those who did not.

You will have to look harder to find stories about staff who have
been killed, but it does happen.

so your statement that it is impossible to get near a track safely

Not a statement he made. What is untrue is your distortion of what
he did say.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

Crossing London tube tracks
 

It's definitely not advisable to try and cross the tracks at all. Bear in
mind that all tube stations are extensively covered by CCTV these days and
the chances of any assailants even making it out of the station without
being arrested are small.

If you really do find yourself in the highly unlikely situation of being
menaced by a clockwork orange gang and you dont have a sock full of billiard
balls handy, the running rails typically have no current going through them.
The rail in the middle and the outside 4th rail are the ones to watch out
for. they have -210 volts and +420 volts running through them respectively.
In the old days they did use the running rails as earth/return current rails
but as far as I know they dont these days due to problems with arcing and
current spilling off into tunnel linings and gas and water mains.

Very, very foolish to even think about running across the tracks though.
You'd probably be in as much trouble as if you were the assailant maybe even
more so.

G

wrote in message
...
It is very easy to find oneself on a tube platform with a group of
potential assailants positioned between oneself and the exit. In such
situations the only means of escape, should the group turn hostile,
would be across the tracks to the neighbouring platform.

What is the recommended method of crossing tracks in these situations?

There seem to be a variable number of rails making up the tracks,
usually about 5. Which of these are 'live'?

Will stepping on a live rail result in immediate death? What is the
safe distance from a live rail? Is it safe to tread on a live rail
with only one foot with the other in the air, in order to avoid
earthing the current?