Thursday 6 December 2007

Fatality!!

Firstly, an apology. I've been away for a bit so not had time to talk much on the blog. Sometimes I think they're on to me and are finding things for me to do that keeps me away from a computer, but anywho.

This is gonna be a bit of a rant inspired by the events of today, or one event anyway. That would be the fatality today. I hope that you guys weren't too affected by it. Now this may just be my slightly biased view on account of the fact that I work for FGW, but it seems to me that committing suicide by jumping in front of a train is an increadibly selfish thing to do.

If it has dcome to the point where you feel the need to end your life, then that sucks. BUt is it really necessary to f*ck up everyone else's day by jumping in front of a train. There are many other quick and private ways to do this.

I know that soem of you must have been stuck because of a fatality at some time, as they seem to happen depressingly frequently and they are a royal pain in the ass. The whole line has to get shut down while the police attend and secure the scene. Then the coroner has to get there and rule out foul play. Then Network Rail have to get in there an inspect the line to make sure there is no damage to the track, fitters have to make sure the train can still move, not to mention that the whole mess has to be cleaned up.

Add all this together and you can have a delay of several hours, which throws the whole timetable to sh*t and leaves you with a train full of angry people and many stations full of equally angry people who can't get where they're going because the trains can't run.

However, this is not the main reason why suicides on the railway piss me off so much. Think of the driver, either in his cab when someone jumps in front of him or somone standing on the track as the train comes down theline and the driver has the firm realisation that he cannot stop in time and that he is going to hit someone. And knowing that he can't look away because he has to keep control of the train.

Think how traumatic that must be. It's shitty if you feel that suicide is the only way. But do you really need to screw someone else's life up on your way out? I've met drivers who've been involved in fatalities, and there are precious few of them who weren't screwed up by the experience to some degree. Some never drive again.

Some of you may remember the famous fatality at Ufton Nervet, where that sonofabitch parked his car on the track, derailed a train and took 6 other people with him. That includes the train driver, Stanley Martin, who stayed in his cab applying the brake until the point of impact to perhaps save other lives. I respect that.

I was quite heavily involved in the aftermath of Ufton Nervet. I used to talk with one of the passengers fron the fron carriage for about three months afterwards because it helped him to talk and get some stuff off his chest.

I won't use the word hate so we will leave it as, I intensely dislike people who use the railway to end their lives and I feel sorry for all the poor f*ckers who have to sort it out afterwards.

Rant over.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought that trains had emergency brake plungers that the driver could press and then dive down onto the floor or run back into the engine room so as to escape the risk of something coming through the window and injuring him. Once the brakes are applied fully surely there isn't much more that the driver can do to keep control of the train? Wouldn't he be best placed to try and save his own life and then hopefully be able to be in a fit state to protect the the adjacent line and assist passengers once the train has stopped?

Whatever the details I agree that a fatality must be horrible for everyone involved and especially the driver. I witnessed (from a distance) a suicidal man jump from a railway viaduct (Dinting, near Glossop) a few years ago onto the A57. He hit the roof of a bus on the way down and it wasn't pleasent at all.

Anonymous said...

what an emotional misinformed piece of shit !!!

the driver doesnt need to keep applying the brake. the driver drops the brake in by using the emergency brake plunger and does not need to stay there and watch.

i know mnay drivers who have had fatalities, i dont know many who have "never driven again" it doesnt ruin thier lives forever.

Stick to what you know best and dont try to speak from a position of authority that your obviously not qualified for.

露出 said...

究極!あなたの露出狂度がわかるサイトが誕生しました!!自分がどのタイプの露出狂なのかチェックできます!露出に興味津々なあなたも全く興味が無いあなたも隠された願望が見えてくる!

おっぱい said...

おっぱいにこだわりを持つおっぱいマニア必見!あなたが思う最高のおっぱいとは?たった15の質問で乳首の色から形・大きさまであなたの望む最高のおっぱいが暴かれるチョイエロ診断です!

Anonymous said...

Sorry but 6 years later I just HAVE to comment.
It was an HST, the driver does indeed just slam the emergency brake on, however where is he to run to? It's a class 253 for christs sake: that means a tiny door into the engine, then another door, then another door (locked) into the train carriages with 2 keyholes top & bottom - so, to answer you, NO, he didn't need to see it and be killed, he could have run towards the train carriages and been killed instead. whoopdee do.

This crash was a freak -the train derailed because the car jammed it (?) into the (goods?) sidings and so the engine etc left the tracks rather than throwing the car clear but remaining upright.

The OPs post is neither emotional or misinformed, I know at least 2 drivers that never returned to the cab for this company in the 20 years I worked for them -that's a fact, few drivers are unaffected by suicides and to make such a comment shows YOU are the misinformed one I'm afraid.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more with this, not only is it a damn nuisance to passengers, controllers, and pretty much the whole damn network! But also it leaves an emotional effect on the driver, plus any other potential witness' If people do feel the need to take their own life, then there is plenty of other methods which also leave less of an affect on other people, and also much more quicker!