GCR Ending of Lineside Passes, ex-Bridge that Gap: Great Central Railway News

To my mind, In the case of an incident Staff or Trespassers will be treated exactly the same in the eyes of the law.
If you are at fault be prepared to accept the consequences, such as someone who may not be as aware as you following your example.
Thinking "If he can get away with it so can I."

 

And this is where you are wrong. Your death or injury is unlikely to involve just yourself. Should you be hit by a train there is a crew who despite their obeying of the rules and doing their job to the letter, they will have to face the consequences of your actions. Should you fall down an embankment and break your neck the railway will face the consequences of your actions.

You are not an island,

Bottomline, the increase in H&S is in large part because of what happened at the SDR. Where the old ‘quick bodge’, stick a notice on the door and bolt it shut attitude (just how we always did it in the old days and we had common sense and so on) nearly resulted in the death of a toddler.

Stop and think for five minutes about the financial, public relations and regulatory consequences for the railway heritage industry if the mother of the child had not grabbed the toddler in time? You are looking at fines and compensation into six or seven figures and you are looking at a lot more in terms of regulation, and scrutiny and you are looking at a loss of trust and custom. The era of light touch regulation is over and it is over because in the end some railways were not up to standard and were putting their customers’ and staffs’ lives at risk.

 

Other people will always be involved in any death and my chances of coming to an early end are far more likely in the road journey to the railway
The SDR incident is totally different and was negligence on the part of the railway

 

Actually I do not think that they are different, what if a Photographer adopts the same Oh that will be alright attitude?

 

The incidents would not be, but the consequences would to all intents and purposes.

This may or may not be the consequence of over regulation and/or ambulance chasing lawyers, but it is the world we inhabit.

I dislike over protection and excessive cotton wool, but lineside photography is the wrong ground on which to fight. Too many photographers have abused their privileges, too much risk is already in the system.

Better by far to focus on enabling people to see sheds and what goes on there, so they don’t just see the finished product. That’s where interest can be fostered, and new support won.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The new shed extension at Swithland Sidings is proceeding well, nearly all the concrete foundation pads are in the ground and so the steelwork for the framework should appear quite soon. It is four tracks wide and three coaches long, so 12 coaches undercover.

 

Untrue. I cite for example the case of the track worker who was killed after he failed to move to a position of safety. The report emphasised that the trackworker was ‘responsible’ but it also asked why his colleagues had not been more insistent in forcining him to move and why the driver had been slow brake and realise that the trackworker was not moving.

So, if you are killed, the investigation will ask what other steps could have been taken. One of the things they point out is that in this case, the trackworker was the most experienced but most junior member of the team and this affected the dynamics, the driver simply couldn’t believe that the trackworker was not going to move until it was too late.

So others were given responsibility for this death.

Secondly, safety is not just about rules but about attitudes towards rules and safety.

In the case of line side photos, the authorities would point out that there are a number of people believe that they know best and have been very clear about this and their view of modern rules. The response, is rightly be that to avoid an accident the best measure is for them to not be in a position where you might cause an accident ie lineside.

Safety is not something you can push and say ‘oh it is just that thing but not our thing’. The SDR may have been negligent in sending a defecting carriage out, the GCR would also be negligent in allowing photographers line side because of the associated safety risks. A safety culture should encompass every action on the railway.

I agree absolutely. Safe access which is manageable- quite a few places seem to have gone for viewing platforms up high as a way to enable people to see what is going on.

 

I guess I can see the point of this. When I was teaching my kids to drive, I emphasized to them 'assume the other driver is going to make a mistake'; the point being that humans are imperfect, and even without ill intent (e.g. deliberately running a risk), mistakes will happen, and being able to say, after an accident, that 'it wasn't my fault, the other person made a mistake' is of only limited utility/value (especially if you were injured as a result).

So probably the same applies here; assume that people will make mistakes, and ask 'how can we best assure that the consequences of inevitable mistakes are limited'.

I am also reminded of that story in one of Adrian Vaughan's books (I think it was "Twilight"), of how another signalman made a mistake late at night, and had Mr. Vaughn not been very alert, an express might have plowed into a slow freight (with horrendous consequences).

People make mistakes; one can, I think, argue that the system should be designed to deal with that.

Noel

 

There seem to be plenty of examples where for example junior people have been unwilling to tell or question senior people that they are making a mistake and accidents have happened. Even in cases where no one is at fault you can see that the general drift is to try to avoid activities where there is a high risk factor.

Better to take steps before an accident to prevent it than to let the accident happen and deal with the consequences.

 

People will always make mistakes and misjudgment but that’s in the work environment. For a linsider it seems easy, stand in or near the four foot and you could get killed, don’t do it and you won’t. It would be interesting to know the statistics for accidents on the continent where people tend to be treated as adults and the UKs OTT nanny state regime.

 

Why don’t you do the research and then you’d have the evidence to support your argument.

 

I can't help but think that every post you make on the subject helps in proving the case for doing away with lineside passes.

 

@Johnb I give you this... one prat like that is all it takes.

 

Almost missed this, buried in a different thread !
Another project on the GCR which they haven't really said a lot about, other than a few passing references in Main Line. Last report was that it was waiting for Planning Permission, so that was obviously granted. Not sure if its the same contractor as the one doing the Mountsorrel Heritage Centre extension - I know the original contractors for the RVP & Mountsorrel buildings were two different ones.

 

Errm, he’s on a public station and perfectly entitled to be there. You see people close to the edge all the time, hence warnings to stand back. Perhaps we should ban the public from stations to avoid such problems.

 

There was a fatality during the 2018 Dampfspektakel but he fell off the platform at Trier as 01 202 was running through the station. As for all the other main line events I’ve attended in Germany, photographers have been warned “go too close to the running line and running will be suspended.” To date there has been no need for that threat to be carried out.

 

Firstly the fatality demonstrates the very real hazards associated with railways, BUT the situation in Germany is entirely different for cultural reasons, and just because it works there doesnt mean it will work here.

As one engineer told me, Germany doesnt have fire regulations because Germans dont die in firesl

 

Well I didn't know where to put this as this GCR thread actually has three topics!

 

But that’s on a station platform where the general public have access!

 

Are you suggesting the average German lineside photographer is more intelligent than the British?