UK: The rail industry’s plans for dealing with trains stranded between stations need greater focus on passenger experience and welfare, according to a report commissioned by regulator the Office of Rail & Road and watchdog Transport Focus.
The report produced by consultancy Steer examined four incidents in December 2023. It found that:
- research into passenger behaviour and guidance on incident management has not always been fully incorporated into procedures or followed;
- recovery plans need to be created and implemented more quickly, particularly where there is no power to a train and the lighting, air-conditioning, heating and toilets are out of action. Current guidance recommends that a plan is created within 60 min, but in some circumstances ‘that just isn’t fast enough’;
- passengers need more support for their onward journey when they have been evacuated from a stranded train far from their destination;
- more staff training is needed, in particular about how to maintain trust and hope when there is no news or only bad news.
ORR and Transport Focus are to bring together the train operators and Network Rail to follow up on the recommendations.
‘Operators and Network Rail need to work together quickly to assess the situation from a passenger perspective and create a workable plan to safely manage the situation’, said Stephanie Tobyn, ORR Director of Strategy, Policy & Reform, on August 1. ‘This plan must assess the conditions on the train, the specific welfare needs of all passengers onboard and the previous experience of public behaviour during such incidents.’
During the 70-day research period from October 2023, there were 75 incidents leading to 178 trains becoming stranded, 20 of which led to passengers being evacuated. Five required passengers to walk along the track and in six cases — all linked — passengers took matters into their own hands and climbed out of trains.
