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Camden News - by JAMES BRAY
Published: 8 January 2009

One ‘near miss’ every week on Tube

Transport for London figures reveal underground incidents that put passengers in danger

TUBE workers in Camden record a potentially deadly accident at a rate of one every week, the New Journal can reveal.
A log of incidents at the borough’s stations, ranging from the loopy to the lethal, reveal what can go wrong on the underground.
The book of so-called “near misses” was released by Transport for London (TfL) after a Freedom of Information Act request.
TfL chiefs have insisted safety on the Tube is their top priority.
Their records show that accidents noted in the past nine months include passengers narrowly avoiding serious injury at Tottenham Court Road in June when a 32 sq ft roof tile plummeted on to escalators just after the morning rush hour.
Travellers were also put in danger in the summer when doors opened while carriages were in tunnels. Doors also opened facing the opposite side of the platform three times at King’s Cross.
The TfL report – seen by the New Journal – reveals that 37 near-miss incidents were reported at Tube stations in Camden from April to December last year – more than one a week.
Of these, at least four had the potential to cause death or major injury, according to staff, and another 11 could have led to minor injuries.
But not all the dangers were caused by faulty trains or problems at stations.
In one potentially deadly incident, a reveller on his way home from the West End nightclub Fabric decided to take the Tube home – despite it being 3am with no trains running.
He was spotted jumping off the platform at Farringdon station and heading down the tunnel towards King’s Cross on foot.
It prompted an extensive search of the track by London Underground staff before he was eventually caught and arrested by British Transport Police.
On another occasion a Northern line driver needlessly ordered all his passengers off his train after misunderstanding an instruction on his radio.
He had been told to wait at Hampstead after a bomb scare caused by someone leaving a bag on the train.
After removing passengers, he continued his journey towards Golders Green – telling his supervisors later he had misheard the order.
Other incidents included passengers getting their shoes caught on escalators and bags getting stuck in automatic ticket gates and elevator doors.
A TfL spokesman said: “London Underground takes the safety of customers and staff very seriously. To ensure that passengers are kept safe we ask employees to report incidents which resulted in, or which under slightly different circumstances could have resulted in harm to people or damage to property or the environment.
“We record and analyse these incidents to try to stop them happening in the first place or to prevent them from becoming more serious. Potential incidents or near misses are those which, in slightly different circumstances, could have resulted in minor injuries or possibly a more severe incident. Many incidents can be avoided. For example, we advise passengers to hold on with one hand for their safety when on escalators and to take care if wearing floor-length garments that could obstruct the smooth-running of the moving-stair.
“Our ticket gates are designed so that if a customer is caught in the gate, they can be released easily and quickly.”

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