Passengers on Kennington loop

[metman]

The worker with the oil lamp at South Island Place is an old tale. I wouldn't want to be down there alone!

[Deleted]

There is an interesting documentary on YouTube called Haunted-London Underground.. According to that, there have been several reported (but not proven) cases of the inter-carriage doors opening when the trains are stationary in the Kennington Loop. Apparently, it is because (ages ago) a passenger tried to board a train by getting into the gap between the carriages and then using the inter-carriage doors. The train left Kennington Station, entered the loop and the passenger was killed and dragged into the loop.

The story of the passenger being killed is definitely true and it lead to the installation of those black sheets which stop anyone stepping from the platform and into the space between the carriages.

That makes it seem suitable for a ghost to open inter-carriage doors in the loop. But at the end of the documentary, equipment is used to show that there are high levels of infra-sound in the loop. Infra-sound is inaudible but it causes the 'fight or flight' instinct.

So either:

1) Kennington Loop is haunted
2) The drivers who reported the door openings are making it up
3) The doors were not always shut properly and when the trains stopped in the loop they sometimes opened, and infra-sound caused the drivers to assume it was cause by something sinister
4) A prankster read about the passengers death, got into the loop, and decided to try and scare people

I reckon it is either option 2 or 3.

[chrisvandenkieboom]

3 would be logical, since there are reports of 95TS doors randomly opening in tunnels.. or because of confused foreigners in the last carriage fearing that the last carriage is not going to have any opening doors...

[kabsonline]

Yes. But how often do the doors just open, especially in the exact same place of Kennington Loop?

[chrisvandenkieboom]

Oct 20, 2011 13:30:00 GMT kabsonline said:

Yes. But how often do the doors just open, especially in the exact same place of Kennington Loop?

When the train is stopped in front of a signal?

I have a simple proposal; make sure that trains don't stop in the loop

[kabsonline]

Or don't be afraid of ghosts!

[chrisvandenkieboom]

Oct 20, 2011 14:53:43 GMT kabsonline said:

Or don't be afraid of ghosts!

But then there's still the issue of 'opening doors'.

[Deleted]

The communicating doors on both 1995 and 1996 stock trains do have a tendency to open rather alot. In some cases Iv'e tried to close a few whilst the train has been moving and they wouldn't stay shut.
However, one of the men interviewed about Ken loop was actually a guard when it happened and the driver mentioned there was also a guard on his train too.
This means of course, this story pre-dates the 1995 stock and its shoddy inter-connecting doors.

[kabsonline]

That's a good point and very true. It is very very unlikely and a massive coincedence if it was the doors not being closed properly. Unless it was a strong blast of wind from somewhere maybe???

[chrisvandenkieboom]

Strong blast of wind.. I doubt it. The piston effect maybe, but pretty much impossible on the Kennington loop due to the low speeds and being stationary... (unless I don't know air physics)

[Deleted]

There is a fifth option: the guard could have been playing a joke on the driver. And, for option 3, there are no passengers on the trains on the loop so the dirvers don't have to worry about braking suddenly. The jolt of the train stopping could have opened the doors.

[abe]

The story about the passenger being killed that led to the installation of the inter-car barriers was not at Kennington. It happened at Liverpool Street over 10 years ago, and was a passenger trying to get out of a train that was entering the sidings. They tried to get onto the platform by getting through the end doors of one car, but slipped and fell (possibly as the train went over the points). This led to (i) more stringent checks of trains before entering sidings, and (ii) the introduction of the inter-car barriers.

The 'haunted' stories about Kennington are misinformed rubbish.

[kabsonline]

Option five could be true but it seems were all trying to find solutions that in most cases don't make sense What if there actually is a ghost?

[The Tram Man]

Oct 21, 2011 16:59:11 GMT kabsonline said:

What if there actually is a ghost?

I'd try to be his/her friend. ;D

Nah, but in that case, i would stay clear of the loop.

[causton]

May or may not have been in the Kennington loop lately, with a small group of friends... in the second car so tried not to talk too loud when we stopped and it went quiet, just in case the driver heard voices and though there was a ghost! didn't see any though. There was another man at the other end of the car reading the Evening Standard, we thought 'how rare to get two sets of people doing the Kennington loop!' however we returned to Kennington and he looked out the window, had a very puzzled look on his face and left the train - oops I guess he didn't actually hear the 'All change!'

Nice experience but wouldn't really do it again, I was lucky that we only spent 5-10 mins in there, and the train formed after we left the loop was going to the destination we wanted to go to!

[chrisvandenkieboom]

Do trains wait at Kennington NB ChX that long?

[causton]

In the loop who knows, I spent about 5-10 mins as I said, but probably longer if there's disruptions/other trains to clear... in the platform not much longer than a normal station call!

[Deleted]

Did you see any ghosts ........

[causton]

Unless the other passenger was a ghost... thinking about it, they never spoke...

[Deleted]

I should be doing the loop tommorow

[alfie]

I'll do it on Boxing Day..

[chrisvandenkieboom]

Until someone has bad luck and there's a power failure. The driver might get out, without the passengers, because passengers don't usually use the Kennington loop. (although a good driver should always check just in case, imo)

@north End: You win this round....

[North End]

Dec 22, 2011 13:51:39 GMT chrisvandenkieboom said:

Until someone has bad luck and there's a power failure. The driver might get out, without the passengers, because passengers don't usually use the Kennington loop. (although a good driver should always check just in case, imo)

A train would never be left in Kennington Loop, except in extreme emergency.

The Loop is regarded as part of the running line, and a Train Operator *never* leaves a train unattended on a running line. Unless there was a really prolonged shut down, a train stalled in the loop would always be staffed, even if the original driver's finish time came he would have to handover to someone else.

The train would in any case be checked for any passengers.

[Deleted]

Did the loop today, and somthing came to mind. Are views from the interior CCTV cameras viewable when the train is stationary from the cab? Was just wondering as at Kennington the driver was annoucing it pretty thoroughly for anyone to leave the train etc!

[causton]

I'm not sure -- that possibility came about when we were halfway through the loop, stopped, and thought "What if the driver sees us through the CCTV cameras now???"

[alfie]

He might be a bit annoyed, but seeing as it's running line and no-one checked the cars, you have nothing to worry about.

As far as I know.

[jimini]

At this time of year I'm pretty sure it's not just us enthusiasts that take a spin round the loop ;D

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2011 12:23:07 GMT jimini said:

At this time of year I'm pretty sure it's not just us enthusiasts that take a spin round the loop ;D

And a few people wondering how they ended up at High Barnet after boarding a southbound train

[Chris M]

A friend of a friend woke up eastbound at Greenford having fallen asleep somewhere between Liverpool Street and Buckhurst Hill!

[Deleted]

Also did it with Ken, and was wondering what the mileage was from Kennington - Kennington around the loop?