Strange goings-on at Tufnell Park

[Geoffram]

I was sitting on an Northern Line southbound train which pulled into Tufnelll Park, yesterday (9th January) around 1pm. There were about twenty people on the platform waiting to board. But the doors didn't open. After a lot of distant conversations between the driver and his Control Room, he announced that the train wasn't going to stop at this station (even though, technically, it had) 'due to defective lifts'. And the train pulled out, leaving a lot of puzzled people on the platform. I can imagine a lift malfunction might be useful information to people getting off the train, since the emergency stairs might be a bit too much for them, but why deny entry on to the train to people already on the platform?

[superteacher]

Jan 10, 2015 11:58:26 GMT Geoffram said:

I was sitting on an Northern Line southbound train which pulled into Tufnelll Park, yesterday (9th January) around 1pm. There were about twenty people on the platform waiting to board. But the doors didn't open. After a lot of distant conversations between the driver and his Control Room, he announced that the train wasn't going to stop at this station (even though, technically, it had) 'due to defective lifts'. And the train pulled out, leaving a lot of puzzled people on the platform. I can imagine a lift malfunction might be useful information to people getting off the train, since the emergency stairs might be a bit too much for them, but why deny entry on to the train to people already on the platform?

Odd, because presumably you'd want to get those passengers who were already on the platform onto a train to avoid them having to walk up the stairs. Surely, the course of action should have been:

1. Stop the train without opening the doors.
2. PA announcement advising passengers that the lifts are defective and thus the only way out will be via the stairs. Any passengers who will find the stairs difficult should remain on the train to Kentish Town, then continue at street level.
3. Open the doors.
4. Subsequent trains would non stop.

Alternatively, could they not have operated the butterfly cock to open the doors on one carriage?

[londonboy]

Jan 10, 2015 12:34:40 GMT superteacher said:

Jan 10, 2015 11:58:26 GMT Geoffram said:

I was sitting on an Northern Line southbound train which pulled into Tufnelll Park, yesterday (9th January) around 1pm. There were about twenty people on the platform waiting to board. But the doors didn't open. After a lot of distant conversations between the driver and his Control Room, he announced that the train wasn't going to stop at this station (even though, technically, it had) 'due to defective lifts'. And the train pulled out, leaving a lot of puzzled people on the platform. I can imagine a lift malfunction might be useful information to people getting off the train, since the emergency stairs might be a bit too much for them, but why deny entry on to the train to people already on the platform?

Odd, because presumably you'd want to get those passengers who were already on the platform onto a train to avoid them having to walk up the stairs. Surely, the course of action should have been:

1. Stop the train without opening the doors.
2. PA announcement advising passengers that the lifts are defective and thus the only way out will be via the stairs. Any passengers who will find the stairs difficult should remain on the train to Kentish Town, then continue at street level.
3. Open the doors.
4. Subsequent trains would non stop.

Alternatively, could they not have operated the butterfly cock to open the doors on one carriage?

Passengers dont really listen to information that they are given.
The procedure using the butterfly cock would of been carried out once a member of station got to the platform, probably the next train to come in and was decided to let the train go rather than hold passengers inside trains with doors closed and in tunnels if there was one right behind.

[Deleted]

How did the people get on to the platform if the lift(s) were defective?

[Geoffram]

Good question. I could only assume there was only one lift working and it packed up. Even if this were the case, things would have had to happen really quickly for the Control Room to be notified by the staff at Tufnell Park, and then make a decision to hold the train I was on without opening the doors.

[Tomcakes]

I have been in a similar situation before, when a train had obviously just been notified as it stopped - in this case the station was being evacuated due to the escalators both breaking down although why they didn't let passengers on I'm not sure.