RAIB report 04/2016: Serious accident at Clapham South tube station
RAIB has today released its report into a serious accident at Clapham South tube station, 12 March 2015.
CCTV still of departing incident train (London Underground Ltd)
Summary
At around 08:00 hrs on 12 March 2015, a passenger fell beneath a train after being dragged along the northbound platform of Clapham South station, in south London. She was dragged because her coat had become trapped between the closing doors of a London Underground Northern line train.
The train had stopped and passengers had alighted and boarded normally, before the driver confirmed that the door closure sequence could begin. The train operator, in the driving cab, started the door closure sequence but, before the doors had fully closed, one set encountered an obstruction and the doors were reopened. A passenger who had just boarded, and found that the available standing space was uncomfortable, stepped back off the train and onto the platform, in order to catch the following train. The edge of this passenger’s coat was then trapped when the doors closed again and she was unable to free it.
The trapped coat was not large enough to be detected by the door control system and the train operator, who was unaware of the situation, started the train moving. While checking the platform camera views displayed in his cab, the train operator saw unusual movements on the platform and applied the train brakes. Before the train came to a stop, the trapped passenger fell to the ground and then, having become separated from her coat, fell into the gap between the platform and the train. The train stopped after travelling about 60 metres. The passenger suffered injuries to her arm, head and shoulder, and was taken to hospital.
Recommendations
As a result of this accident, RAIB has made one recommendation, addressed to London Underground, seeking further improvements in the processes used to manage risks at the platform-train interface.
RAIB has also identified one learning point for the railway industry, relating to the provision of under platform recesses as a measure to mitigate the consequences of accidents where passengers fall from the platform.
Notes to editors
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The sole purpose of RAIB investigations is to prevent future accidents and incidents and improve railway safety. RAIB does not establish blame, liability or carry out prosecutions.
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RAIB operates, as far as possible, in an open and transparent manner. While our investigations are completely independent of the railway industry, we do maintain close liaison with railway companies and if we discover matters that may affect the safety of the railway, we make sure that information about them is circulated to the right people as soon as possible, and certainly long before publication of our final report.
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