Saturday 3 March 2018

Stranding and Rescuing the 17:05 from Waterloo

In all this snow, the first thing to say is that there's no right answer to the question: how much provision do you need to make for very extreme events?  A bit like the debate our friend Sackers and I take from time to time as to what's the optimal level of self-sufficiency in trade; same as the Dutch dilemma of how high to build the dykes.  We lack the metrics for a definitive answer.  As another friend, Radders says
... wearily I have to explain for the fifth time that ice and snow events are rare enough in the UK not to maintain a standing provision for them - it's easier to take a minor economic hit from snow disruption every ten years than pay for kit and provision that will be redundant most winters. 
OK, so the 17:05 from Waterloo to Weymouth broke down.  It's what happened next, or rather, didn't happen, that is outrageous and, in it's own way, very worrying.

Was this train lost?  No: its exact position was known.  Was this only known to a single individual in a control-room, who lost his head?  No - it was known to at least as many people who'd been 'phoned or otherwise contacted on social meejah by the dozens of passengers, as well as the management of South Western Railways.   Was it miles from anywhere, in the middle of the Scottish Highlands?  No: Christchurch in Dorset, for pity's sake (look at the map).  Less than 2 miles from the nearest station.  Was this a serious situation, demanding immediate action?  Yes, in the overall scheme of things: no electricity, water, heating or toilets after a while, on an extremely cold night - South Western were lucky not to have had a couple of fatalities on their hands. 

So WTF were they doing?  Clearly, fuck-all.  But it would take 15 minutes max for people with the right kind of thought-processes to come up with an intelligent plan to alleviate the situation at very least, if not to mount a full evacuation, in a couple of hours.

There's a problem here that one encounters in the Army.  Enthusiastic young officers are generally polite middle-class kids, and a typical situation in the field goes like this.  Senior officer, over the radio:  "Engage and destroy the sniper position in the building 500 metres to your east."  Junior officer:  "Our line of sight is obscured by the high wall we are taking cover behind."  S.O: "Then blow a hole in the fucking wall!"  J.O (thinks): *... but wouldn't that damage the wall ...?... oh, I see!*

In other words, a lot of people need to be taught that some circumstances demand Appropriate Action Now.  With no need for a Safety Case.

But there we are: it's 2018 and virtually no-one today has any military experience.  What a soft lot we are - and how dangerous that is, to life, limb, and our society as a whole.

ND

PS, In other Snow News there has been an interesting situation in the gas market this week.  More anon.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very easy for armchair criticism.

Roads were impassable. Cars were trapped on the A31. Police and fire services were all busy attending to other incidents. In fact some ambulance crews were attending emergencies with 4WD vehicles of volunteers, and the air ambulances were not operating due to the storm.

A following train was initially sent to rescue, but it also failed. The phone lines and signalling failed which meant it was not safe to operate trains even if they could have. It was past 0100 by the time the control centre decided that no trains could run until the morning. Buses and taxis were then sourced but drivers were unwilling to drive to the area, and the only place to send the passengers would be Bournemouth station anyway which has insufficient shelter.

People complain when their train is cancelled with light snow. Maybe SWR should have cancelled this train from the outset.

A similar thing happened in Japan recently: http://www.euronews.com/2018/01/12/heavy-snow-strands-430-people-overnight-on-train-in-japan , and that train was full with some people not being able to sit down. On this train, people were a bit cold for one night, but it looks like no lasting harm occurred.

BlokeInBrum said...

Have to agree to an extent with anon.
Rarely encountered situation combined with lack of contingency plans contributed to this situation.
What isn't acceptable in this day and age of instant communications is the complete lack of information given to the passengers.
At the very least they should have been kept updated with what was happening and the possible / likely outcomes.
Much easier to deal with adversity than uncertainty.

Jan said...

It's the lack of information which is the worst thing in this type of situation and the assumption by passengers that "someone" will do "something".

I haven't been in the army but my father was so I may have received some of the army mentality by osmosis.

The driver should have had information from his depot on the situation and could have updated passengers via the intercom. The conductor/guard (or whatever they're called ) should have been available to relay messages back to the driver and in this instance I think I would have been asking for the doors to be opened so that people could walk along the tracks if they wanted to chance it.

It's usually the case that "the authorities" are not going to help in weather-related incidents so people need to help themselves (I always think about New Orleans and what happened there). This type of situation is also a reason why guards are needed on trains.

Electro-Kevin said...

No-one died and I think that was a possibility in the circumstances. See Anon above.

Jan - the fact is people CAN chance it. A driver is not allowed to touch anyone - he cannot stop them from using the egress handle. The only thing he could do is warn there were hazards and report to signaller/Electrical Control Officer that there were people on the track and put out necessary protection.

People chose not to. They weren't imprisoned.

As for lack of information ? I've read various that information was given. I don't know what is true.

Electro-Kevin said...

Sometimes there is no information. They really don't know how long it's going to take. The technicians on site (if they've even made it there) have no idea how long the job is going to take if they haven't found a fault.

I was on a train yesterday that did a wrong direction move (a real last resort) for 7 miles after the technicians couldn't get the points reset after several hours of getting there and trying.

Electro-Kevin said...

"in other words, a lot of people need to be taught that some circumstances demand Appropriate Action Now. With no need for a Safety Case."

The Safety Case is there because of no-win-no-fee lawyering, not safety, as we all know.

Workers are terrified of their employers having their little arses sued off if they dare use innitiative.

"Don't think. Do it by the book."

This is the order of the day.

Blame the lawyers and judicial activists for this. Btw - it's the reason for all the annoying automated announcements.

Charlie said...

One of the passengers, a Canadian, is quoted as saying, "I don’t understand how in 2018 a major, major train company is not set up to deal with a tiny bit of snow. It’s utterly mind-blowing to me. " and "There were moments where I was reduced to tears." Well if it was just a little bit of snow, and she got that worked up, why not just walk to civilisation? That none of the passengers took this obvious escape route is "mind-blowing" to me. They had mobile phones and access to Google maps, so would have known they'd only have to walk for half an hour.

I'm going to put it down to the fact that our nannied, over-regulated, internet-addicted society contains very few people who can make an autonomous decision.

Anonymous said...

Shit happens, the concerning bit is that our trains are not all kitted out with some basics when said shit does happen. The capacity to have a drink of water and use the toilet in relative warmth on a broken down train should be a given in the 21st century.

Nick Drew said...

Anon - there's always 'reasons', and the do-nothing option is always endlessly attractive. Nothing, IMHO, excuses there being no rescue party stomping along the track with some basic supplies, offering a return walk under escort to any that wanted to take it.

Kev - Workers are terrified of their employers having their little arses sued off if they dare use initiative ... They weren't imprisoned

& Charlie - why not just walk to civilisation?

- yup; see "What a soft lot we are ..."

Sobers said...

Copied from the farming forum I am member of. A farmers tale of helping the emergency services. A bit long but indicative of the way public services think and work these days:

"I got a phone call from a near neighbour this afternoon asking if I could help as his elderly uncle had collapsed and the ambulance could not get to the village.
When I arrived at the back of 2 ambulances with the telehandler I could just see people about 100 metres ahead (it was blowing a real hoolie at the time) I couldn’t get passed the ambulances so I walked down to the commotion, the old chap was lying in the drifts with the 4 paramedics giving him attention. He was wrapped in a blanket.
I asked if we could get him on a stretcher and carry him back to the ambulance, the young paramedic said no that it was to dangerous and could cause more injuries.
I told him to get a bloody grip, he told me not to swear at him!!
The neighbour who called me was there and agreed with me that between us we could get him to the ambulance but the paramedic said no.
So they started to drag him through the snow like a bag of tatties towards his house around 300 metres in the opposite direction from the ambulance.
One of the paramedics was trying to get other ambulances to come from other directions but the other road to the village was blocked by even deeper drifts!
I walked back to the telehandler and started to clear the road from behind the 2 ambulances back to a corner that I knew they would be able to get turned at.
A Scottish Ambulance four wheel drive merc van and hilux pick up then turned up, they were “ control unit” vehicles. The gaffer told me that the old chap definitely needed to get to hospital so he got the ambulances backed up to the corner that I had cleared to let me passed. I apologised to him for swearing at the young guy but told him that I thought it was disgusting that dragging the old chap through the snow seemed to be fine but putting him on a body board and bringing him back to the ambulance was going to cause more trouble!!!
I then spent two hours clearing a track through drifts over 6 feet deep to the house so that the hilux could get through and get the old chap back to the ambulance.
There was also a PC there who heard what I said and even he agreed with me!
The old chap is now recovering in the local hospital and I was thanked profusely by the ambulance gaffer who said that the young paramedic was a new start who did everything by the book, but he would be told about using some common sense in appropriate situations!!"

Anonymous said...

The worst thing about the old BR was the lack of information. I've been on Clapham Junction circa 85, late, freezing night, train shown as due forty minutes ago, nothing. Wander along the platform, find a door you're not supposed to go in, another door and ten blokes nice and warm drinking tea - who actually did know that the train had been cancelled. Couldn't believe it.

But all that would change with privatisation, wouldn't it?

Electro-Kevin said...

We need to remember that thousands of trains were out in these conditions and only one is being quoted.

My train was removed as effectively and decisively as possible with information given according to company policy.

A week ago the signaller used his innitiative and stopped me close to a freight emergency crossover so that I had the option of reversal - if he'd allowed me to get to the point of obstruction some miles after we would have been stuck for hours.

On the whole the system works.

(35% of my depot have police, fire brigade or military service.)

formertory said...

The Lewisham situation was interesting; people jammed tightly into train with no seats, no room to move, no loos, no lights (reportedly), various arseholes getting bad tempered and scrapping (reportedly) and they *did* take the initiative, live current or not. Frankly, I'm on their side - after three hours-plus (reportedly!) in those conditions I believe I would have done the same.

Absolutely no good the rail company and the police moaning and bitching about irresponsibility and "trespass"(!). This isn't the 19th century; any exhibition of irresponsibility was by those who left people there for hours in those conditions.

Nick's point about walking back to a station is fair comment but in these soft and pampered days most people assume they'll be under cover or indoors all the time and aren't prepared for anything going wrong - even when the weather forecast / media have been trying for days to convince them they'll quite possibly be dead by teatime. Suggest they wear more appropriate clothing and have some food and something to drink with them and you're treated like the village idiot.

My missus had to get back from Chelmsford to Lincolnshire on Friday night; amidst the train cancellations she identified a couple of services into London and then from Kings Cross northbound - full marks to the rail operators and weather gods; three journeys with two changes and she got back three minutes early!

Electro-Kevin said...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-5458619/PETER-HITCHENS-frozen-terror-ambulance-chasing-lawyers.html

Peter Hitchens reinforces my point about lawyers today.

Anonymous said...

Jan: "I would have been asking for the doors to be opened so that people could walk along the tracks if they wanted to chance it."

Problem with that is, the third rail. Not all rail track in the London area is fed power via overhead lines. The tube uses the third rail system and quite a lot of tube track is above ground.

With pax on the track, the whole of the system would need to be shut down because of the real risk of someone coming into contact with high tension electricity

Electro-Kevin said...

Two options with that, Anon: In a controlled evacuation have an isolation undertaken by the Electrical Control Officer or an emergency evacuation have the driver put the bar down and operate hook switches.

I do not wish to abrogate the railways of responsibity here but...

How many of us carry a flask of hot tea, bum paper and cold weather gear when travelling during a red alert ?

How many have a shovel in their car and snow chains or tyre grip in their car ?

(I have all of the above)

I recall the days when Dad would be out with a gang of other dads clearing the roads (me with them later.) It doesn't happen now.

I was out with a shovel clearing *public* snow on these days btw. It's how I was raised.

It is everyone's responsibility to use a bit of innitiative and keep the country going at these times.

James Higham said...

One could almost write a short story: The Lost Special.

formertory said...

How many of us carry a flask of hot tea, bum paper and cold weather gear when travelling during a red alert ?

How many have a shovel in their car and snow chains or tyre grip in their car ?

(I have all of the above)


Good man, E-K. Me too. And a stout, *very* sharp, folding pocket knife complying with the provisions of S139, Criminal Justice Act, 1988. You never know!

(Even my missus thinks I'm slightly weird) :-)

Elby the Beserk said...

"But there we are: it's 2018 and virtually no-one today has any military experience. What a soft lot we are - and how dangerous that is, to life, limb, and our society as a whole."

Bloody right Nick. Had we now to go to conventional war as we did in 1939, it would be all over in days. Sending millennials into battle and they'd be demanding safe spaces, screaming about macro aggressions and saying they needed trigger warnings. My mum's generation of women would have put up a better fight - even on the Normandy beaches - than this shower.

FUBAR.

Electro-Kevin said...

"Good man, E-K. Me too. And a stout, *very* sharp, folding pocket knife complying with the provisions of S139, Criminal Justice Act, 1988. You never know!"

https://www.tauntonleisure.com/the-lil-larry-light.html

One of these and google 'kubotan'.

A completely artless form of self defence - which is usually the most effective imho.

Charlie said...

I don't really understand the need for society to be imbued with military experience. You don't need military experience to put a shovel and a blanket in your car boot when it's cold, nor to cancel those travel plans with your 5 week old baby when there's a red weather warning. You just need to be self-reliant, able to plan ahead and make decisions. These qualities are pretty much being designed out of everyday life. At work, there is always a procedure or process to follow. Most of the thinking I do involves coming up with ways to do what you need to do while still following process, getting the boxes ticked and having someone who essentially hasn't a clue what you're doing to sign their name.

Disclosure: I'm a "Millennial" (just), but completely unoffended as it is obvious to all that self-obsessed, unthinking, easily-offended children are over represented in my generational cohort.

Tom Paine said...

“ice and snow events are rare enough in the UK not to maintain a standing provision for them - it's easier to take a minor economic hit from snow disruption every ten years than pay for kit and provision that will be redundant most winters.“

But there used to be a way to secure provision. Businesses like my father’s construction company were paid an annual retsiner fee by our local authority to be available for snow clearance. In return, when need arose, they were required to drop other work and take their diggers, bulldozers etc out to clear the local roads. The equipment used was therefore not standing idly by, deteriorating, during years without snow. The public sector unions killed that sensible scheme, arguing that such important work should only be done by council employees with appropriate health and safety training.

Nick Drew said...

Sensible indeed, TP.

In the electricty sector, essentially that scheme was introduced 4 years ago - the Capacity Mechanism: Standby payments (on contracts awarded under auction) to firms willing to guarantee either generating capacity, or switching off elec usage, when called upon by the Grid

Don't recall the unions getting a say in that one ...

formertory said...

@E-K

Just to clarify: I don't carry a pocket knife for self-defence. That way lies many years languishing at Her Maj's Pleasure. I carry a pocket knife because it's a bloody useful thing to have sometimes. Kubotans are recognised immediately as such by even the dimmest copper and are classed as offensive weapons; wave one about and you'll be down the nick sharpish having your DNA taken :-)

E-K said...

I linked a pocket torch.