The passenger was injured after being dragged along the platform of the station during the incident last July

A warning to passengers on the door of a London Overground train (credit Arriva Rail London)

The driver of a London Overground train at Enfield Town Station has been criticised for “failing” to notice a passenger’s hand was trapped in the door before departing.

The passenger was injured when they were dragged along the platform at around 6pm on 17th July, after they attempted to board the train as the doors were closing.

The London Overground train subsequently departed from the platform with the passenger’s hand still trapped in the doors, forcing them to run alongside the train, eventually losing their footing.

A Rail Accident Investigation Bureau (RAIB) report published this week pinned some of the blame for the incident on the train’s driver, who failed to notice the passenger was trapped before departing the station.

Passengers on the train alerted the driver, who then stopped the train and released the doors, allowing the passenger to free their hand.

During the incident, the train travelled approximately 60 metres and reached a speed of 11mph. The passenger was taken to hospital, having sustained minor injuries, and also suffered psychological distress.

The driver, like all London Overground drivers, was an Arriva Rail London employee, and had worked for the company since 2018. The RAIB ‘safety digest’ report states that the incident on 17th July happened because the driver did not see that the passenger was close to the train and trapped in the doors when deciding to start the train.

The dispatch of trains from Enfield Town Station is carried out by the train driver using driver-only operation. “This means that it is part of the driver’s duties to operate the doors and check that it is safe to close them and it is safe for the train to depart from the platform,” the RAIB report states.

“It is important that drivers are assisted in the dispatch of the train by using cameras and monitors, as it is necessary to check that it is safe to depart after the doors are closed and interlock is achieved.”

The report further explains that the driver is notified when “all the train’s doors have been closed and locked” and “the driver receives confirmation of this via an indicator light in the driving cab”.

“It is not possible for the driver to apply traction power if door interlock has not been made,” it adds.

However, because objects thinner than 30mm “such as fingers” will “not necessarily be detected by the system” the driver will often still be able to drive the train.

This is what happened on 17th July, and is why drivers are trained to “ensure there are no passengers attempting to board or alight before closing the doors”. RAIB also states that drivers are “trained to understand the limitations of the interlock”.

CCTV from inside the train cab as the incident occurred (credit Arriva Rail London)

The in-cab CCTV images from the train were recorded and show that “the passenger was located by the rearmost door and was visible in the top right image of the left monitor” at the point of departure.

“The driver stated that they believed they had looked at the monitors after the doors had closed,” the RAIB report continues.

“As the passenger was at the rearmost door of the vehicle they were attempting to board, they would have been less conspicuous in the relevant monitor image since their relative size would have been small compared to a passenger standing closer to the camera.

“In addition, the driver may have developed a belief that it was safe to depart based on the images shown on the monitors at the point where they closed the doors. At that time, the in-cab CCTV recording shows that nobody was near to the train and the passenger involved in the accident had not yet reached the platform.”

There have been a number of previous incidents of passengers trapping their hands on class 710 trains, like those used on the Enfield Town to Liverpool Street route of London Overground. Class 710 trains have ‘sharks teeth’ markings on the door edges and warning labels intended to warn passengers of the potential danger of placing an object between closing doors.

However, RAIB warns: “Evidence from this accident, and other incidents involving class 710 trains, suggests that the door seals on this class of train may make it difficult for passengers to pull themselves free once their hand becomes trapped.

“The class 710 train involved in this accident was not fitted with door technology such as sensitive door edges, which uses a detection system in the door seals which may detect smaller obstructions. They were also not fitted with anti-drag systems which use a special type of door seal and a monitoring system which can detect that a passenger has been trapped in the doors and is being dragged.

“Although these are being used by some train operators, including those operating other classes of Aventra trains, the class 710 trains were not specified to include such systems when brought into service in May 2019.”

Rory O’Neill, Transport for London’s general manager for London Overground, said: “We’re sorry that our customer experienced this distressing incident.

“Safety is our top priority and our operator, Arriva Rail London (ARL), carried out a thorough investigation immediately and fully cooperated with RAIB to help make sure this doesn’t happen again and to share learnings with the industry.

“After this incident, ARL shared learnings with drivers, and held individual refresher conversations on what is needed to keep our customers safe. A staff video was also produced to support these briefings. We have also taken great strides to raise customer awareness about the hazards of obstructing closing train doors. This includes videos published across our social media channels and safety focused marketing both on board trains and station platforms.”

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