please mind the gap!

[ThomasJ]

Waiting on a train at Connolly, I just witnessed a girl hurriedly board a maynooth train at Connolly platform 7 only to slip and fall through the gap.

Thankfully a Guy saw her, ran to her and pulled her up just before the doors closed.

I have heard people laugh as this came over the speaker goes to show how important that warning is given what happened.

[Jamie2k9]

On 19 March two passengers boarding the Dart on platform 5 fell between the gap. A number of IE staff just looked and did nothing about it. One of the passengers was blind. After they went to staff to let them know about it and they said there was nothing they could do, it was the way the station was designed.

[Thomas Ralph]

P5 is a disaster for gaps. P7 is not so bad, but if you're rushing...

[Mark Gleeson]

Connolly, Tara and Cork are the three major offenders

1. We have flagged with Irish Rail that the DART fleet does not comply with the accessibility requirements which mandate a vertical grab rail just inside the door to help people

2. If someone does slip between the gap you are fully entitled to pull/press the emergency button

3. Failing that get your foot in the door and it will force it to reopen or if platform side stand facing the front of the train and raise both hands in the air, this is the hand signal not to move.

4. Irish Rail has recently started a poster campaign with the emergency numbers for accidents on them

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by ThomasJ

I have heard people laugh as this came over the speaker goes to show how important that warning is given what happened.

Laughing is a human defensive mechanism. I heard a story of a 7 year old laughing at a funeral, when someone (not the deceased) fell into the grave. As adults we mostly control ourselves in such situations, but not always.

We try to laugh of adversity, use dark humour, etc.

[hoopsheff]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

3. Failing that get your foot in the door and it will force it to reopen or if platform side stand facing the front of the train and raise both hands in the air, this is the hand signal not to move.

somehow cant see drivers paying any attenntion to this...otherwise every messer in the country would have the trains ground to a halt doing this

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by hoopsheff

somehow cant see drivers paying any attenntion to this...otherwise every messer in the country would have the trains ground to a halt doing this

Thats the rule book signal and I saw it demonstrated in Pearse last week to halt a not empty train being allowed out to the sidings. Add in some YMCA moves and you can get the doors open/closed and so on.

When time is critical what else can you do? Foot in door is best though as then the driver cannot move off

[TheDarkSide]

All trains have a door interlock which means the train will not allow itself to be moved unless it is sure all the doors are properly closed. So by putting your foot in the door you will stop it from moving.

[Mark Gleeson]

Thats the theory provided you have wide enough feet. Its only in the last 3 years or so that all doors have obstacle detection fitted