A London Overground driver was found to be using their mobile phone while pulling out of a station with a disabled passenger’s boarding ramp still attached.
The ramp was dragged down the platform, forcing a member of staff and another passenger to move out of the way before it crashed into an end-of-platform barrier and fell beside the track.
Thankfully, no one was hurt during the near-miss, which unfolded at Norwood Junction station in south London at about 9.52 am on July 1 last year.
Rail accident investigators, however, said there was a very high risk that the ramp could have injured people or collided with platform furniture or railway infrastructure.
The portable ramp had been fitted to enable a passenger using a mobility scooter to board the 9.46 am West Croydon to Highbury & Islington service, but before the passenger could get on, the doors closed, and the train moved off with the metal ramp still fixed to the side.
The traveller, a Norwood resident who frequently travelled by rail for appointments and work, eventually admitted to investigators that they were utilising trains less frequently and experienced acute anxiety when commuting.
A Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) report found the driver’s personal mobile phone was switched on during the shift, and that five calls were made or received while they were driving trains.
The final call covered the journey from West Croydon and included the stop at Norwood Junction, where the misfortune occurred.
Investigators said the calls were likely to have distracted the driver because they involved potentially distressing personal issues.
The driver initially told Arriva Rail London their personal phone had been off for the entire shift and was placed in their bag, but phone records obtained by investigators revealed it had been switched on and used during the morning.
The report also found the wrong type of ramp had been in use at Norwood Junction, meaning the doors could still close, and the train could take power while it was attached.
The correct ramp had not been available at the station since September 2021, but checks had failed to spot the problem.
RAIB has now made six safety recommendations, including better management of portable access ramps and action over the dangers of train drivers using mobile phones.
Unless it’s a work phone, phones need to be prohibited at work.
I come from a time when you had to locate a phone box to phone home. Now, when I look, everyone is glued to their phone.
The driver should have been dismissed for lying and for using his phone while at work, but you can almost guarantee that won’t happen. Let’s face it, he was driving the train whilst using his phone, resulting in dragging a passenger ramp down the platform, and he could have seriously injured somebody. Imagine if the mobility scooter had been on the ramp when the train moved off.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 