The UK’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch has made two recommendations for London Underground Limited after a passenger was struck and killed at Stratford London Underground station on Dec. 26, 2023.
At around 1:57 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2023, a passenger alighted from a London Underground Jubilee line train at Stratford station. The passenger then sat on a platform bench opposite where they left the train.
At around 2:45 p.m., the passenger stood up but stumbled forward and fell from the platform onto the adjacent track. Unable to get to a safe position, the passenger lay on the track undiscovered for about five minutes before being struck by an arriving train, which then stopped normally.
The first recommendation concerns using technology to detect if a passenger is in a dangerous position and intervene or warn as necessary to stop an approaching or departing train. The second is to review the environmental, organizational, and job factors related to operating trains in automatic train operation mode to understand how underloading may affect train operators.
A learning point has also been identified, reminding staff of the importance of using safety-critical communications when reporting and responding to incidents.
“Although London Underground Limited had quantified the risk of a passenger falling from the platform and being struck by a train at Stratford station, the risk controls adopted were not sufficiently effective in this instance to prevent the accident from occurring,” the report found.
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