In 2013 to 2014 1.6 billion passenger journeys took place on the GB network equating to 3 billion movements across the platform train interface (PTI). Although a significant majority of these occurred safely, 32 fatalities were recorded at the PTI over the last 10 years, while 21% of the overall passenger fatality and weighted injury (FWI) risk and 48% of the passenger fatality risk occurs at the PTI. Indeed the amount of harm while boarding or alighting, taking into account a rise in passenger journeys, has increased since 2007/08.
PTI incidents involve passengers or members of the public crossing the boundary between the platform and track or the platform and train and break down into those that occur during boarding and alighting and those that occur when an individual is on the platform but not boarding and aligning.
Tackling the risk posed by the PTI is a significant challenge, confounded by a range of variables including significant variations in station, platform and train design; passenger attitudes and behaviours; differing dispatch methods and staffing requirements for platforms and maintaining access for mixed traffic operations (different rolling stock, freight operations, and on-track machine for example).
In recognition of this, the GB Platform Train Interface (PTI) Strategy has been developed, underpinned by cross-industry collaboration, providing a vision and roadmap to improve safety, performance and capacity though optimising the operation, management and design of the PTI over the next 50 years.
The strategy focuses on the following PTI incident types: person trapped in train doors, slip, trip, or fall across the PTI, contact with train exterior while on platform, person falling between train and platform, fall from platform onto track and is a collaboration between Engineering, Operations, Human Factors and Data Analysis. Each domain completed a set of research activities to help determine the factors contributing to PTI risk and the work streams that should be developed and implemented to help tackle these factors and facilitate improvements in safety, performance, accessibility and capacity, so far as is reasonable practicable.
This paper is focused on the role Human Factors played in the development of the strategy. The paper will firstly describe the Human Factors research activities that were undertaken, namely a Subject Matter Expert Workshop, Literature Review and Qualitative study of PTI incidents completed by the Transport Research Laboratory. It will then describe the key Human Factors issues that appear to contribute to PTI risk, for example, passenger characteristics, behaviours of passengers and staff, integration and consideration of Human Factors in the design of the built environment. Thirdly the paper will describe the work streams generated from the research activities and identified as having the potential to help tackle these factors so far as is reasonable practicable. Finally, the paper will set these work streams in the context of the overall GB Platform Train Interface (PTI) Strategy, describe the approach for implementing the strategy (including specific Human Factors work streams) and detail how industry, stakeholders and partners can contribute.
Platform-train interface , Station design, passenger information systems, CCTV and crowd management
