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> "a personal accident" on the track, which is a euphemism for somebody jumping in front of a train Removing a body from the track shouldn't take long, of cour

by bloak 2y ago

> "a personal accident" on the track, which is a euphemism for somebody jumping in front of a train Removing a body from the track shouldn't take long, of course. The problem is if you need to do detailed forensics because it might have been a murder. At least, I am guessing that's the reason that sometimes a line stays closed for a long time with a lot of police vehicles parked in the vicinity (here in England), whereas on other occasions there is a death but only a few trains are delayed and for only 10-30 minutes. Interestingly, I have on at least one occasion heard about trains being held up because of a dead body on the track that wasn't hit by a train. That definitely sounds suspicious. But of course no further information is given to the general public. (Body placed by criminals but reported before it was hit or the train happened to be slow enough to stop in time? Or suicidal person drugs themselves before placing themselves on the track?) > not really something anybody can do much about Good video surveillance might help eliminate the need for a detailed investigation of the (perhaps) crime scene. But, yes, not an easy problem.

lodovic 2y ago
10 to 30 minutes isn't nearly enough time. In my country, when someone is hit by a train, that train is stopped on track and is only allowed to continue after it is fully cleaned up. The train company can't risk rolling into a crowded station when the front of the train still shows evidence of an impact such as having blood on it. Sometimes the front locomitive gets uncoupled earlier so the train can continue on a different track. But the rule is that passengers in the train should not be exposed to what happened outside the train. It's bad enough that the machinist had to witness it.
eCa 2y ago
In addition to the sibling comment, it is also generally a requirement that the crew is changed before the train can continue, which also takes a while. As an aside, I was once on a train that hit a deer-sized animal while going through a cutout, which caused the now dead animal to bounce back and hit the side of the train. The first car had blood smeared all over. When we rolled into the next station, there was a collective dropping of jaws among the people waiting to board. Yes, there was an announcement once they had boarded that it wasn’t a person.

by bloak 2y ago

lodovic 2y ago

10 to 30 minutes isn't nearly enough time. In my country, when someone is hit by a train, that train is stopped on track and is only allowed to continue after it is fully cleaned up. The train company can't risk rolling into a crowded station when the front of the train still shows evidence of an impact such as having blood on it. Sometimes the front locomitive gets uncoupled earlier so the train can continue on a different track. But the rule is that passengers in the train should not be exposed to what happened outside the train. It's bad enough that the machinist had to witness it.

eCa 2y ago

In addition to the sibling comment, it is also generally a requirement that the crew is changed before the train can continue, which also takes a while. As an aside, I was once on a train that hit a deer-sized animal while going through a cutout, which caused the now dead animal to bounce back and hit the side of the train. The first car had blood smeared all over. When we rolled into the next station, there was a collective dropping of jaws among the people waiting to board. Yes, there was an announcement once they had boarded that it wasn’t a person.