Weird Train Stoppage?!

[andysine]

Hello,

I was on a train this morning on my commute and a strange thing happened. As the train pulled out of the station the brakes applied and as we came to a stop the tannoy in the carriage chimed and a voice started counting. The count reached thirty, then the tannoy chimed again and a few seconds later we pulled away again.

Does anyone know what this was about? I presumed it was some kind of drill, but I'm not sure what they would be practicing? The train manager announced the stations as normal just after, giving no reference to the incident. Also we seemed to slow very quickly, as if the brakes had been applied at full power, though I reckon we were doing less than 20 mph.

[jvassie]

Accidental emergency cord pull perhaps?

[Dave]

Accidental activation of TPWS? Something else odd?

[audigex]

Very strange though, whatever the cause. That countdown would be un-nerving: especially a week after the death of that terrorist fella.

[andysine]

Accidental emergency cord pull perhaps?

I hadn't thought of that, but it seems the most likely.

I was on a train at Euston a good few years ago when someone pulled the cord as the train was pulling out. We had got on about 5 minutes before the departure and there was a woman on the table across the aisle settling a child in a seat. As the train started moving she began shouting that she'd left her other child on the platform. Someone suggested she pull the cord, the train stopped and she jumped off to get her kid. After a while, the guard came down and escorted her off the train! When he came round later to collect the tickets loads of people in the carriage were booing him for chucking this woman off the train. One guy stood up to the guard and said "Well, I'm not going to show you my ticket, are you going to throw me off too?"

Accidental activation of TPWS? Something else odd?

It could have been this, as there is a signal just after the station.

[Nawdic]

AWS could have accidentally been triggered as well...

When it runs over the ramp, sometimes resetting it doesn't clear the system