Death on the Line at New Malden (SWT)

[jvassie]

http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/wimbl ... on_tracks/

Severe delays all afternoon and evening following a fatality at New Malden this afternoon.

Ended up having to take two extra trains to get home, cancellations and late runnings, combined with lots of services stopping short of their destination towards London Waterloo.

[61653]

Given that this poor soul was killed by a stopping train (on the Shepperton line), has me wondering if this was an accident rather than a suicide. It's rather morbid I know, but if I decided I was gonna off myself, I'd want to make sure I was gonna succeed. (Of course at New Malden this would require bolt-cutters to get onto the mothballed island platform...)

[jvassie]

Given that this poor soul was killed by a stopping train (on the Shepperton line), has me wondering if this was an accident rather than a suicide. It's rather morbid I know, but if I decided I was gonna off myself, I'd want to make sure I was gonna succeed. (Of course at New Malden this would require bolt-cutters to get onto the mothballed island platform...)

Indeed, Wimbledon would be better..

Either way, idiots who choose to 'leave' in that manner are amongst the most selfish ****ers going..

[Dezeero]

There's a rumour going around that one guy was pushed and he dragged the other person down with him.

...and I got landed with a 13.5 hour shift at Basingstoke's control desk

[Chris]

Either way, idiots who choose to 'leave' in that manner are amongst the most selfish ****ers going..

You obviously have no idea what the person must be going through to even contemplate suicide - people who decide this need help, they are ill and insulting them is disgusting.

[Badger]

Either way, idiots who choose to 'leave' in that manner are amongst the most selfish ****ers going..

You obviously have no idea what the person must be going through to even contemplate suicide - people who decide this need help, they are ill and insulting them is disgusting.

Sorry, I'm with jvassie. They may have ended their life but they've also ruined the career of the train driver, caused great upset to anyone who witnessed it and caused countless number of passengers great delay to their journeys.
These people may have an illness but they've taken the quick and easy way with no thought to those that are left behind to deal with the aftermath, be it family, friends or the attending emergency services.

[Hyronymus]

I believe too that you have to reach a certain level of selfishness to commit suicide, publically or not. I disagree with the strong wording for those people though.

And appearently the wording "a suicide attempt" is too strong for the Dutch Railways, for the last few years they're referring to it as "a collision with a person".

[61653]

I believe too that you have to reach a certain level of selfishness to commit suicide, publically or not. I disagree with the strong wording for those people though.

And appearently the wording "a suicide attempt" is too strong for the Dutch Railways, for the last few years they're referring to it as "a collision with a person".

I do believe the usual 'Official' term in the UK is the rather vague "incident"...

[Chris]

Sorry, I'm with jvassie. They may have ended their life but they've also ruined the career of the train driver, caused great upset to anyone who witnessed it and caused countless number of passengers great delay to their journeys.
These people may have an illness but they've taken the quick and easy way with no thought to those that are left behind to deal with the aftermath, be it family, friends or the attending emergency services.

Obviously it is the selfish way out, but people who get to this point are most likely not thinking straight. You cannot realistically blame them for it, if there was better support for these people then they wouldn't get to this point.

[Edit]
Also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... NTCMP=SRCH

[Kevo00]

Its a shame that people cannot take as mature an approach to mental health as they do to physical health. Obviously, if you have given up on the world, then there is no incentive to worry about the disruption you will cause. Its better to find out why people give up on the world rather than wring hands about them being selfish after the event. Perhaps rail firms should consider funding some mental health research.

[Chris]

Its a shame that people cannot take as mature an approach to mental health as they do to physical health. Obviously, if you have given up on the world, then there is no incentive to worry about the disruption you will cause. Its better to find out why people give up on the world rather than wring hands about them being selfish after the event. Perhaps rail firms should consider funding some mental health research.

Exactly

[jvassie]

Its a shame that people cannot take as mature an approach to mental health as they do to physical health. Obviously, if you have given up on the world, then there is no incentive to worry about the disruption you will cause. Its better to find out why people give up on the world rather than wring hands about them being selfish after the event. Perhaps rail firms should consider funding some mental health research.

Exactly

So you think it's right that because one person has mental issues, it is perfectly fine for them to cause 'mental' issues to (potentially many) others?

[Kevo00]

Its a shame that people cannot take as mature an approach to mental health as they do to physical health. Obviously, if you have given up on the world, then there is no incentive to worry about the disruption you will cause. Its better to find out why people give up on the world rather than wring hands about them being selfish after the event. Perhaps rail firms should consider funding some mental health research.

Exactly

So you think it's right that because one person has mental issues, it is perfectly fine for them to cause 'mental' issues to (potentially many) others?

Didn't say it was right. Cancer is 'not right' but you can help prevent it by not smoking. By preventing suicide in the first place, you prevent the trauma that witnesses suffer too.

There's a difference between understanding why something happens and condoning it. Investigating why train crashes happen does not mean you condone train crashes. Investigating why someone that is mentally ill acts as they do does not mean you condone those actions. Put down your tabloid newspaper and do some thinking for once.

[Dave]

Sorry, I'm not usually a suicide apologist but I agree with Kev here.

Someone's lost their life, regardless of how it's occurred... Would you call someone who had a stroke and fell into the path of a fast-moving train selfish?

What's the difference between that (physical health) and the mental health we're so quick to make judgement on?

Quite frankly, it's s*** for the passengers that they were delayed getting home, awful for the driver (and associated TOC staff) for having to deal with it, but it's just as sad to think that somebody died in that incident.

And to think they were having mental health issues... How far less important those issues are than physical ones! I'm sure we'd all claim to have avoided mental illness, or have had mild forms "but I never wanted to kill myself".

The bloke next door was told he had cancer on the Friday and was dead by the Sunday, bloke on the other side beat off cancer after three months. There are varying degrees of any illness... so when you "know someone" who suffered depression but "that doesn't mean they wanted to die", then spare a thought for the bloke who was given days to live, because - in all truth - that's the opposite end of a spectrum most people are far too quick to pass judgement on, lest they might have to defend their own insecurities.

Utter rubbish.

[JamieLei]

In all truth - that's the opposite end of a spectrum most people are far too quick to pass judgement on, lest they might have to defend their own insecurities.

Utter rubbish.

This.

Its a shame that people cannot take as mature an approach to mental health as they do to physical health. Obviously, if you have given up on the world, then there is no incentive to worry about the disruption you will cause. Its better to find out why people give up on the world rather than wring hands about them being selfish after the event. Perhaps rail firms should consider funding some mental health research.

Network Rail already does, with talk into even nicer lighting levels to make people calmer. For the same reason of preventing disruption and reducing the number of deaths, they also run activities for schoolchildren during holiday periods to keep kids off the line.

[Badger]

The people I'm talking about are the ones who calmly step into the path of a train, look into the driver's eyes and wave. That's a calculated, controlled act.
There's no condoning that.

[jvassie]

Someone's lost their life, regardless of how it's occurred... Would you call someone who had a stroke and fell into the path of a fast-moving train selfish?

Just picking up on the bit that's related to what I was saying. I'm afraid your comparing chalk and cheese Dave - Ill quote my original post so we are in context:

Given that this poor soul was killed by a stopping train (on the Shepperton line), has me wondering if this was an accident rather than a suicide. It's rather morbid I know, but if I decided I was gonna off myself, I'd want to make sure I was gonna succeed. (Of course at New Malden this would require bolt-cutters to get onto the mothballed island platform...)

Indeed, Wimbledon would be better..

Either way, idiots who choose to 'leave' in that manner are amongst the most selfish ****ers going..

I have bolded the key word here. People who choose to. Not someone who 'had a stroke and fell into the path of a train', no that would be quite tragic, and quite the opposite.

Put down your tabloid newspaper and do some thinking for once.

And what has that got to do with anything?

[Dave]

Who knows how much control they had? Are you a qualified mental health practitioner? Can you say for certain they were in control of their mental state?

Is it worse if someone has a mental health issue that causes them to be in the path of a train?

When you say "choose", how much do they themselves actually choose?

[Espee]

Either way, idiots who choose to 'leave' in that manner are amongst the most selfish ****ers going..

You obviously have no idea what the person must be going through to even contemplate suicide - people who decide this need help, they are ill and insulting them is disgusting.

Sorry, I'm with jvassie. They may have ended their life but they've also ruined the career of the train driver, caused great upset to anyone who witnessed it and caused countless number of passengers great delay to their journeys.
These people may have an illness but they've taken the quick and easy way with no thought to those that are left behind to deal with the aftermath, be it family, friends or the attending emergency services.

Same here. I know it's not "politically correct" as one would say in the States but suicide in such manner is rather selfish and narcissistic. You're traumatizing a bunch of innocent people as well as diverting the attention and resources of public safety and emergency personnel with such act.

[Espee]

I believe too that you have to reach a certain level of selfishness to commit suicide, publically or not. I disagree with the strong wording for those people though.

And appearently the wording "a suicide attempt" is too strong for the Dutch Railways, for the last few years they're referring to it as "a collision with a person".

Sounds like the Netherlands have gone over the top with Political Correctness - sorry to hear that. We have a similar problem here in the States.