Tube passenger, 101, dragged alongside platform after coat will get caught
A 101-year-old Tube passenger suffered serious injuries after being dragged along a platform when their coat became stuck in a train door on the Northern Line.
The so-called ‘tap and drag’ incident happened at Archway station in February last year after the person’s unzipped coat became trapped in the door.
The elderly passenger was said to have required hospital treatment for ‘serious’ injuries after being dragged 20m along the platform, the Metro reports.
It comes after the Rail Accident Investigation Branch issued a report on the incident today, suggesting four recommendations to London Underground to improve safety.
Two months after the incident, a similar ‘tap and drag’ occurred at Chalk Farm, which is also on the Northern Line.
Here is a look at the 101-year-old tube passenger who caught their coat in the tube door
The RAIB said the Northern Line’s automatic train operating system may have been a factor in both incidents
The train at Archway station travelled 20m before the driver became aware and slammed on the breaks
The RAIB said the Northern Line’s automatic train operating system may have been a factor in both incidents.
The system requires the driver to open and close the doors, but the train is ‘driven’ via a computer programme.
The driver was aware that the passenger and their companion were ‘close to the train’ but ‘was not aware’ of the trapped coat – which was not detected by onboard systems – so ‘commanded the train to depart’, investigators said.
The elderly person was dragged last year at around 3.50pm after they tried exiting the fifth carriage of the train.
They were also travelling with a companion who was knocked to the ground as well.
The RAIB said they ‘both regularly travelled’ on the Tube and had ‘moved to the door area to be ready to alight’ as the train approached the station.
Investigators found that the driver activated the control to close the doors four seconds after they opened at the station, meaning they were only fully open for six seconds.
The train travelled 20m before the driver became aware and slammed on the breaks.
The report stated: ‘The passenger and their companion both realised that the coat was trapped and tried to pull it free but were unable to do so.
‘They both believed that the train operator would be able to see them and would open the doors to release the coat.
‘The train’s door control system did not detect the presence of the coat trapped in the door.’
The Archway train driver was previously involved in a safety-related incident in 2021 when a passenger was momentarily caught in the doors while trying to board their train.
The passenger suffered serious injuries after being dragged along a platform at Archway station, pictured (stock image)
At Chalk Farm station (pictured) a similar incident occurred two months later on another Northern Line train (stock image)
At Chalk Farm, a passenger’s coat also became trapped in the doors before they were dragged along the platform.
Once again, the door control system on the train did not detect a coat.
The RAIB concluded that the systems for managing passenger safety were ‘not sufficiently effective at controlling the risks to passengers by getting their clothing trapped in closing doors’.
Investigators made four recommendations for the London Underground, related to understanding the risk from incidents of this kind and how to minimise them, the minimum amount of time a Tube train should remain at a platform before continuing its journey, and how a train driver’s attention and awareness can be influenced.
Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, said: ‘The safety of our customers and staff is at the heart of everything we do and we were extremely concerned that two customers were injured at Archway and Chalk Farm last year.
‘London Underground is consistently recognised as one of the safest metro systems in the world, carrying millions of customers every year.
‘However we are not complacent and we welcome the recommendations from the RAIB’s report and we are in the process of implementing them.’
MailOnline has contacted Transport for London for comment.
