Passengers stranded as driver forgets to stop at station
MERSEYRAIL has apologised to frustrated Northern Line passengers after a driver forgot to stop at a station.
The Ormksirk-bound train’s failure to stop at Town Green disrupted later services between Ormskirk and Liverpool, with commuters forced to wait another 15 minutes after a Liverpool-bound train was cancelled.
A Merseyrail spokeswoman said any train that misses a stop is required to go straight to its final destination and then the depot – missing out every other stop, too.
Trains are taken out of service straight away “as a precaution” when they fail to stop, even when it is clear the driver made a mistake rather, than there being a technical fault.
Drivers are immediately interviewed to see if they are fit to carry on working that day.
The safety-first policy meant passengers hoping to get off at Town Green could not get off at the next stop, Aughton Park, but instead had to go one farther to Ormskirk, before they were allowed off.
The knock-on effect was that there was no train available at Ormskirk for the 1.20pm train back into Liverpool, with commuters along the line forced to wait for the next one.
A Merseyrail spokeswoman said: “Merseyrail takes operational incidents very seriously. When a train fails to call at a station, and it is clear that it’s a result of driver error, we take the train out of service straight away, as a precaution.
“We then immediately conduct an interview with the driver to assess whether he or she is fit to continue driving that day.
“Unfortunately, the over-run at Town Green this lunchtime did mean that passengers were inconvenienced and had to wait an extra 15 minutes for the next service. We apologise for this.”
She also claimed missed stops because of driver error – known as “station over-run” in the industry jargon – are widespread across the British rail network.
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