A pilot study evaluating the preventive effects of platform-end lengthwise fencing on trespassing, person struck by train and traffic delays.

BACKGROUND: Trespassing at train tracks and "person under train" (PUT) incidents are serious health, societal and transportation concerns. There is a need for developing different measures to prevent these events. Here, we hypothesized that platform-end lengthwise fences (PLF) reduce trespassing, the number of PUT incidents (suicides and accidents), and train traffic delays. METHOD: PLFs were installed as the intervention at one station in Stockholm in 2020. The number of trespassers detected using CCTV-cameras was compared before and after at the intervention station over a total period of 29 months (using incidence rate ratio, IRR). The reduction in the number of PUT (over 20 years) and train traffic delays (over 9 years) was also investigated by IRR, and by using three control groups. RESULTS: After installation of PLF there was a significant ∼90% reduction in trespasses (IRR = 0.10, 95%CI 0.04-0.23; one-sided exact p < 0.0001). No PUT incident occurred at the intervention station after the installation, compared to 1.11 per year before installation (IRR = 0.32, 95%CI 0-1.82; one-sided exact p = 0.1216). There was a significant reduction in delay minutes post installation compared to before the installation (Mann Whitney U = 0, upper one-sided exact p = 0.0357). The effect of the PLF was also observable in comparison to the three control groups, suggesting that the preventive effect was not due to wider societal events affecting all stations. CONCLUSION: PLF had a large effect on reducing the number of trespasses and the number of delay minutes due to trespasses and PUT incidents. PLF may also have an effect of reducing PUT incidents. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: PLF is deemed to be relatively easy and cheap to install and thus scalable (as compared to full barriers, e.g., platform screen doors) and may be considered at platform-ends having an exit, provided there is enough space to install them.

Train Drivers' Work Related Stress and Job Satisfaction.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated which work-related stressors are rated highest by train drivers and which are strongest correlated with consideration to change profession. METHODS: In a questionnaire, a total of 251 Swedish train drivers rated 17 work-related stressors, to which extent they had considered quitting their profession, and if they had experienced a PUT (person under train) accident. RESULTS: PUTs (when experienced) and irregular work hours are the main stressors, but the strongest predictors of consideration to change profession are those that are encountered often, and last over time (eg, irregular work hours, r = 0.61, and major organizational changes, r = 0.51). CONCLUSIONS: For effective reduction of stress and improved job satisfaction, focus should be on aspects that affect everyday life for drivers, such as better working shifts, less delays, and improved social climate.

A pilot study evaluating the effectiveness of preventing railway suicides by mid-track fencing, which restrict easy access to high-speed train tracks.

BACKGROUND: Suicides in the railway system is a serious health, societal, and transportation concern. Restriction of the access to suicide methods in the form of different physical barriers is a promising approach for suicide prevention. METHOD: Mid-track fencing, which is fencing placed in-between the high-speed and commuter train tracks, was installed at one out of seven stations along a train line outside of Stockholm in the years 2013/2014. The number of suicides at the intervention station was compared to six other stations used as controls, over a total period of 20 years (2002-2021). RESULTS: Suicides at high-speed tracks occurring at stations was the major cause of death on the investigated railway line. Prior to the year 2014, the intervention and control stations displayed similar time trends in the number of suicides. After installation of the mid-track fencing in 2014, there was a 62.5% reduction in the rate of suicides occurring at the intervention station. Compared to the six other control stations, the intervention station displayed a significant reduction in the number of suicides during the years 2014-2021 (OR = 0.14, 95%CI 0.013-0.95). Suicides at the railway lines in-between stations were not increased post-intervention. However, nearby control stations showed a 162% increase in suicides after the intervention, suggesting the induction of transfer effects. CONCLUSION: Mid-track fences restricting access to high-speed train tracks may have a large effect on reducing the number of railway suicides at intervention stations, but may also induce an increase in suicides at nearby stations without mid-track fences. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Partial physical barriers such as mid-track fencing is deemed to be relatively easy and cheap to install (as compared to full barriers; e.g., full height platform screen doors) and should be considered at all stations on railway lines that have high-speed trains passing by.