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Passengers have blocked a train departure and accused staff for being ‘jobsworths’ for not letting them on – despite arriving too late.
The feisty group of passengers caused a scene at Manchester Piccadilly station after they were not allowed to board the service following the final blow of the whistle.
Footage shows a man blocking the Transport for Wales service on September 7 with one foot on the train step and another one on the platform, explaining passionately that ‘we are here at 9.30pm and we are early.’
Lou Monrow and her mother Susan Hackett, who is a wheelchair user, were among the group who missed their train home by the skin of their teeth.
Passengers and staff spent 15 minutes arguing to be allowed on board(Picture: Kennedy News/loumonrowxo)
The 34-year-old model said they had reached the platform to find the doors had been ‘turned off.’
They spent 15 minutes arguing with the staff to be allowed to board the train they had bought tickets for.
She said she was keen to get on as she was ‘hungry, it was getting cold and I just wanted to get my mum home safe.’
Lou, who lives in Alsager, Cheshire, said: ‘They were jobsworths and should have let us on the train.
‘When we got to the train they turned the doors off.
‘I’m not normally someone who films that stuff because I’m not into drama but the man standing at the train told me to start recording.
‘He had his foot on the train and I think it was like a protest to say ‘we will get on the train’.
‘I back what he did 100 per cent because he just wanted to get home as well.
‘They kept saying we’d missed the train but we hadn’t because it was right there.
What are the train departure rules?
Various train operating companies and even stations have their own rules, but thereis no law on train door closure times.
The scheduled departure time is usually the time the wheels start moving.
Depending when the train is available, boarding could start tens of minutes before in some cases.
The doors tend to close between one minute and 30 seconds before departure.
For example at Birmingham New Street – UK’s busiest station outside London – train doors now close up to 40 seconds before departure ‘to help services leave the station on time,’ Network Rail said.
Before November 10, the doors at the station closed 30 seconds before departure, but this was changed ‘to ensure passengers are safely on board in plenty of time to then allow the train to depart on time.’
Transport for Wales, London Northwestern Railway, CrossCountry and West Midlands Wailway train doors shut 30 seconds before the change came into force at Birmingham New Street.
‘I think they thought we were being aggressive but I don’t think that comes across in the video.’
She claimed the staff told them to ‘go to the pub’ and wait for another train but ‘we couldn’t because we’d have had to buy another ticket.’
Lou said the staff ‘delayed the other passengers’ by arguing with them, defending the interaction as not ‘disrespectful but it was passionate.’
After rewatching the video, Lou said she noticed her mum was ‘completely ignored in all of that conversation.’
‘I wonder if it was because she’s in a wheelchair,’ she added.
Eventually, the standoff ended.
Lou said she felt her mum Susan was ignored in the conversation because she’s in a wheelchair(Picture: Kennedy News/loumonrowxo)
She continued: ‘At one point they just opened the doors and we all got on so we were saying ‘what was all that about?’.
‘As long as you’re on the platform I think you should be allowed on.
‘I understand protocol and safety but it wasn’t just me and my mum. There were five or six people there.’
She claimed they had arrived onto the platform five minutes before but she had been pushing her mum, adding that previously platform staff have stopped trains from leaving so she can board.
The video sparked an online debate on who was in the right after Lou shared it on the social media platform with the caption ‘this is the most ridiculous thing in the entire world.’
One user wrote along with a face palm emoji: ‘You missed the train.’
Lou responded: ‘I don’t think people no [sic] what logic is. Also why did the ticket people let us through?’
Another user pointed out that in the time spent on arguing ‘they could have all been on it and halfway to the next station.’
Lou hit out at the critics, saying that ‘trolls don’t generally have empathy or life experience where they can put themselves in our shoes.’
‘I think people should mind their own business,’ she added.
A Network Rail spokesperson told Metro: ‘We are sorry to the passengers for their experience. The train operator companies have a policy in place where doors close up to 45 seconds before departure to make sure services run on time.
‘The passengers arrived as the train was part way through the train dispatch process and our station team were following protocol, advising they can’t board the train as it’s about to leave. Safety is our top priority, and we take every precaution to uphold it rigorously.’
Transport for Wales declined to comment.
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