Our Ref:         FOI-0986-1920

Thank you for your request received on 4 July 2019 asking for information about the number of falls in the gap between the platform and train.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act /and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.

The London Underground supports nearly 5 million passenger journeys per day, and over 1.3bn journeys a year. The safety of our staff and customers is our top priority and the Tube is recognised as one of the safest metros around the world. We are never complacent, however, and continuously strive to reduce injuries.

We have done a lot to understand the key locations, issues and contributory factors which lead to customer accidents. To reduce numbers of incidents we are focussed on both influencing customer behaviour and changing our infrastructure to remove/reduce risk including the following measures:

• Blue light system – this flashes within the gap as a train approaches giving the customers more awareness
• School Liaison – we are briefing and doing talks in schools to educate children on the danger of the gap between the train and platform
• Staff positioning – we have staff based at the key locations on platforms to warn our customers of the dangers at specific locations
• Scanning techniques – we are refreshing all of our train operators on how the scan their CCTV screens more effectively through the mode of human factors.
• Poster campaign – on all stations of note there is signage advising them to “Mind the gap”
• Announcements – these are at all locations with noticeable gaps
• Staff training – all staff are trained on the safety mitigation for the platform-train interface

In addition, we are continuing to look for innovative ways to improve safety. In the case of incidents of falls in the gap between the train and platform we are trialling active gap fillers.  This is a mechanical solution to the gap with a pneumatic plate extending from underneath the platform

We continually monitor the effectiveness of our measures and campaigns in reducing accidents and adjust our approach accordingly.

The number of incidents which have been recorded as a Platform Train Incidents (PTI) Fall down the gap between 2010 and June 2019 was 2,246, a full breakdown by line and year is included in the table below:

Line | Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Total
Bakerloo Line 9 11 14 13 21 12 14 12 11 7 124
Central Line 44 33 47 56 67 76 54 45 66 28 516
Circle & Hammersmith Line 4 6 3 15 46 42 32 28 42 7 225
District Line 18 20 20 25 29 52 65 53 57 24 363
Jubilee Line 13 12 20 20 37 18 31 33 33 15 232
Metropolitan Line 2 9 34 67 70 67 74 66 81 21 491
Northern Line 17 14 3 15 10 15 18 12 13 3 120
Piccadilly Line 11 17 13 13 19 21 20 22 12 9 157
Victoria Line 1 1   1 5 7  2 1 18
Total 119 123 154 224 300 308 315 271 317 115 2246

If this is not the information you are looking for please feel free to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

[email protected]