On Jun 27, 1:57*pm, Chris Tolley (ukonline
really) wrote:
Basil Jet wrote:
On 2011\06\27 09:47, George wrote:

Sadly this section of line has a high suicide rate.

Some signs are needed... "Passengers considering suicide should use
Drayton Green or Castle Bar Park"

Joking aside, a fence has recently* been erected along most (but not
all) of the middle platform at Southall. Given the circumstances, I
cannot see the reasoning for the "but not all". If trains call at the
fast line platform in exceptional circumstances, then gates could be
provided, and staffed when needed.

*=in the last two years.
--
.sig down for maintenance

There is something seriously wrong with any ethnic community that
suffers so many cultural pressures that its women consider suicide -
aka jumping in front of a high speed train - as being the best way
out. This area of Southall is well known not only for such suicides
but also for so-called honour killings of women aka murder by their
usually male relatives.

It appears that the leaders of the various ethnic communities are not
doing much to change cultural tenets to aviod these incidents, and
neither are the Social Services. When women stop being abused in
arranged marriages, and when 'honour' killings are outlawed by those
communities then maybe, just maybe, these suicides will stop.

Every time such an incident occurs this disrupts the entire service
both in and out of Paddington. FGW and NR do not seem to have workable
contingency plans - even though disruption at Southall is a regular
occurrance. Last time it was a lightning strike on the signalling.

This disruption causes immemse inconvenience to huge numbers of
potential passengers including thousands of commuters and especially
those trying to catch flights out of the country at Heathrow. Any
airline passengers missing his/her flight(s) then has to rebook not
only those flights (probably at considerable cost), but also to
rearrange hotel bookings and onward travel. Airline passengers can
also potentially miss important family gatherings such as weddings or
funerals.

This massive disruption is also in a transitive way the responisbitliy
of the elders and leaders of the ethnic communities in Southall to
sort out their priorities to support their women in distress. Social
Services should also be active in Southall trying to provide support
for these distressed women.

Until there is a radical change in cultural values, and better
integration into our way of life, Southall and its ethnic communities
will remain a hot bed of disenfranchised women, and the suicides will
continue.

But Iam curious. Are there also such suicides in say Bradford, or
Blackburn, or Bolton, or Leicester, etc.? Why is Southall so bad?

SB