downunder wrote:
I notice with interest the pictures of Kensal Green station prior to
that terrible murder. Notice that all the gates are open, indicating
that no staff are on the station at all. So these murderers were able
to mug at least 1 person on the platform and then leave without any
actual witness and then go murder someone.
I'm not suggesting that a staff member would stop these people, but if
the gates were working, staff were in the office actually watching the
CCTV, chances are they could have called for help. I summise these 2
murderers didnt have a ticket and seeing gates in operation may have
persuaded them to exit at another station having just mugged someone,
knowing it was probably seen on CCTV. If not they would have had to
jump the gates, again bringing attention to themselves and possible
descriptions. If only.........
Also am i the only one saying how bad the images are, (if they could
see the faces i'm sure we would all see them by now), and whats the
point of CCTV if no one looks at it. Lets face it, we would never have
known about the platform mugging unless the guy hadn't come forward
well after the event - he had not reported it and wasn't going to.
So nobody watches it, and if they do they can't make out anything
anyway. What a great detterent.
Do we need more staff on the stations - or less?


I use Kensal Green quite often, and the gate situation is difficult to
work out. Sometimes the gates will be open at lunchtime and working in
the evening; sometimes the other way round.

Sometimes the gates will be open even when there are staff in the
office with a clear view of anyone in difficulty.

Of course we need more staff on stations, and on trains. This would be
true if only to help people, provide information etc, rather than act
as enforcers. And there tends to be less to enforce in a well-staffed
and maintained public place than in a deserted place.

Kensal Green platforms are almost totally featureless, with no
information displays or any announcements that I can ever remember.