In message .com, Neil
Williams writes

Actually, on that occasion, I'd say I was disappointed in how the staff
initially handled it. I had expected that (as it was D-stock which
doesn't have a means of speaking to the driver) he'd immediately walk
up the train and see what was up. It took a few minutes before what
appeared to be a member of platform staff noticed me waving frantically
out of the door at them, and the priority seemed to be towards making
an announcement that was in a "we will be delayed because some twit has
pulled the cord maliciously/by accident" type of tone. Is there
perhaps a policy of the driver not attending a passcom incident alone
in case he is attacked?

There is a feeling that ever since guards were removed from trains that
the driver shouldn't walk into something unknown on his own as he is the
only person subsequently able to drive the train.

I can see the point being made, but my personal approach is to try and
make contact with the person who has activated the PEA (via talkback),
then tell the Line Controller to get me some assistance and then go down
to the car concerned (we do know which car the alarm has been activated
in). You never know if the reason is a life or death thing and you just
might be able to help. At the end of the day, I'm in charge of that
train and I like to know what's going on on it.

But then, that's just me!

[1] Very unwell-looking and almost unconscious (or possibly drunk, I
couldn't tell, he didn't particularly smell of it though) man with
panicking young child. I pulled it in the station to get staff
attention to have both of them taken off and sorted out, it seemed the
most appropriate thing to do rather than lead the child off myself as a
"stranger" given how scared he looked. Once dealt with, the passcom
was reset and off we went, with no suggestion afterwards that it was
the wrong thing to do.

That sounds to me absolutely the right thing to do - I would have done
just the same.
--
Steve Fitzgerald has now left the building.
You will find him in London's Docklands, E16, UK
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