PFD report

Callum Rhys EVANS · Prevention of Future Deaths report

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Issued 18 May 2021•Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton

Report record

Published report and response evidence

This page connects the concerns raised in this report with statements found in recipients’ published responses. A link shows a clear evidence connection; it does not assign responsibility.

View original report
Concerns
1

Raised in this report

Recipients
1

Named on the report

Responses found
1

Of 1 recipient

Stated actions
2

Described in responses

Recipients and published responses

Source document

Full report text

This is the full text from the original published report.

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Concerns and recipient responses

Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

Concerns raised1

  1. Lack of effective live-rail warning signage at the railway station
    Part of recurring concern: Inadequate live-rail electrocution warnings at railway stations
Responses linked to these concerns

Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.

Actions described in response An action is something a recipient says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to a concern raised.1

  1. Action

    Trial under-platform warning signage at ten Wessex locations, including Hinton Admiral.

    Stated by Network RailStated plannedThe respondent said that this action was planned when they made their response on 24 May 2021.

Respondent positions A position is what a recipient says about a concern when it does not describe a specific action.3

  1. Position

    South Western Railway is responsible for signs at Hinton Admiral and for applying the relevant standards under its franchise agreement.

    Stated by Network RailRedirects responsibilityThe respondent said that another organisation was responsible for deciding or taking action.

Source evidence

How this individual concern was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. Response links show a clear evidence connection; they do not assign responsibility.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Lack of effective live-rail warning signage at the railway station

Wider context from the report

“A friend in the company of the deceased at the railway station indicated a lack of knowledge of the presence of a live electric (third) rail at the railway station and stated that if it had been known that there was a live rail they would not have gone onto the railway tracks. The deceased and his friends had gone onto the railway tracks by dropping down from the central part of the platform. The railway station has an absence of signage stating the presence and risk to life of a live rail on the railway tracks which can be seen by those entering the railway station or whilst on the central part of the platform. The only sign referring to the live rail is at the far sloped end of the platform, some distance from the station entrance and central part of the platform, which states “Do not touch live rail”. There is signage stating “No trespassing” but nothing effectively communicating the presence of a live rail or the risk to life from that live rail. ”

Is this part of a recurring concern?

Yes — Inadequate live-rail electrocution warnings at railway stations.

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Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Trial under-platform warning signage at ten Wessex locations, including Hinton Admiral.

Verbatim wording from the response

“That said we do understand that awareness of our risks needs to be continually refreshed and needs to be a combination of hard mitigations, key messages and signage so we are now planning to trial under platform warning signage. This will be at 10 locations across the Wessex region with Hinton Admiral being one of the trial locations, and will feature warning signs underneath the platform which will be visible to passengers standing on the opposite platform.”

Source location

2021-0159-Response-from-Network-Rail_Published
Page 3 · response
Published 24 May 2021

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Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

South Western Railway is responsible for signs at Hinton Admiral and for applying the relevant standards under its franchise agreement.

Verbatim wording from the response

“The railway industry involves many companies who collaborate to operate safely. Network Rail owns and operates the rail infrastructure i.e. the track, signalling, bridges, level crossings etc. Other companies operate the trains and most stations. The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) coordinates standards that apply across the industry.”

Source location

2021-0159-Response-from-Network-Rail_Published
Page 2 · response
Published 24 May 2021

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Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Network Rail considers compliant platform-end signs and consistent industry-standard signage sufficient, so additional wording about risk to life is not required.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Signage on the railway is set out in the industry standards. These state that we have a “do not trespass” sign at all locations. We also have signs at the ends of the platform, which were in place at Hinton Admiral, to prohibit unauthorised access and warn of the dangers, including of electrocution. The signs displayed at the station warn of the danger of electrocution and comply with the Railway Group Standard GI/RT 7033. To avoid confusion at different locations, there is safety benefit in consistent and clear signs that meet British Standard ISO 3864 – 1.2011: ‘Graphical symbols’ and the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996. Network Rail’s own company standard NR/L2/ELP/21131 applies the industry and national standards and follows appropriate risk assessments. The signs provided by Network Rail at Hinton Admiral remain compliant with those standards.”

Source location

2021-0159-Response-from-Network-Rail_Published
Page 2 · response
Published 24 May 2021

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Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Existing signs at Hinton Admiral warn of electrocution, contrary to the concern that the station lacked signage warning of live-rail risks.

Verbatim wording from the response

“You have stated that “the railway station has an absence of signage stating the presence, and risk to life, of a live rail on the railway tracks which can be seen by those entering the railway station or whilst on the central part of the platform”.”

Source location

2021-0159-Response-from-Network-Rail_Published
Page 2 · response
Published 24 May 2021

Open published response

Other statements in published responses

These actions and other statements could not be clearly connected to one concern in this report.

Recipient-stated actions An action is something a recipient says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to a concern raised.1

  1. 1

    Complete the Wessex programme installing platform-end gates, yellow hatching warning lines and anti-access matting at stations.

    Stated by Network RailStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 24 May 2021.

Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Complete the Wessex programme installing platform-end gates, yellow hatching warning lines and anti-access matting at stations.

Verbatim wording from the response

“In addition, we target areas where we know there is a higher risk of the public accessing the infrastructure with additional measures to help further deter access, such as the installation of platform end gates, yellow hatching warning lines and anti-access matting. Within the Wessex region of Network Rail we are just completing a programme of works that sees these additional safety measures installed at the majority of our stations, Hinton Admiral already being one of them.”

Source location

2021-0159-Response-from-Network-Rail_Published
Page 3 · response
Published 24 May 2021

Open published response
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Information checked against the published report and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026