Build drainage/gap pits under platform tracks to reduce attempt lethality
#00154
Construct recessed 'suicide pits' in the trackbed below platform level, giving a person on the track survivable space beneath a passing train. Reduces fatality of attempts without deterring them — a lethality-mitigation complement to other prevention measures.
Parent issue
#00146 Unrestricted access to the track edge makes rail an immediately available lethal means
Sustainable Development Goals
Location
Description
The proposal
Excavate a recess (drainage or "anti-suicide" pit) in the trackbed beneath the platform edge, giving a person who falls or jumps onto the track a survivable space beneath the train. Implemented as a civil-engineering retrofit; long used on parts of the London Underground.
Why it would work
It does not stop someone entering the track, but changes the physics of the outcome: the recess reduces the likelihood that contact with the train is fatal, converting some deaths into survivable injuries and buying time for intervention.
Evidence
London Underground platform drainage pits were associated with roughly halving deaths among those who attempted — mortality of approximately 45% versus 66% without a pit.
Implementation
Feasible where trackbed depth and drainage design allow; naturally combined with platform works or resignalling. Applies to underground/metro platforms rather than open mainline track.
Limitations
Reduces fatality, not attempts — a narrower goal than platform barriers. Does nothing for trackside or level-crossing deaths. Best treated as a complementary lethality-reduction layer, not a primary prevention measure.
Sub-issues
0Case studies
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