What To Do When Someone Falls Onto SEPTA Tracks

Many commuters use SEPTA to travel throughout the area, but many of those people have no idea what to do if they see someone fall onto the tracks.

Riders fall onto the train tracks 40 to 50 times a year, according to SEPTA Safety Chief Scott Sauer. Platform falls can happen at any location or any time of the day, which makes them extremely hard to prevent.

These falls can happen in a blink of an eye and most commonly involve adult males who appear intoxicated or otherwise impaired.

When travelers witness a fall, SEPTA officials want them to use the yellow emergency phones found along the station’s wall. By contacting a SEPTA officer, they can then send direct word to stop trains in a matter of seconds.

Commuters should only help the person up from the platform edge if they can do it safely and check for oncoming trains. Otherwise, there could be more than one person hurt.

The biggest prevention tool for platform falls is education and every month SEPTA officials visit a different station spreading the word.
 

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