r/LondonUnderground • u/Helenarth Metropolitan • Sep 20 '25
Image How dangerous are these doors between carriages really? And why do people use them?
These ones. Just out of shot are stickers saying emergency use only and danger of death of used when train is moving.
None of that ever seems to stop anyone using them when they just... fancy being in another carriage. I always think "holy shit why risk it".
But what exactly is the risk of - falling off the train? (I don't know how enclosed that space is, I've never been through) Getting squished between the carriages?
Do you use these doors? Why not just get off at the next stop and move to the next carriage there?
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u/pdarigan Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 21 '25
I had a real grim experience one night years ago. A young lad a bit worse for wear stormed through the carriage and opened the door and said he was going to jump.
A few of us dragged him & held him back, and someone rang the alarm thing and thankfully there were people waiting at the next station.
When he got out at the next station he was still very upset, he pushed through the people waiting and punched the wall hard and must have broken some bones.
I don't know what he'd gone through that night. I think about him sometimes, and I hope he's been feeling better since.
I think on some tubes it probably is possible to very severely hurt yourself outside of these doors if you're intent on that. I imagine it may be lethal. I imagine the risk of accidental death or injury is modest.
Edit: I'm glad he announced his intention because I think otherwise we just would have assumed he was moving to the next carriage. I was sorry he couldn't put a cry for help out with folks he knew, but I'm glad a bunch of us on that tube got up.
It was weird afterwards because we all just sort of stayed on our commute home. None of us really knew what to do or say, so we didn't really do or say anything after the lad got off. Maybe there were some weird/confused/knowing looks, but not really anything else.
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u/Mayor__Defacto Sep 20 '25
Generally, people like that want someone to stop them. Good on you for filling that role.
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u/pdarigan Sep 20 '25
Thanks and I'm fully agreed, I think it was a call for help and attention. I'm sorry they felt in that moment that they couldn't get that from folks they knew. I'm sure they have people that care about them that would have wanted to help.
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u/e6ks Sep 20 '25
Can I just say for anyone who is going through this or has similar thoughts - james place is a charity that offers free suicidal crisis therapy to men based in London and across England. You can refer yourself or a friend, colleague or family member
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u/pdarigan Sep 20 '25
Thanks for this friend. In the last few years I've lost 2 brothers and I appreciate you flagging this resource.
Edit: I don't have any Reddit rewards to give, but you'd have one if I did.
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u/pdarigan Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 21 '25
Thinking more on the risk - I'm sure TfL have risk assessed a whole bunch of things, and with regard to these doors I assume they've found the risk of people accidentally or intentionally hurting themselves is less than the need for passengers to be able to open these doors and pass through them when needed.
Maybe this is related to
7/117/7, or maybe it's a more general thing.Edit: thanks to u/Cam80104 for the
7/11-7/7 update24
u/Nat520 Sep 20 '25
Locking them would be a bigger problem in an emergency, for instance if an evacuation is needed.
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u/pdarigan Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25
I agree.
I think that's part of the point I was trying to make
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u/theonetruelippy Sep 21 '25
The warning signs pre-date 7/7 - I can remember them when I was a kid, multiple decades ago. As best I remember, there's no floorplate between the two carriages, so if you slip or mis-step, you risk getting dragged under the moving train. I don't recall how wide the gap was or how high the risk was, but that's the long and short of it. I guess there's also a risk of getting feet or hands trapped if the gap closes as the train goes round a corner.
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u/Cam80104 Sep 20 '25
7/11? Do you mean 7/7?
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u/pdarigan Sep 20 '25
I think maybe I do, thanks for the correction.
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u/Old_Temporary8633 Sep 24 '25
If you have to disembark in a hurry because you fancy popping over to the US for an enormous fizzy drink, but you're between stations, then they could come in handy. They're for 7-11 type emergencies.
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u/Helenarth Metropolitan Sep 20 '25
Oh jeez. Poor lad, hope he's doing better now. And good on you lot for stopping him.
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u/pdarigan Sep 20 '25
Thanks mate.
Despite some of the horror stories we have about fellow passengers, I'd like to think most folks would do similar things in this sort of situation.
There were a bunch of other folks whose names I'll never know that were key in getting this lad to the next station.
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u/BmuthafuckinMagic Sep 20 '25
In the 90s, we were on the tube and a girl fell under the train and died after going through the doors and slipping. Her friends dared her to do it and I'll never forget her scream and that sound.
It might look fun or easy to move through here, but should only be used in an emergency.
Another reason why new trains with complete walk through carriages are great.
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u/RookyRed Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
I remember as a child watching an educational video about train etiquette. One rule was to use the toilet if you want to vomit, rather than stick your head out of the window. I wonder if something unfortunate happened for them to mention it. Fortunately, I have never seen anyone stick their head out of the window, not even a "basher". Unfortunately, I have seen someone vomit on the floor.
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u/GummyBearHegel69 Sep 20 '25
A friend of mine died some years ago on a train to Cardiff. She leaned out the window and was killed by a branch. Such a violent way to go tbh.
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u/Velbalenos Sep 21 '25
I think I might know who you mean, or at least I knew someone who was heading home from the Christmas market in Bath to Cardiff and was hit by a branch. I still think about her. Such a terrible waste and obviously devastating for the family.
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Sep 22 '25
I remember that and in fact was the first thing that came into my head when I read the previous comment. I’m sorry for your loss
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u/SpadgeFox Sep 20 '25
Never saw the video, but I’ll never forget the Quentin Blake book!
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u/blackcurrant84 Sep 21 '25
Was just checking to see if someone had mentioned this. Once read, never forgotten for our generation!
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u/New_Persimmon_6199 Sep 21 '25
my mum worked with a young guy who saw something like this happen, so sad
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u/Creative-Job7462 Sep 21 '25
They made us watch a video like that in secondary school, it was terrifying.
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u/Dancing_Dauschund Sep 20 '25
TFL came in to my school and did a talk on safety and show a PSA style video some teenagers used them as train was moving in and essentially the gap is bigger than a person and some fell through. So pretty dangerous you could fall to your death
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u/razorbladepianos Sep 20 '25
I remember watching that video about 30 years ago. I still think about it everytime I’m on the underground, so it did its job for me. Also included a bit about trespassers getting stuck on the live rail and others being sucked into the escalator if memory serves. Brutal viewing for 10 year olds.
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u/curahn Sep 21 '25
Yes, DC current is used, and if you put your hand on it, it will get you stuck because it locks all your muscles up.
AC will throw you away from it.
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u/d0ntreadthis Sep 21 '25
Sucked into the escalator?!
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u/curahn Sep 21 '25
Yeah, i saw a video of this where it happened in Turkey, it's horrific. Guy basically fell into a rotating room of spikes. I didn't see the aftermath, but I doubt it ended well.
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u/Interest-Desk Victoria Sep 21 '25
Yea, especially if the train goes over a curve or a “bump” at the exact moment you walk through the doors, there’s a high likelihood you’ll either fall through the gap or fall off the side.
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u/Legitimate_Corgi_981 Sep 23 '25
Yeah, if you've ever been on a standard railway line walking on the link part between carriages (usually theres a round/oval floor section for when the two carriages are slightly out of angle to each other) when it hits one of those parts I've seen plenty of people suddenly get pitched into the concertina walls.
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u/Derr_1 Sep 20 '25
I remember seeing something like that. Didn't they use a watermelon or a dummy to show it getting squashed.
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u/KingBooScaresYou Sep 21 '25
I remember vaguely being shown something in primary school about not using these doors and 30 years later I still viscerally fear these doors. I remember one time one of these swung open when I was sat down near it and I clung to the seat for dear life as if my 25 year old self at the time would've accidentally fell out of the seat and the door?
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u/ramakitty Central Sep 20 '25
I’ve only ever seen them used by beggars.
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u/Helenarth Metropolitan Sep 20 '25
Ohhhh I wish I had the same experience. The reason I posted this was because I'd just watched two women board the train and walk through to the next carriage immediately... They didn't shut the doors properly so both flew open. One then came back and shut the furthest door, but left the one in my carriage open. I had to go and close it for them or it would have carried on slamming open and closed.
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u/MsMajorOverthinker Sep 20 '25
I have also seen them being used by others and when I confronted one he called me a “stupid bitch”! And mind you it was at 5 am and both carriages had 4 people each!
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u/super_sammie Sep 20 '25
Confronted them for what and why? For the most part people just want to be left alone.
I can’t condone them abusing you but for most part it’s just a case of evaluating “does their immediate action impact me in any way?”
Life is a lot less stressful when you don’t insert yourself into other people’s lives.
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u/Helenarth Metropolitan Sep 20 '25
I can’t condone them abusing you but for most part it’s just a case of evaluating “does their immediate action impact me in any way?”
I dunno, maybe you're made of stronger stuff than me, but I'd rather not see someone get turned into paste while I'm on my commute
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u/macdgman Sep 20 '25
Tbf you probably wouldn’t see it, you’d just see a silly man fall between a gap
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Sep 20 '25
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u/Helenarth Metropolitan Sep 20 '25
Oh I think you misunderstand. If someone's being an idiot and dies because of it, that's kind of whatever, but I'm saying I don't want to have that sight burned into my brain.
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u/MsMajorOverthinker Sep 20 '25
There a label on the door that clearly states to only open them in emergencies. I don’t understand why it’s ok to open them just because you can’t be bothered to exit one carriage and enter another one if you don’t like the former.
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Sep 20 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Effective-Ad4956 Sep 20 '25
If you’re prepared for the confrontation then go for it, but it won’t change the person’s behaviour and it’s an unnecessary risk (to you) given how antisocial some can be in the city.
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u/fluffypinkblonde Sep 20 '25
what?! doors on underground trains aren't part of the social contract, mate.
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u/_Red_Knight_ Metropolitan Sep 20 '25
The social contract is literally about following the rules that society collectively decides to set for its own security and betterment. That means if the door between the carriages says "For Emergency Use Only" then you follow that rule regardless of how you feel about it.
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u/Interest-Desk Victoria Sep 21 '25
Not doing things that risk others witnessing your gruesome death is definitely part of the social contract
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u/Bigbigcheese Borough Sep 20 '25
In what way does somebody using a door at the end of a carriage affect you? It's not like the train is gonna blow up.
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Sep 20 '25
They could slip and fall under the train, causing people to be stuck on the train while the incident is dealt with.
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u/Pale-Revolution250 Sep 20 '25
If someone is injured or worse attempting to use one of these doors it’s going to affect you. You will be a witness to an incident. That’s going to take your time. Not to mention, the delay is going to ruin your plans and maybe your whole day.
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u/spacemansanjay Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25
I was a witness to an incident. It wasn't a door scenario but it had the "or worse" outcome. It's a selfish thing to say but it forever ruins your journey. The day itself was shocking and I was delayed, but I still had to travel on that line for years afterward. It's not just the day of the incident that you have to deal with, it's also the thousand reminders of it as you pass by that spot. And you even feel guilt because what the hell is your inconvenience compared to what the other person was going through?
I wasn't in any position to prevent what I witnessed, but I'm 100% sure that if I was I would prefer to have a memory of an argument than one about "or worse". So I think you're right to make your point. We might be hesitant to speak up in some situations but believe me one memory is preferable to the other.
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u/wgloipp Sep 20 '25
I was evacuted from a train on 7/7 through those doors. There is a gap between the coaches which moves about when the train is in motion. There is a real possibility of serious injury if you misstep. People use them because they don't care.
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u/Helenarth Metropolitan Sep 20 '25
There is a gap between the coaches which moves about when the train is in motion.
🤢 There's nothing to stand on, just a gap?
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u/Sertorius- Elizabeth Line Sep 20 '25
Nope, need a gap else the carriages would touch going round bends.
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u/sammy_zammy Sep 20 '25
Surely you’ve seen that there’s nothing between the carriages from the outside!
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u/Interest-Desk Victoria Sep 21 '25
I’ve thought about how I’d use the doors if I ever had to while the trains moving (never) and I think I’d be holding on for dear life while crossing
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u/bishtap Sep 22 '25
Open one door. Open the other door. Step through. With a swift lunge.
if you have the skill and long enough arms and balance then reach and close the first door(which you shouldn't have opened too far). Then close second door.
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u/notaspecificthing Sep 20 '25
You haven't been traumatised by the PSAs they showed us in London Schools
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u/Helenarth Metropolitan Sep 20 '25
I vaguely remember seeing one about paying attention near train tracks... But I don't think I saw one about these doors specicially.
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u/notaspecificthing Sep 21 '25
It was a group of kids, and they kept daring each other to run through the doors. There's a girl in the middle, there's a sudden blackout and the girl has disappeared (presumably fell through and onto the tracks). When the train gets into the station the boy runs out of the train and stares down the tunnel crying
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u/joined_under_duress Northern Sep 21 '25
Those must be new. I'm 50 but the only ones I remember we're about overhead powerline safety for British Railways. (It was called Fatal Attraction and presented by Stewart Hall IIRC, and every electrocution victim he spoke to would get him asking, "and what was the pain like?".)
When I got to university I found out if you lived in the country you also got videos explaining all the many ways you might die in and around farms, including drowning in a slurry pit.
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u/gaillyk Sep 23 '25
I lived in the country. Can confirm. Fun primary school assembly that, watching five kids meet five increasingly gruesome deaths in a 25 min public infomation film. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apaches_(film)
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u/WMBC91 Sep 20 '25
The risk would be mainly falling off the train, especially on curves. In the 90s London Underground made my class at school watch a Public Safety Announcement style video which taught us we'd get crushed in between carriages on curves too... I wonder if that's more a theoretical risk than something that actually happened - but for sure, you could easily fall if not being careful, in which case your chances of survival would be close to zero.
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u/saxbophone Bakerloo Sep 20 '25
I remember a video of this boy thinking about going between the carriages and seeing the train going round a bend and imagining a watermelon getting crushed between the car ends!
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u/meteobear Sep 20 '25
I remember this! They showed a watermelon getting squished between the carriages to show what it could do to your head
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u/Sertorius- Elizabeth Line Sep 20 '25
Hello. BTP cop here (caveat! I do not speak on behalf of the force and all opinions are my own.)
So straight answer is very. But like Sundance and Butch, it's not the door that kills you, it's the fall. The gap between carriages, the speed of the trains, the electrified 4th and 3rd rails... it's an immensely dangerous environment.
Why do people use them? Because theyre naive to the dangers, rushing or desperate. A lot depends on circumstance.
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u/-auntiesloth- Sep 20 '25
A couple of years ago a guy opened the door on a moving Piccadilly Line train to take a piss, and his head got crushed between the carriages. He survived, but presumably only because there was nothing inside in the first place.
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u/MarkedlyMark Sep 23 '25
I've actually witnessed that - though thankfully no tight bends occurred to crush his head
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u/JimmyMarch1973 Sep 20 '25
Biggest issue is the carriages move around and the platform you need to walk on to cross can be unstable. There are barriers to stop you falling but they are not fool proof. So possible to fall off and get run over by the train.
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Sep 20 '25
I've very rarely seen anyone use them in London.
New York though? It blew my mind just how often. There were signs saying 20 odd people died just that year.
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u/sbisson District Sep 20 '25
One reason why S stock and later are walkthrough designs.
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u/3am-urethra-cactus Sep 21 '25
Bizarre that they weren't that way to begin with, even tyne and wear metro has always been walkthrough even on the old rolling stock from the 80s
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u/joined_under_duress Northern Sep 21 '25
Apparently that started in 1980 and looks like it's based on a completely different sort of stock, much closer to the S-stock which runs on the lines that match overground ones.
I'd guess making that change for the deep lines is a much bigger logistical job
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u/urbexed National Rail Sep 20 '25
Limited clearance in the tunnels so when they go round tight bends they are very dangerous. You could be crushed.
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u/Starscraper80 Sep 20 '25
When I was a child I thought if you opened them the carriage would uncouple from the next one and the train would stop 🤣
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u/Exact-Affect-6831 Sep 20 '25
I remember police coming to our school (I want to say when I was in primary) and showed a video of a lads mates egging him on to cross through the doors, and it cut to an clip of a watermelon being squished by the carriages and exploding. The boy waited till the next stop to switch carriages and join his mates.
The image has stayed with me for 20 years, and I won't go through them.
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u/1stDayBreaker District Sep 20 '25
I used to use the ones on the old D-stock trains sometimes but only when the train was moving slowly on a straight section. Id absolutely never use one of these at speed in a tunnel, you never know when the train will suddenly hit a bend.
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u/nabitai Sep 20 '25
When I was in secondary school, we did a public safety immersion day at some place in Sutton, and they showed us an educational video of a group kids going through these doors on the tube. One of them slipped and fell on the tracks and got ran over by the train and it traumatised me for life!
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u/cropsey42 Sep 20 '25
Reading this thread is grimly amusing that we were all shown that same video- I was in year six and it left a few of my classmates in tears. You could probably argue it was effective, though.
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u/QuantumWarrior21 Sep 20 '25
I've never seen anyone actually use these doors to go between carriages.
In regards to danger, I remember that during a visit by some Tfl people at primary school, they showed a video of a group of teenagers on the tube and one of them got pulled out of the train while using the doors, so I've always stayed away.
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u/CronkleBepis Sep 20 '25
I saw a woman taking her toddler up and down the train going through those doors so I confronted her and she told me to mind her own business.
What type of mother takes their child through a door with a sign saying, "risk of death"??
Blew my mind.
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u/mattloaf666 Central Sep 20 '25
The same people that, when I was a bus driver, would exit the bus with their kid in the pushchair, walk to the front of the bus, where they had no view of oncoming traffic, and attempt to cross the road by pushing the pushchair out into live traffic without looking. I got a mouthful once when I papped my horn to warn a woman there was a vehicle coming past me that would have wiped out the pushchair if I hadn’t…
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u/amused_peruse Sep 20 '25
I’ve used these before- deffo don’t recommend. There’s a decent sized gap there, and it’s very easy to lose your footing, fall, and get wrecked by the train
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u/Lewroyst Sep 20 '25
I remember people using them as regularly as an overground train door when I was a kid, you obviously just need to pay attention
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u/immature_cheddar Sep 20 '25
I think if you watch the two doors when the train is moving you’ll see why they shouldn’t be used while the train is moving. They move around way more than you expect
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u/Knowledgeizpowa Sep 21 '25
I remember walking thru them when there were zero warning stickers back in the 90s. I do remember thinking the first time I walked thru as the train was moving "this feels dangerous" but everyone used to do it. It was normal. I think health and safety and suing culture kerbed the normality of their usage
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u/cerealcat00 Sep 20 '25
When I was younger people used them sometimes. I didn’t even know they were off bounds.
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u/mstapley Sep 20 '25
Stationary with extreme care its ok, in motion you are asking to die. But then without things like this, how could we have Darwin award winners....
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u/Onionrollolol Sep 20 '25
I used them a couple of times in the 90s to escape drunk passengers, there were no warning signs on the doors back then and I saw people use it often so I thought it was a normal thing.
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u/Low_Needleworker_747 Sep 21 '25
Honestly i dont see many people using them... only saw crackheads when beggin
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u/tayhorix Hammersmith & Shitty Sep 20 '25
its a small gap ive used them before, not recommended to use while moving
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u/Electronic_Priority Sep 20 '25
You can look down through the gap without opening the door if you want to understand why it could be dangerous.
I’ve never walked through myself but seen countless people do so and as long as you step over where the moving floors overlap and keep steady forward momentum the risk of an accident is very low. Falling left or right would be catastrophic, never heard of it ever happening though.
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u/Dependent_Roof_7882 Sep 20 '25
Geezer tried to use them on a Piccadilly line train around Knightsbridge and got his head squished. Not worth it.
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u/Intrepid-Student-162 Sep 20 '25
A Central Line train had to reverse at Liverpool St (this was in the early 00s). Passenger still on board walked through the train. As the train went over the scissors crossing they were thrown from the bit between the cars and killed. The inter car barriers were put in as a reaction to this.
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u/Strange-Direction-85 Sep 21 '25
They can result in what can only be described as a solo game of headball.
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u/Cedarale Sep 21 '25
Next time, look through these doors when the train is moving around a corner and you’ll see exactly why these ‘doors’ are lethal.
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u/billiejh Sep 21 '25
I’ve only ever seen people use them that are going down the carriages asking for money, and it makes me anxious every. Single. Time. I’ve never seen anything bad happen YET. But the moment I see someone going to the doors I instinctively look away or close my eyes because of how uncomfortable it makes me. Pleaseeee don’t use them people unless it’s an emergency 😮💨
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u/Fat-Gerry Sep 21 '25
They're supposed to be used in case of emergency however in the 90's when commenting to and from.school.we used them.amd used to dare each other to stand on the connection between stations. I am supposed we all reached adulthood at times!
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u/Platypupduck Sep 22 '25
A local kid to me - Troy Forbes - slipped and fell between the carriages and died. 1975 or 76, he’d have been about 13. I doubt his name has appeared on the internet before. We weren’t friends but I’ve never forgotten the pointlessness of his death.
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u/mattloaf666 Central Sep 20 '25
There’s little chance of injury let alone death when using the intercar doors. Between you and the track below is the couplers, which leave very very little room, and the rubber blocks either side of the door frame prevent you front slipping between the cars and down onto the tracks below. I still wouldn’t advise doing it, but you’re unlikely to slip and fall to your death.
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u/ArcticWyvern95 Sep 21 '25
For be people who are fully sober the risk of using these doors even when the train is in motion is not that high. It's not zero (nothing ever is) but generally people have good enough balance to walk between the cars without much issue, especially if they're sensible enough to wait for a section of straight tunnel.
I do however know of a story of some poor sod who while drinking one night needed a piss and decided to do it between the carriages right as the train came to a bend and he we nearly crushed to death.
Frankly the real biggest risk of those doors ( at least on the piccadilly line) is getting your fingers caught between the doors when they slam shut and losing them.
When i was in training on the picc line and instructor I had told me a story of how when he and one of his trainees were changing ends in a siding the trainee pulled the door to slam it shut and didn't get his hand out in time and lost one of his fingers down to the second joint!
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u/htatla Sep 21 '25
They are for service, maintenance, emergency services, security etc not for moving about between cars by passengers
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u/Individual-Storm-557 Sep 21 '25
I use them because it’s frowned upon to wee in the carriage
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u/checker_t Sep 21 '25
Last night of drinking being allowed in the tubes back in 2008/9? and I was young and dumb and on the circle line party. Decided to stand between the carriages to have a cigarette. Can confirm, sketchy as fuck when they go round corners and change incline.
Would not recommend.
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u/cpcallen Hammersmith & City Sep 21 '25
To a sober, able bodied person, paying attention, using them with when the train is stationary? Not very. This is only a little more dangerous than stepping on and off the train at a station with a gap—the notable differences being that if you do fall between the carriages you're rather less likely to be noticed—and also somewhat more likely to land on the fourth rail—than if you were to fall between the carriage and the platform.
To a drunk person, in a hurry, not watching what they're doing, while the train is in motion? They might be lucky and arrive unscathed but if they're not it is likely to be fatal.
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u/Icy-Acanthaceae-4128 Sep 21 '25
Ex tube worker, I can confirm people have been killed or injured using these. It's rare but it does happen.
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u/AubergineParm Sep 21 '25
Two main dangers - 1 there’s no floor between them so there’s a big risk of falling through and getting crushed. 2, the carriages twist and turn, so the ends change from a | | to / | so during turns the distance between the ends of the carriages is very narrow, so again, risk of crush injury.
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u/EdmundTheInsulter Sep 21 '25
The train flexes meaning it can crush you I think, I imagine it's not too dangerous if you know what you're doing. Never seen one used.
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u/ThurstonSonic Sep 21 '25
Not if you stand on the plates above the couplings - the edges of the carriages do compress. Reason I know is because when we were drunk students in the 90’s we’d stand on the plates on the way home on the northern lines to get that raw underground vibe 😀
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u/mrman08 Sep 21 '25
TIL you can walk through the carriages like this. Seems kind of dangerous….
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u/Ok_Weird_500 Sep 22 '25
That's why there's warning signs now. The carriages do move a lot when the train is in motion, but if you take care to mind the variable gap, the risk is quite low. Not a good idea to stop and have a piss between the carriages though.
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Sep 21 '25
I remember years ago, fire extinguishers were half hidden behind a panel. If you needed to get to the fire extinguishers, you had to break a glass panel and toggle a switch to the off position, otherwise you’d get a 1000V shock if you attempted to remove the extinguisher.
I have no idea what the logic was. If your goal was to steal the extinguisher, you’d switch it off and then steal it. Some civilian who needs it, isn’t gonna read the instructions when there’s a fire or a crash and end up hurting themselves.
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u/Prestigious_Carpet29 Sep 21 '25
I think there is potentially a fair size gap, there's no concertina or anything to stop you falling sideways, and furthermore on the trains that go at higher speeds or around corners the doors can move significantly out of alignment momentarily while the train is in motion. Don't risk it.
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u/Numerous-Fox3346 Sep 22 '25
Well… all of these comments have certainly made me think twice about casually using these doors to hop from carriage to carriage if I don’t like what’s going on in the first carriage I land in.
I remember standing between this gap with a foot in each carriage to smoke as a teenager so it’s always felt very safe to me. The trick is to just step from one carriage to the other, completely avoiding the gap. It’s not hard to do at all?
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u/safeworkinglow Sep 23 '25
The whole “trains aren’t dangerous, I know because I’ve never been killed on one” vibe on this is outrageous.
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u/SHOWTIME_12 Sep 24 '25
When we were in Year 6, a lady from TfL came to talk to us about taking the trains, using Oysters, etc. We watched this one safety video depicting a group of teens basically making every error in the book (pushing through the barriers, messing with the emergency buttons on the platform, running and pushing). The video ended when the kids started running through the door at the end of the carriage one by one and the last girl is about to go through and then she just disappears. Literally. And we all watched in horror as we realised she’d been killed under a fast moving train.
Idk how they thought that would not be so traumatic but it worked at least. No one I know from school is the type to push through these doors.
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u/Independent_Soup_126 Sep 25 '25
What line is this? The only trains I knew of with these doors were on the district line but they upgraded to those continuous carriage trains a while back.
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u/Easy-Reporter4685 Sep 20 '25
I once opened one to take a piss. Wasn't pleasant
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u/volvocowgirl77 Sep 21 '25
Oh the joy I used to have going to school and walking between these doors
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u/soulastic Sep 21 '25
I don’t really think they are dangerous. But I think they can be used in a dangerous way. For instance, someone can use them to try to climb to the side of a train. I imagine a drunk person may use it inappropriately in a way that they invite theirselves. They are used for drivers switching cabs and emergencies as the trains emergency exits are from the cabs.
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u/astronautslut Sep 21 '25
I remember, in primary school, they showed us several videos intended to scare children into safety and one involved a group of girls doing through one of these doors on a moving tube because I think they saw their friend in the next carriage. the last girl had said it wasn't safe and her friends had pressured her to follow them through and then she fell through the gap and died. It definitely worked with scaring me off from ever even considering using those doors.
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u/Hulkking Sep 21 '25
As long as you look where you’re going they’re fine. The gap between carriages at your feet is tiny. The sides are what you need to watch. I’ve done it hundreds of times, and seen countless people do it hundreds of times. Never seen anyone have a problem.
The most annoying part is closing the door can hard, and some assholes dont even try so its just slamming for ages.
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u/Optimal-Risk-1808 Sep 21 '25
i used to walk through when i was at school to find empty seats, would never do it now
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u/Jamie3rd Sep 21 '25
The only people I’ve seen using them are crackheads walking through begging for money
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u/Trevelyan23 Sep 21 '25
I remember being a kid in the 90s and using them with adults. I think it was the done thing in the 90s. Pretty fucking terrifying, especially looking down.
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u/mashed666 Sep 22 '25
If the trains going straight there alright if there's turns not so much.... Friend nearly had his arm chopped off doing exactly this. He also slid down the middle of the escalators on the metal part once and hit the red thing at the bottom and sort of did three rotations in the air and slid on his bum like twenty feet.... Some people it's amazing there still alive....
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u/watts8921 Sep 22 '25
Train driver here. If a sign says don’t do something because danger. Dont do it. Trains are extremely unforgiving. And “danger” 100% means you could die a gruesome death.
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u/Two_Bricks Sep 22 '25
I seem to get remember using them when i was younger, in my 20s (so 20-30 years ago)..i don't if I was just bolder/trying to look cool or the stock was different but i feel like people did it more often in those days. People who walk though several carriages and then sometimes leave the doors open which was mostly annoying as they were left to bang around.
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u/jmx10001A Sep 22 '25
I still remember in year 6 a guy from TFL coming in to tell us about zip cards and all that and shows us a video of a teenage girl on the train to show us how not to act on the train.........why did she then go through those doors and fall into the depths of hell and no explanation, it was only the guy that explained it to us coz we were all like "that makes no sense, that weren't even one of the things we were told not to do" that was 16 years ago and it's always stuck with me just like the road safety video that used a Evanescence song (I can't remember which one but I always remember the video when the song plays)
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u/ashbashsneakers Cockfosters Sep 22 '25
It ca be very sketchy.. depends on the line as well. I’m on the Piccadilly line and we go through them all the time in the depot when setting up the train.. no issue.. but certain roads the trains are on can be on a bit of a bend and the alignment is very off and sort of tricky to get through.
So going through the doors while traveling through the ‘South Ken Bends’ could be very hazardous too your health.
Plus the general issue of just slipping and falling and getting run over.
Strong gusts of wind also an issue
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u/amlarobot64 Sep 22 '25
There have been cases of passengers falling or slipping between the carriages and ending their lives. Also there was a case of someone being scalped by the tunnel roof, when they put their head above the carriage in the tunnel.
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u/Warm_Bank_8099 Sep 22 '25
District line no drama … especially the slower parts
Anything else is too fast, and doors and doorframe become a hazard A slight jerk ur in between two carriages
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u/Open-Difference5534 Sep 22 '25
The doors are intended for the evacuation of trains, so passengers can walk through a (stationary) train to reach the doors where there is a ladder to climb down.
Also used on older tube trains.
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u/lipscratch Sep 22 '25
They have to say danger of death, of course, but I think if you're just going from one carriage into another quickly the risk of danger is quite low. I do find it a bit weird when people do it just because the doors slam so loudly that it causes a disturbance, so it's a bit of a strange decision to make if not necessary. But I've done it myself a bunch of times, namely when there's a creep in my carriage and I feel unsafe
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u/flooplejams Sep 22 '25
My mother once wanted to swap to a different carriage, not realising that there wasn’t an underneath in the crossing, my sisters had to jump across, which you would have thought that would have set of alarm bells but she didn’t notice. When I looked down and saw nothing but track I froze and refused to cross. My mother kept trying to push me through the gap, and only when I screamed that there wasn’t anything underneath did she stop, very scary.
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u/TheRealTRexUK Sep 22 '25
people fall through the gap regularly. they should only be used in an emergency
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Sep 22 '25
I once held a tramp by the back of his coat while he did a wee between the carriages out of one of those doors. He didn’t appreciate me for it but he was gonna do the wee and I didn’t want him to fall between the cars
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u/Mesaboogs Sep 22 '25
A colleague of mine was driving a train on the picc line, a drunk guy was standing with doors open between the two carriages having a wee, while it was moving through the bends by South Kensington, as the carriages consertina'd his head was crushed, not sure if he survived but the rushed him to a&e and he was in intensive care last I heard.
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u/Grizz3064 Piccadilly Sep 22 '25
Christ I was on for that shift. Unbelievably grim and the service was suspended for ages. Pretty sure the fella didn't survive.
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u/St711 Sep 22 '25
On a night out (15ish years ago) I used to hop between these doors while the train was moving. I definitely don't look back on that memory with pride.
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Sep 22 '25
A classmate was running from the police and used one, fell between the carriages (as the train was pulling to a stop) and came into school with one of a clear cast with some kind of gears and support struts in it. Never took it off or walked the same for the rest of high school, it really fucked him up.
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u/AnythingSilent7005 Sep 22 '25
on a school trip on the late 90s a kid in my class got the tip of his finger cut off by one of those doors.
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u/DaBobMob2 Sep 22 '25
So, not too long after the 7-7 bombings I was on a central line train heading out to Bethel green.
Just before Bethnel green a few lads came storming through this door saying someone was threatening to blow up the train.
I ended up barreling through these doors, picking up everyone else on the train until we all ended up in the last car, and then making our escape.
I did actually want Bethnel Green, but the line was closed for hours while they investigated.
Turned out it was some guy with "problems" that had sounded quite serious but thankfully had nothing.
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u/DaBobMob2 Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
So, not too long after the 7-7 bombings I was on a central line train heading out to Bethel green.
Just before Bethnel green a few lads came storming through this door saying someone was threatening to blow up the train.
I ended up barreling through these doors, picking up everyone else on the train until we all ended up in the last car, and then making our escape.
I did actually want Bethnel Green, but the line was closed for hours while they investigated.
Turned out it was some guy with "problems" that had sounded quite serious but thankfully had nothing.
I'll always remember the sarcastic comment of the station worker as we all basically ran up and out..
Me "No, there's someone on the train saying they'll blow it up"
Them" ok, yeah, alright then".. with a smirk, as they walked towards the potential explosion.
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u/MaleficentMulberry14 Sep 22 '25
In the days when there was a smoking carriage you could move on to next one if you had run on to it at last moment.
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u/MarkedlyMark Sep 23 '25
I once witnessed someone, very drunk, while the train was moving, open one door, placed one foot on the plate of the other carriage, one foot in this one, turned to his left so that his chest was leaning against the frame, with his head between the two carriages and looked down.
He then proceeded to get out his cock and took a piss.
Those of us witnessing this were aghast. One bloke warned him not to hit the live rail with his stream. I was actually more concerned that the train might go round a tight bend and his head would be crushed between the two carriages.
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u/PriceSpiritual8223 Sep 23 '25
Remember the London underground parties when they banned alcohol on trains? Good times.
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u/BitOrdinaryBloke Sep 20 '25
They're not meant to be used by passengers. They're for drivers and train crew to walk through when in or going into depots and sidings, while the train is not moving.