Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:57:04.619Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Suicide patterns on the London Underground railway system, 2000–2010

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Susanna Martin  and
Muffazal Rawala
Susanna Martin*
Affiliation:
Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
Muffazal Rawala
Affiliation:
Luton Mental Health and Wellbeing Service, East London NHS Foundation Trust
*
smartin1@doctors.org.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Aims and Method

Suicidal acts on underground railway networks are an area of public health concern. Our aim was to review recent epidemiological patterns of suicidal acts on the London Underground to inform future preventive interventions. Data from 2000 to 2010 were obtained from the British Transport Police via a Freedom of Information request.

Results

The mean annual rate of suicidal acts from 2000 to 2010 was 5.8 per 100 million passenger journey stages. Of those who died by suicide, 77.3% were of White Northern European ethnicity. A fifth had a history of mental illness.

Clinical implications

The widening gap between the number of recorded suicide attempts and completed suicides is encouraging. Further research is required regarding the role of drug and alcohol use, psychiatric history and area of residence. Installation of platform screen doors should be considered in future railway network expansion.

Type
Special Articles
Information
BJPsych Bulletin , Volume 41 , Issue 5 , October 2017 , pp. 275 - 280
Check for updates
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an open-access article published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 The Authors

Footnotes

Declaration of interest

None.

References

1 Transport for London. London Underground. TfL, no date. Available at https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/culture-and-heritage/londons-transport-a-history/london-underground?intcmp=2777 (accessed 27 March 2017).Google Scholar
2 Mehnert, A, Nanninga, I, Fauth, M, Schafer, I. Course and predictors of posttraumatic stress among male train drivers after the experience of ‘person under the train’ incidents. J Psychosom Res 2012; 73: 191–6.Google Scholar
3 Oxford Economic Forecasting. The Economic Effects of Transport Delays on the City of London. Corporation of London, 2003.Google Scholar
4 O'Donnell, I, Farmer EDT The epidemiology of suicide on the London Underground. Soc Sci Med 1994; 38: 409–18.Google Scholar
5 Ceccato, V, Uittenbogaard, A. Suicides in commuting railway systems: the case of Stockholm county, Sweden. J Affect Disord 2016; 198: 206–21.Google Scholar
6 Van Houwelingen, CAJ, Kerkhof, AJFM, Beersma, DGM. Train suicides in the Netherlands. J Affect Disord 2010; 127: 281–6.Google Scholar
7 Sonneck, G, Etzersdorfer, E, Nagel-Kuess, S. Imitative suicide on the Viennese subway. Soc Sci Med 1994; 38: 453–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8 Havarneanu, GM, Burkhardt, JM, Paran, F. A systematic review of the literature on safety measures to prevent railway suicides and trespassing accidents. Accid Anal Prev 2015; 81: 30–50.Google Scholar
9 Transport for London. Travel in London: Report 4. Transport for London, 2011.Google Scholar
10 Transport for London. Travel in London, Supplementary Report: London Travel Demand Survey (LTDS). Transport for London, 2011.Google Scholar
11 Taylor, AK, Knipe, DW, Thomas, KH. Railway suicide in England and Wales 2000-2013: a time-trends analysis. BMC Public Health 2016; 16: 270.Google Scholar
12 Cocks, RA. Study of 100 patients injured by London underground trains 1981-6. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1987; 295: 1527–9.Google Scholar
13 Johnston, DWC, Waddell, JP. Death and injury patterns, Toronto subway system 1954-1980. J Trauma 1984; 24: 619–22.Google Scholar
14 Schmidtke, A. Suicidal behaviour on railways in the FRG. Soc Sci Med 1994; 38: 419–26.Google Scholar
15 Kamaldeep, B, Chalangary, J, Jones, E. Railway Suicides in the UK: Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies. careif, 2013.Google Scholar
16 Transport for London Safety Accessibility and Sustainability Panel. Item 7: London Underground Non-Accidental Customer Fatalities. Transport for London, 2015.Google Scholar
17 Barr, B, Taylor-Robinson, D, Scott-Samuel, A, McKee, M, Stuckler, D. Suicides associated with the 2008-10 economic recession in England: time trend analysis. BMJ 2012; 345: e5142.Google Scholar
18 Delta, Rail. Station Usage 2009/10. Delta Rail, 2011.Google Scholar
19 Dinkel, A, Baumert, J, Erazo, N, Ladwig, KH. Jumping, lying, wandering: analysis of suicidal behaviour patterns in 1,004 suicidal acts on the German railway net. J Psychiatr Res 2011; 45: 121–5.Google Scholar
20 Erazo, N, Baumert, J, Ladwig, KH. Sex-specific time patterns of suicidal acts on the German railway system. An analysis of 4003 cases. J Affect Disord 2004; 83: 1–9.Google Scholar
21 Office for National Statistics. Suicide Rates in the United Kingdom 2000-2009. ONS, 2011.Google Scholar
22 Office for National Statistics. Ethnic Group by English Region and Wales. ONS, 2011.Google Scholar
23 Transport for London. Understanding the Travel Needs of our London's Diverse Communities: BAME. Tfl, 2012.Google Scholar
24 Andriessen, K, Krysinska, K. Railway suicide in Belgium 1998-2009: incidence and prevention. Crisis 2012; 33: 39–45.Google Scholar
25 Debbaut, K, Krysinska, K, Andriessen, K. Characteristics of suicide hotspots on the Belgian railway network. Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot 2014; 21: 274–7.Google Scholar
26 Cocks, RA. Trauma in the tube: the problem of railway suicide and its consequences. Stress Med 1989; 5: 93–7.Google Scholar
27 Uittenbogaard, A, Ceccato, V. Temporal and spatial patterns of suicides in Stockholm's subway stations. Acrid Anal Prev 2015; 81: 96–106.Google Scholar
28 Gaylord, MS, Lester, D. Suicide in the Hong Kong subway. Soc Sci Med 1994; 38: 427–30.Google Scholar
29 Clarke, RV, Poyner, B. Preventing suicide on the London Underground. Soc Sci Med 1994; 38: 443–6.Google Scholar
30 University of Manchester. National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness. Annual Report: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. University of Manchester, 2015.Google Scholar
31 Cox, GR, Owens, C, Robinson, J, Nicholas, A, Lockley, A, Williamson, M, et al. Interventions to reduce suicides at suicide hotspots: a systematic review. BMC Public Health 2013; 13: 214.Google Scholar
32 Chung, YW, Kang, SJ, Matsubayashi, T, Sawada, Y, Ueda, M. The effectiveness of platform screen doors for the prevention of subway suicides in South Korea. J Affect Disord 2016; 194: 80–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33 Law, CK, Yip, PSF, Chan, WSC, Fu, KW, Wong, PWC, Law, YW. Evaluating the effectiveness of barrier installation for preventing railway suicides in Hong Kong. J Affect Disord 2009; 114: 254–62.Google Scholar
34 Coats, TJ, Walter, DP. Effect of station design on death in the London Underground: observational study. BMJ 1999; 319: 957.Google Scholar
35 Matsubayashi, T, Sawada, Y, Ueda, M. Does the installation of blue lights on train platforms prevent suicide? A before-and-after observational study from Japan. J Affect Disord 2013; 147: 385–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36 Ichikawa, M, Inada, H, Kumeji, M. Reconsidering the effects of blue-light installation for prevention of railway suicides. J Affect Disord 2014; 152-154: 183–5.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.