Blind passenger falls from train after wrong door opens
A blind passenger fell from a train in Roosendaal on Friday after the doors opened on the wrong side. He escaped the incident shaken, but unharmed. NS is taking measures to prevent this happening again in future, AD reports.
According to the passenger, who asked AD to remain anonymous, he knows which side to exit the train by pressing the button on the door. If the door opens, it is the side to get off. But on Friday it went wrong. "I pushed the button, the door opened, I put one foot on the running board and the next thing I remember is that I was on the pebbles three quarters of a meter below." the passenger said to the newspaper. He got out on the wrong side of the trine.
There was no announcement on the train on which side t exit and no other passengers near him to warn him. He was so close to the door that his guide dog had no chance to stop him. The dog did jump down with him, though. "This time I ended up in the gravel and I had no injuries. But suppose that another train was passing, then it was so much worse. I was really very angry."
NS is aware of the incident and contacted the passenger. "Of course, we don't want this to happen", a spokesperson said to the newspaper. "That the doors can be opened on both sides is impossible on domestic trains. It ca only happen with the express trains to Brussels and Berlin and then only if they are "put together" trains: a combination of German coaches with a Dutch engine, or Dutch coaches with a Belgian engine. This has been the situation for years." NS instructed their personnel to be extra vigilant about announcing the side on which to exit on these specific trains. "Solving the problem technically will take some time."