Ding-ding, and away

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Ding-ding, and away is a term that has been used for many years in the British railway industry. It used to describe an incident where a train driver is given a bell or whistle signal telling him to start, and starts without checking the platform starting signal. The result is a signal passed at danger (SPAD), and occasionally a serious accident.

[edit] Overview

On multiple unit trains, the guard uses a series of audible signals on a bell or buzzer. When a stop has been completed and all doors are closed, the guard informs the driver by sending the signal for "ready to start," or "right away," which is two rings on the bell or buzzer (hence "ding-ding.") For a long time there was a debate in British Railways as to whether guards and station staff should only give the "ready to start" signal if the platform starting signal was clear. The British Railways Board refused to change the rules, citing that the driver alone should have the responsibility to comply with signals and that nobody else should share this responsibility. Initially the Railway Inspectorate agreed with this, for example in the report on the early example at Woolwich Arsenal in 1948 [1]. However, a spate of accidents in the 1970s culminated in seven people being killed at Paisley Gilmour Street in 1979, and the rules were finally changed in 1980.

Sadly, "ding-ding, and away" accidents have not been completely eliminated, despite the rule change and the introduction of equipment such as the driver's reminder appliance. This sort of incident is also not restricted to trains with guards. On trains under driver-only operation (DOO), it has been known for the driver to close the doors and move away without checking the signal. This was the case in the Newton rail crash.

With driver-only operation now more common, the term "Starting against station signal, passed at danger" (SASSPAD) is now officially used.

A number of main stations such as Birmingham New Street, Peterborough and others where Driver Only Operation is prominent now have additional indicators fitted to their platform starting signals. These are usually of the fibre-optic type and display "CD" for Close Doors followed by "RA" for Right Away. These are generally operated by the Station Platform Staff when station duties are complete. However these indicators do not remove the need for drivers to ensure the main aspect of the starting signal has cleared, as these indicators are not necessarily interlocked with the main aspects, e.g. where a train needs to vacate a platform but the main signal can only show a subsidiary aspect (two diagonal white lights) due to the section being occupied by another train unit or locomotive.