A 101-year-old London Underground passenger was seriously injured after being dragged along a platform when their coat became trapped in a Tube train door closed just six seconds after it opened.
A report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said the incident happened after the centenarian stepped off a Northern line train as the doors began to close at Archway station, north London on February 18 last year.
The elderly person’s unzipped coat became trapped in the door.
The driver was aware that the passenger and their companion were “close to the train” but “was not aware” of the trapped coat – which was not detected by onboard systems – so “commanded the train to depart”, investigators said.
After being pulled for two metres, the passenger fell to the ground and their coat became free of the door.
The train travelled around 20 metres before it stopped when the driver activated the emergency brake after realising what had happened.
The passenger was taken to hospital for treatment for “serious injuries”.
Their companion, who was holding on to them at the time of the incident, also fell to the ground but was uninjured.
The RAIB said they “both regularly travelled” on the Tube and had “moved to the door area to be ready to alight” as the train approached the station.
Investigators found that the driver activated the control to close the doors four seconds after they opened at the station, meaning they were only fully open for six seconds.
The driver was involved in a previous incident in December 2021 in which a passenger was caught in the doors while attempting to board a train at Bank station.
The RAIB report also covered another incident where a passenger was dragged along a station platform after their coat became stuck in a door.
The passenger – whose age was not given – was pulled for 20 metres at Chalk Farm station, also on the Northern line in north London, on April 20 last year.
They suffered “minor physical injuries to their left elbow and both knees and psychological distress”, the RAIB said.
Investigators made four recommendations for the London Underground, related to understanding the risk from incidents of this kind and how to minimise them, the minimum amount of time a Tube train should remain at a platform before continuing its journey, and how a train driver’s attention and awareness can be influenced.
Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, said: “The safety of our customers and staff is at the heart of everything we do and we were extremely concerned that two customers were injured at Archway and Chalk Farm last year.
“London Underground is consistently recognised as one of the safest metro systems in the world, carrying millions of customers every year.
“However we are not complacent and we welcome the recommendations from the RAIB’s report and we are in the process of implementing them.”