Some guy is trying to commit suicide...

[Turbo Lag]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, please move it if its wrong.

So on a usual day afterschool, i got into the 3:41 Frankston line train and as i got to my home station, Glenhuntly, the train just stopped. We were all having the look of wtf and everyone was kinda worried and scared. Then the train driver spoke on the microphone thingy "Sorry about the delays, some guy tried to jump off the powerline holder thingys and hit the powerline, therefore he could get electricuted". We were pretty pissed, seeming that i was like 100m from my house. After waiting like 30min, the power was cut and everyone got really pissed off. So we pulled the doors open and jumped of the train 💡 . We saw this nutter and we just felt like killing him because the whole of like Melbourne is clogged up.

I have no idea how this nutter got up there but there was a huge crowd around there. Do you think he was trying to commit suicide? Or any other reason? It caused major delays everywhere in Melbourne (according to my dad), even up to 10km away (from the city). All the roads and main highways were also blocked.

Oh yeah and like all the trains going passed Glenhuntly were cancelled.

 

[1X83Z]

On a lark I went on a Melbourne newspaper's website to see if I could find anything about it, but instead I found this article about five men who raped a girl and then assaulted two more women. Comically, the article finishes off with the quote, "The detective said it was important the attackers be found." No - really?

 

[Touring Mars]

Unfortunately this happens in London all the time - there are frequent incidences of people who jump infront of London Underground trains. The station where I live (Mile End - on the Central Line) even has billboard adverts for the Samaritans strategically positioned at the far end of each platform - the end nearest the tunnel from which the trains emerge - as this is the most common place for jumpers to jump from (since the train is at it's highest speed at this point...)

Many's the time you will be held in a tunnel somewhere and the driver will apologise for the delay 'due to a person under a train'. It is not uncommon to hear people tutting, see them rolling their eyes or shaking their heads, or even saying to their friends "Huh, bloody inconsiderate bastard" - most of the time I believe they are serious, rather than just joking.

True, it's a damn inconvenience, especially when you depend upon that travel network to get you to work in the morning and home again in the evening after a long day. But the travel network should have contigency plans in place to minimise the disruption in this event. Short of London Underground financing research into clinical depression, there is little if anything they can do to address the far deeper question of WHY people are inclined to kill themselves in this way - the best they can hope to do is to factor in to their equations (and budgets) that this does happen (all too frequently), and put measures in place to help cope with the aftermath. Bus replacements should be on hand to cope with a serious line closure. Security cameras/surveillance could be improved to maximise the chance of spotting a potential jumper (although this is hardly possible in reality) etc.

But I think it is a very sad state of affairs to blame these poor individuals and label them 'inconsiderate bastards' (to paraphrase several friends on mine) when their lives are so desperately wretched that they feel the need to kill themselves in this way. If the transport network is ill-prepared to cope with these incidents, then we should be asking them why this is the case, rather than simply hoping that people will stop doing these things - because they won't.

 

[Freddie]

This happens here as well. Just last week, some poor bastard climbed up on the roof of an EMU and got eletrocuted - 16kV straight through his body. He was litterary burning up when they cut the power.

TM, isn't the Underground placing walls on platforms, blocking people from jumping on to the rails? I remember seeing them when I was in London a few years back - there was absolutely no easy way of getting onto the rails.

 

[MagpieRacer]

You mean like these? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:London_Bridge_Jubilee_Platforms.JPG

 

[Freddie]

You mean like these? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:London_Bridge_Jubilee_Platforms.JPG

That's the one I was thinking of, yes.

 

[Turbo Lag]

This dude was up there from 3pm to like 8pm so 5 hours up there... I think he finally did get down but he caused chaos all over the city It'll be funny if he's still up there like over night lol

 

[throttlehappy]

On a lark I went on a Melbourne newspaper's website to see if I could find anything about it, but instead I found this article about five men who raped a girl and then assaulted two more women. Comically, the article finishes off with the quote, "The detective said it was important the attackers be found." No - really?

hardly commical

i hope they get raped in prison

 

[Loon]

hardly commical

i hope they get raped in prison

It is comical because it's commen sense that it's important the attacker be found.

Sure the overal situation isn't comical, just what the detective said is.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

How inconsiderate of someone to have a life crisis on your way home!

 

[Muzaffar]

what and idiot?why in the world would you commit suicide at a train station?you could just hang yourself or just jump of a bridge......it would certainly not help me if i was living in South Yarra and i had to go to Monash....(btw,i did stay in melbourne before....)

Originally Posted by M5Power
On a lark I went on a Melbourne newspaper's website to see if I could find anything about it, but instead I found this article about five men who raped a girl and then assaulted two more women. Comically, the article finishes off with the quote, "The detective said it was important the attackers be found." No - really?

What does this have to do with the suicide thing?Im just wondering.....have the police found the culprit?

 

[Dave A]

Why can't these people just take the right kind of pills and just die in their own homes without putting other people out so much. Alternatively they could always go to Switzerland and visit the euthanasia clinic over there.

 

[Turbo Lag]

It seems that there were 3 people up there in the first place, all about 16years old. 2 Of them got down quickly but one just stayed up there. So most likely they were doing it for publicity. They were also on tv so they got their 15min's of fame.

 

[Touring Mars]

Why can't these people just take the right kind of pills and just die in their own homes without putting other people out so much. Alternatively they could always go to Switzerland and visit the euthanasia clinic over there.

There are several possible responses to these semi-rhetorical questions... 1) You're assuming that suicidal people even give a second thought about others before they attempt suicide (even though I'm sure many do, in one form or other)... 2) Pills are an unreliable form of suicide. A fast moving train is far more effective. 3) If you are suicidal (from a psychological defintion), you are hardly likely to consider minor inconvenience to commuters as a deterrent 4) Euthanasia clinics will only 'treat' people who are terminally ill and typically do not assist suicides of people suffering from depression or other forms of mental illness... 5) The type and amount of drugs required to achieve a successful overdose requires a level of premeditation that many suicide attempts simply do not involve...

why in the world would you commit suicide at a train station?

Why wouldn't you...? If you're intent on killing yourself, jumping infront of a train is about the most effective method you can find... that's why they do it! Overdosing on drugs is relatively unreliable and unpredictable. The choice of venue is irrelevant. Most successful suicides are committed in a manner that results in physical harm to the suicider only... that method may also result in a temporary inconvenience to the rest of us, but I'd guess that this is of much lesser concern to someone who is about to kill themselves...

 

[Muzaffar]

Touring Mars,you do make a point.jumping in front of a train should be a good way to kill yourself,but then it would just cause more problem from there.like if the train hit you,it would most likely to stop,making all the passengers wait inside the train for the workers to clean up the mess,which could take up some time,which most probably most people don't have since people wants to go work or kids need to go to school and don't want to be late.......u get what i mean.So killing yourself somewhere else where you don't interrupt other people should be better (unless u wanted to get publicity and want people to curse you for the rest of your life!.....)

 

[tigermoth737]

Considering that a person whom is about to throw themself underneath a train, I dont think they care about how long it takes for you to get home to make 2 minute noodles. Their only aim is to end their lives, why is it that getting home on time is more important then a human life?

 

[Casio]

So on a usual day afterschool, i got into the 3:41 Frankston line train

Well, now, there is your problem...

 

[Danny]

Why wouldn't you...? If you're intent on killing yourself, jumping infront of a train is about the most effective method you can find... that's why they do it! Overdosing on drugs is relatively unreliable and unpredictable. The choice of venue is irrelevant. Most successful suicides are committed in a manner that results in physical harm to the suicider only... that method may also result in a temporary inconvenience to the rest of us, but I'd guess that this is of much lesser concern to someone who is about to kill themselves...

First the Irwin joke, then you argue the case for a train-related suicide?

Merchant of death much?

 

[Touring Mars]

Touring Mars,you do make a point.jumping in front of a train should be a good way to kill yourself,but then it would just cause more problem from there.like if the train hit you,it would most likely to stop,making all the passengers wait inside the train for the workers to clean up the mess,which could take up some time,which most probably most people don't have since people wants to go work or kids need to go to school and don't want to be late.......u get what i mean.So killing yourself somewhere else where you don't interrupt other people should be better (unless u wanted to get publicity and want people to curse you for the rest of your life!.....)

I agree with what you're saying - there are other ways to commit suicide that are less likely to cause other people inconvenience, but when is the last time anybody told a suicidal person "...and if all else fails and you decide to go ahead and kill yourself, be a nice chap and do it in a way that doesn't inconvenience the rest of us?"...

This reminds me of a silly song my Dad used to sing, which went "Don't jump off the roof Dad, you'll make a hole in the garden!" The notion that someone is more concerned about the state of their garden than the fact that their own father is trying to kill himself is absurd to a point of funniness. It's much the same case here. It's absurd to think that a suicidal person would choose to alter their plans as a consideration to commuters!

then you argue the case for a train-related suicide?

If you read it more closely you should realise that I'm not advocating any form of suicide. I'm merely attempting to explain why people choose this method. It's far from an 'ideal' or a 'perfect' method, but then again, practically no method of suicide is - even a 'neat and tidy' die-in-your-sleep-after-taking-an-overdose type suicide is still 'inconsiderate' to a whole bunch of people in very different ways. If you've ever spoken to someone who has had to deal with the aftermath of finding someone after they have attempted suicide, you might have some clue as to what I mean.

 

[Danny]

If you read it more closely you should realise that I'm not advocating any form of suicide. I'm merely attempting to explain why people choose this method. It's far from an 'ideal' or a 'perfect' method, but then again, practically no method of suicide is - even a 'neat and tidy' die-in-your-sleep-after-taking-an-overdose type suicide is still 'inconsiderate' to a whole bunch of people in very different ways. If you've ever spoken to someone who has had to deal with the aftermath of finding someone after they have attempted suicide, you might have some clue as to what I mean.

It just seemed to me as though you were claiming it the lesser of x evils, which some could see as suggesting it is the better choice of suicide.

No suicide is ever easy for people, it will always cause more pain than it "takes away".

 

[Touring Mars]

Well, the effects are the same - from a completely dispassionate point of view, it is a better method than most other commonly accessible ways to top yourself, simply because your chances of success are pretty high, and it leaves less to chance.

it will always cause more pain than it "takes away"

That's certainly true for those left behind. In this sense, Johnny Mandel got it wrong....

Suicide could be construed as inconsiderate which ever way you look at it... the handful of people I know who have been affected by a suicide in their families certainly seem to think so, anyway.