transport

Baby hit by train, survives

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:14:32 +0200

This CCTV footage shows a pram falling onto the tracks of a railway station in Ashburton, a suburb of Melbourne, yesterday, just seconds before a train arrives at the platform. The driver slams on the breaks as soon as he sees the pram, but the pushchair is dragged under and pulled for 35 metres before the train comes to a standstill. The incredible news is, that the six-month-old baby inside, survived the ordeal with just a cut to his forehead.

The incident comes just a day after Australian train company Connex launched an awareness campaign about... preventing your baby's pushchair from falling onto the tracks.

The Algiers metro – 26 years on and it’s almost ready

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:53:45 +0200

This time, it's not a joke. Twenty-six years after the idea was drafted, the Algerian capital could, perhaps, have its very own metro by 2010. Our Observer tells us that it's almost ready - he's even got the photos to prove it.

Earlier this month, Transport Minister Amar Tou made the exciting announcement that the public opening of the Algiers metro should take place early 2010. About time - the project was officially launched in... 1983. Since then, between economic crisis, political instability and public insecurity, the project has been repeatedly pushed to the bottom of the pile. It's out-run five presidents and squandered 140 billion dinars (around 200 million euros). The subject has become something of a joke for Algiers' residents.

Stretching over nine kilometres, the metro's first line will connect ten locations from the centre to the east of the city. The first train will run at 5am, and the last at 11pm. A special police force has been set up to take charge of the stations and their surrounding areas. The Parisian metro security, RATP, has been called upon to supervise arrangements for the first five years.

Paris night bus assault caught on CCTV

Julien — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:00:19 +0200

Footage of a violent assault in a Paris night bus has caused a stir since its release on the Web on Monday. The scene took place on December 7 last year around 3:45am at the Barbès-Rochechouart station in the north of the French capital.

The original video is 6 minutes long. The images have been blurred by FRANCE 24.

The assault, lasting several minutes, was filmed by CCTV cameras on a night bus operated by the Paris public transport company, the RATP. The victim, wearing a scarf, stands in the foreground. He is approached from behind by four youths, who then push and rob him. The young man tries to fend off the attack, aided by (few) passengers, but the situation spills over and he is beaten up. Powerless, the bus driver calls for help and remains in his seat [according to the SUD-RATP trade union, drivers have been instructed to remain in their cabins in such events].

According to French daily 20 minutes, the video was first posted on December 17 on a police officer’s Facebook account – which was shut down at midday yesterday. It was subsequently posted anew by several bloggers. The footage, which according to the RATP should not have gone public, has since been withdrawn from YouTube and Dailymotion. However, the images are still circulating on foreign-based websites.

A document produced by the French interior ministry, which lists cases solved thanks to CCTV, mentions the incident. The events are described just as they unfold on the video. The document states that two of the attackers have been identified and charged with assault.

SUD-RATP immediately denounced the management’s alleged habit of downplaying such incidents, which it claims are very frequent. The latest assault has no doubt breathed new life into the debate on the shortage of security personnel in public transport.

Pink taxis for girls only

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:18:37 +0100

The car's pink and so is the tie, lipstick and flower in the hair of the woman who's driving it. Welcome to the new Beirut taxis. That is, if you're female. Men are strictly banned.

The idea was first launched in the UK in 2006 by Pink Ladies Cabs. The 100% female driving squad is charged with getting party-goers home safely once the bars have closed. Now, the concept has arrived in the Middle East. Nayaghi taxi company rolled out three pink Peugeots under the name "Banet Taxis" (girl taxis) on Tuesday.

Miracle

Team Observers — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:35:20 +0100

And here’s today’s buzz video. The man run over by a truck in Turkey escapes with only minor scratches. Unbelievable stuff.

The footage was taken by a surveillance camera on February 25 in Mersin, a seaside city in Turkey. The video was released by the Dogan press agency. The victim of the accident, Cem Tokac, 32, suffered only minor injuries. .

China's New Year schemers

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:27:40 +0100

Desperate to get home, passengers pile onto a train at Wuxi Station.

A staggering 232 billion plane, train and car journeys will take place over the 40 days of Chunyun, the Chinese New Year. With so many people desperate to get back to their families for the occasion, transport workers can't resist the opportunity to swindle their customers. After all, there aren't enough tickets for everyone!

Tokyo metro goers told to "do it at home"

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:53:07 +0100

The Tokyo Metro has been teaching travellers about good public behaviour for some years now. The newest campaign sees example-givers in cartoon form; apparently a harsh lesson for the Japanese, who are used to teddy bears and puppets telling them how to behave. Since April metro-goers have had a new lesson to learn each month. So far, these include: don't get your packed lunch out, put on your make-up, or play golf with an umbrella... Seems trivial, but being told to "do it at home" has caused a real polemic on the Japanese web.

One of the posters. The messages are in both Japanese and English. More below.

How to gatecrash the Moscow metro

Julien — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:49:04 +0100

The Moscow Metro is cheap - about 50 euro cents. But youngsters don't usually have much money. Plus, getting on for free is always more fun. And an activity that causes much amusement apparently... here are ten ways to do it.