Man survives fall from station platform as train passes over him

Daaaaaaaamn! This cat must have nine lives!

I hope he went straight to the pachinko parlour after getting up off the tracks. It's his lucky day.

It just wasn't his time to go. If he is in his 70s, then his youth was lived during the war. Falling on the tracks was probably small potatoes for him compared to dodging bombs.

lucky old man. hopefully he didn't get heart-attack during he was down there between the rails!

Glad to hear a somewhat 'positive' story about this kind of thing. Lucky old codger. Hope he isn't charged or given any grief over the delays (they always try to get insurance from the dead, etc.). I agree, he better go buy some lottery tickets or something.

Yeah, I was wondering...does he have to pay? I think it is about time for railings on platforms. Amazing it doesn't happen more often.

Ummm, if you put railings at the edge of the platform, how are people going to get on and off the train? DOH!

I'm guessing this guy wasn't overweight. If so, Thinness FTW!

Are you serious? Modern subways and train stations have railings and some have automatic doors. Are you in South Dakota?

quick thinking!

smart guy. everyone should take note in case this happens, but if you have time, best to get to the side, under the platform.

there was an incident in NY a few years back were a guy had a seizure on the platform, fell onto the tracks, and a bystander jumped down and held them both down between the rails as the train passed safely overhead

Usually you would be OK between the rails if you like down flat, there is usually 30-40 cm clearance but you can't rely on it.

Safest if you fall and there is time is to lie in the centre beween the two sets of tracks, there is always safety clearance there

moonbeams:

There are some platforms that don't have overhangs or places to shelter. They have tried to fix many platforms so as there are places to shelter after a guy fell on the tracks and a Korean exchange student jumped after him, trying to save him at Okubo (?) station several years ago.

Obviously, he learned this trick from watching "Get Smart."

Smart guy.

hahahaha

just lucky

I agree...it is time to get railings on the platforms. I can certainly understand why they have them at the shinkansen stations but still can't gather why they don't have them for the other types of train stations. Cost prohibitive??

Gates on the platform are not only expensive, they would be difficult to install as you can only do construction after the last train at night and before the first train in the morning. That isn't a lot of hours to work in.

That gent better get himself a lottery ticket

very fortunate for him and glad to hear he and nobody on trains were hurt if had to make sudden stop. Inconvenience is easier to understand than death or injury.

I agree more railings should be installed.

If there are railings then some nutcase behind you can't push you onto the tracks...

"a total of 33 trains in both directions experienced delays up to 20 minutes"

"a total of 33,000 people were affected"

How do they know how over 32,000 people and less than 34,000 people were riding those 33 trains?

That man needs to apologize to those 33,000 people who were delayed.

Cost prohibitive maybe to refit everysingle station in the country , with each station with x number of platforms, imagine the costs alone to retrofit JUST Shinjuku station. Are you willing to fork out extra dough on your train ride? Number of accidents vs. costs? I mean I would love to see barriers at all stations, but then again I can see it from the company stand point as well.

That is one lucky guy, must have used up one of his 9 lives.

Hmmm...makes you wonder about his sobriety (or lack thereof). I've seen old folk here drinking it up in and around train stations first thing in the morning. I guess there's probably little else for them to do.

They don't need railings. Just paint the yellow lines 5 feet farther back from the edge. ;-)

I live in the DC Metro area. Metro (DC's subway) does not have railings on their platforms. They have lights embedded into the platform for people with poor vision that flash when a train is approaching. They also have the platform overhang the track bed with enough space under the overhang for someone to safely go if they fall down to the track bed.