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Abstract
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WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC
Restricting access to means has been shown to be an effective suicide prevention measure in public places in general, and in the railway environment specifically.
Some examples of restricting access to means that have been effective in the railway environment include the installation of platform screen doors and the removal of level crossings.
WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS
Our study adds to knowledge about restricting access to means in the railway environment by examining the effectiveness of the installation of trackside fencing, and in particular, by examining whether differences in effectiveness exist depending on the length of the fencing installed.
We identified a 57% reduction in suicides if the fencing was at least 100 metres long.
HOW THIS STUDY MIGHT AFFECT RESEARCH, PRACTICE OR POLICY
This finding has implications for designing barrier interventions like trackside fencing and selecting fencing locations to prevent railway suicide.
Our study suggest that authorities who are responsible for installing fencing on railway networks may wish to prioritise sites where longer runs of fencing can be installed.
Introduction
Railway suicide, while relatively rare--estimated to account for 1-12% of suicides internationally1 2 --carries extensive related psychological costs for family and friends of the deceased as well as for train drivers and witnesses, and the financial implications are substantial.3 More than 40% of Australian suicides by jumping or lying before a moving object (mostly trains) occur in the state of Victoria4 where most of the railway network is unfenced.
Many different measures have been implemented in an effort to prevent railway suicide, including those that restrict access to means (eg, physical barriers such as platform screen doors5-8), those that encourage help seeking (eg, signs indicating sources of help9), those that increase the likelihood of intervention by a third party (eg, training of railway staff or bystanders10 11) and those that encourage responsible media reporting of railway suicides (eg, media guidelines12). Our study is concerned with the first of these types of interventions--restricting access to means. Restricting access to means in the railway environment can occur in a number of ways. For example, the track can be restricted by the geography of the surrounding environment (eg, lakes, rivers, inaccessible land) or through locating the railway track in tunnels. Examples of restricting access to means working effectively in the railway environment to reduce suicide, include the installation of platform screen doors in stations,5-8 and removal of level crossing sites.4 Installing new fencing, or upgrading existing fencing, on the railway network is another way to potentially reduce access to means. Mid-track fencing, which is fencing placed in between high-speed and commuter train tracks to restrict access to the high-speed train tracks, has reduced the number of railway suicides by 62.5% at a station where it has been installed in Sweden...
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