Not your time yet: Tube suicides down by half as successful staff interventions jump dramatically
The number of suicides on the London Underground are down by nearly a half in five years, new data reveals.
TfL said this morning this is primarily driven by successful staff interventions, as those doubled between 2017 and 2021, totalling 2,225.
London Underground’s Suicide Prevention Programme training encourages station staff to intervene if they believe someone is contemplating ending their life.
The number of staff interventions on customers displaying suicidal or extremely distressed behaviour rose from 230 in 2017 to 463 in 2021, peaking in 2019 at 563. So far, this year to 12th May, there have been 188 interventions.
In September 2019, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, launched the #ZeroSuicideLDN campaign which has since provided more than 270,000 free online suicide prevention courses through Thrive LDN.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that in 2020 there were 543 suicides recorded in London.
Labour’s London Assembly Health Spokesperson, Krupesh Hirani AM, who obtained the figures through a written question the Mayor of London, hailed the “life-saving” suicide prevention training and said the heroic efforts of transport worker deserve “our enduring praise”.