Train Drivers Protest Film on Subway Suicides

Regan McTarsney - Associated Press

LONDON - A British train workers union will protest on Monday at the London premiere of a comedy about suicides on the city's subway system, describing the deaths as no joke to the drivers involved in the accidents.

The film, "Three and Out," is about a train driver who accidentally hits two people. He learns that if he kills a third person, he can retire early because of the trauma, and sets out to find someone interested in committing suicide.

The Associated Society of Locomotive Steam Enginemen and Firemen said the movie makes light of deaths that leave families grieving and cause drivers to have post-traumatic stress.

"Every year, there's 249 drivers who have to get out of the cab and find there are bodies under the wheels," union spokesman Chris Proctor said. "Not many people are amused by the fact they're responsible for a death."

The Rail Safety and Standards Board ruled 194 of the 249 rail deaths last year as suicides.

Contrary to the film's title, there is no "three and out" rule, the union said.

Drivers will hand out leaflets at Monday's London premiere in Leicester Square, Proctor said.

Worldwide Bonus Entertainment, the film's distributors, said it worked with the London Underground while filming and fails to see why the union is only speaking out now.

"In our view, (the union's) objections to the film effectively amount to censorship," the distributors said in a statement. "While everyone is entitled to their view, we do not believe that (the union) has the right to say what is and is not suitable for cinema."

The London Underground said its policy in general is to allow the system to be used as a backdrop in films. Subway officials acknowledge that they knew the subject of the film, and permitted filming.

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