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For those of us who have been commuting on the London Underground every day for years, unfortunately the following announcement is not unusual to hear.

"There are severe delays on the Circle Line due to a fatality on the track."

But what you may have noticed in recent months is that message, thankfully, is being heard less and less.

And on World Mental Health Day 2019, MyLondon wants to highlight the difficult subject of suicide on the tracks - and find out exactly what is being done about it.

So we asked Transport for London what it has been doing to raise awareness of mental health and reduce suicide attempts on its network.

(Image: Getty)

It launched a suicide prevention training programme just over a year ago - in August 2018 - which offers staff the opportunity to learn how to recognise the signs of somebody who is distressed and may be about to attempt suicide on the Tube network and how to step in and help them - ‘intervene’ - in order to minimise the risk of them doing so.

This helps staff feel confident about taking action and know how to intervene safely, and support individuals at a time of need.

Since introducing it, more than 3,000 members of staff in TfL have undertaken the training - and more than 2,500 of those are front line station staff working on the London Underground.

TfL says since introducing the scheme, staff are now intervening in more than 90 per cent of incidents, compared to around 70 per cent beforehand. In the year to April this year staff helped 426 customers, up from 252 in the previous year.

This means workers are enable to increasingly reach vulnerable people before they approach the platforms where there is a greater risk to their health. This has led to a 25 per cent reduction in individuals being killed or seriously injured when comparing the last year to the one before.

'Any death is one too many'

Simon Abernethy, suicide prevention lead at Transport for London, said: "Any death is one too many, which is why we are working hard to decrease the number of suicide attempts on our network and support those who are distressed.

"As part of this, we introduced the suicide prevention training programme for our staff, so that they feel confident to step in and support individuals who appear to be in distress and may be attempting to end their life.

"This is making a difference already – our staff are helping to save lives - but we will continually look for ways to improve this so ultimately we can try to prevent anyone from attempting suicide on the network."

The impact this programme has had on its passengers shows how TfL is truly leading the way with its mental health policies in London - and other companies should follow suit.

Mental health is not only being recognised, but it is being prioritised on our Underground lines.

But how can we, as commuters and Londoners, help TfL reach the last 10 per cent of passengers who may need help?

Where to get help if you're struggling You don’t have to suffer in silence if you’re struggling with your mental health. Here are some groups you can contact when you need help. Samaritans: Phone 116 123, 24 hours a day, or email jo@samaritans.org, in confidence. Childline: Phone 0800 1111. Calls are free and won’t show up on your bill. PAPYRUS: A voluntary organisation supporting suicidal teens and young adults. Phone 0800 068 4141. Depression Alliance: A charity for people with depression. No helpline but offers useful resources and links to other information. Students Against Depression: A website for students who are depressed, have low mood, or are suicidal. Find out more here. Bullying UK: A website for both children and adults affected by bullying. Find out more here. Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM): For young men who are feeling unhappy. There's a website and a helpline: 0800 58 58 58.

When you're at a Tube station, just take 30 seconds to glance up from your phone, take a look around and have some awareness. Is someone acting strangely or distressed? Might they need help?

Of course you may be wrong, and you don't have to intervene if you're concerned about someone. But it's worth missing just one train to ask a TfL worker to keep an eye on a passenger you think might need help.

You never know, you may just save a life.