Quick escape

Finding and using the hammer designed to break train windows in an emergency
is tough—especially with double-glazed windows. Now Pickersgill-Kaye, an
engineering firm in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, has invented a gadget that lets
passengers break the window quickly. The system uses two hardened chisel tips
fixed to taut springs. These are mounted in the carriage wall with one chisel
tip aligned with the outer window pane and one with the inner pane. Pulling an
(alarmed) handle next to the window fires the chisel tips into the panes,
shattering them.