Engineering and fleet

The former Metronet, now back in London Underground Ltd

Fiddler on the Roof?

The Central Line is well and truly up the wall tonight after a chunk of tunnel roof collapsed onto the westbound track at Shepherd's Bush.

It appears that contractors extending the commercial empire of the Westfield Shopping Centre above managed to drill a hole so big that you could get a good look...

Engineers: Vote Yes for Strikes!

Engineers in the RMT are currently taking part in two strike ballots, both concluding on 28 January.

TubeLines staff are being balloted for strikes over pay. Reps overwhelmingly rejected a settlement (which also covers proposed pay and terms conditions arrangements for the proposed "Night Tube")...

Shortage of Trains

The Central Line has a 'shortage of trains'. Most days, customers are having to wait ages for trains that arrive already packed with passengers. LU's explanation for the missing trains is that the motors are failing 'at a higher rate than was expected', which means that fleet engineers are having to...

District Line: Spiralling Costs And Severe Delays

Tubeworker hears that LU is storing shiny new District S Stock trains in a shed in Derbyshire because work to extend the depots for the new fleet has overrun. Ealing Common depot should have been ready within three years; but it’s been three years and the work is still only half finished Tubeworker...

Fleet Fights Agency Threat

You might think that 23-year old trains would still be pretty fit for the future, but the Central Line's 92 stock is so fragile that it needs a heavy overhaul.

You might think that would mean employing more people to do the work, and to train the new people taken on to do the work. But management...

More action on DLR, strike ballot on LU Fleet...

DLR Interserve cleaners will strike again, from 8-10 June, in their campaign for pay justice. They held a solid strike from 27-29 May, but Interserve aren't playing ball, so workers will have to continue speaking in the only language bosses understand: industrial action.

Directly-employed DLR staff...

Off The Rails

The job's well and truly up the wall on the Central line today, following last night's engineering train derailmemt.

The battery-powered ballast train derailed its last bogie and clattered into the wall, sending four on board to hospital, including the tamper driver. The good news is that all have...

Tube Lines, Thales: Prepare to strike!

RMT members at Tube Lines have overwhelmingly rejected a company proposal to remove rostered rest days. The union is now preparing a strike ballot.

At Thales (one of the companies which provides and maintains various technical infrastructure to LU), workers have voted by 80% for strikes, and...

Falling Rocks

Yesterday morning, the job really did go right up the wall.

We reported just a few weeks back about lumps of concrete falling onto tracks and endangering life and limb. That time, it was on the Central Line, this time it's the Met/H&C.

The falling rock fouled the juice rails and the running rails...

Trains Hit Each Other: Management Talk It Down

On 1 May, between East Putney and Southfields, two District Line S stock trains clattered into each other - or, in management-speak, "came into slight contact".

The cause? The tracks in the area had moved. Again in management-speak, this was a "slight movement", but if it was enough to cause two...

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