Runaway Train

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On the Northern Line, At 0640 at Finchley, the rear of an engineering train travelling north on the southbound road became de-coupled and travelled all the way down to Warren Street. It was only stopped by the gradient of the track.

There was a train in passenger service ahead at Tottenham Court Road, which was told to drive and keep driving until it got to Kennington.

It could have been a very serious catastrophe. TfL's statement that noone was at risk is ridiculously callous.

Thanks once again to Tube Lines. They are really earning TfL's £300 million buy-out. Will we see a proper enquiry or another whitewash?

And London Underground can think again about getting rid of all those 'superfluous' station staff. Who would have evacuated the platforms with their proposed early-turn staffing levels? The service was a nightmare throughout the day and staff needed to be there.

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Tubeworker |

The truth comes out ...

More facts are emerging, as according to yesterday's EveningStandard:

  • only the actions of a quick-thinking line controller averted a major disaster
  • the train was just 650 yards (40 seconds) away from colliding with a train in passenger service
  • there was no safety chain connecting the towing train to the train being towed, which could have acted as a 'failsafe' when they uncoupled
  • the runaway train ran for 4 miles before the uphill gradient brought it to a halt.

ASLEF's Steve Grant rightly told the Evening Standard that, "If ever there was a case against the proposals to cut hundreds of jobs on the Tube then this is it." which begs the question, when will ASLEF join RMT and TSSA in taking industrial action against those job cuts?