‘London Underground are gambling with public safety’

Published: 21 October, 2010
by JOSIE HINTON

UNION officials have accused London Underground of “gambling with public safety” after thousands of Tube passengers had to escape along Underground tracks twice in two days.

Around 4,000 passengers were stuck in tunnels at the height of Monday’s rush-hour after five trains were brought to a halt by a power failure at around 9am, including one near Swiss Cottage.

Commuters on three of the five Jubilee line trains – around 2,000 – were forced to escape on foot along torch-lit tunnels, with some not seeing daylight until 11.30am.

The chaos was then repeated on Tuesday when around 400 passengers were evacuated from a defective train near Seven Sisters on the Victoria line.

Commuters also faced delays on other parts of the Tube system, including the Northern line, because of signal failures and track problems.

TfL has apologised for the problems and has launched an investigation into the cause of Monday’s power failure, which it says was caused by damaged telephone cables.

But Steve Hedley, regional organiser from The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said this week’s travel misery was reflective of the general chaos on the network that will lead to fatalities “sooner rather than later”.

He said: “These incidents used to be few and far between, but we now have a situation where trains are breaking down almost on a daily basis. 

“London Underground has invested in a multi-million pound system on the Jubilee line, which is responsible for transmissions from the train to the track, but the system is not working properly. That’s why the power failure problems have occurred. On top of this, trains are not being maintained properly so we have trains running that are not fit for purpose. LU claims to be running a world-class service but it is driven by cost and not safety, and is putting people at daily risk.”

Hadassah Nymark, 25, was one of the passengers stuck under ground for almost three hours after she boarded a southbound train at Finchley Road at 8.30am.

She said: “I was just reading the paper when suddenly the lights went out. We were told there was a power cut and then there was a constant waiting and changing information. Someone had an asthma attack and another girl had a panic attack but luckily there was a doctor on the train. 

“Eventually we had to make our way through the tunnel. We were walking over gravel and wooden planks and it was quite difficult to balance. I was calm up until that point but then the reality of the situation hit home and I was quite shaky.” 

The fiasco follows similar chaos in August when a runaway train hurtled through six Camden stations without a driver, missing a passenger service by just 49 seconds. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is currently investigating the incident. 

Mike Brown, director of TfL, said: “I am sorry that for a second day many of our customers have had difficult and in some cases severely interrupted journeys to work.  

“I know that having to walk along the track through a tunnel is distressing. It is not something our customers should have to expect, and is something we always seek to avoid.

“Our customers deserve much better than the service they have had in recent days and all our energies are focused on delivering a fast, reliable and safe service.”