Blog posts

Making It Up As They Go Along

Tubeworker has told readers before about dynamic risk assessments - otherwise known as 'management making up safety procedures as they go along'.

Recently, the Bakerloo train radio failed (again) between Queen’s Park and Stonebridge Park. LUL could have followed their own rules and sent some hand...

Needed: Regime Change

Piccadilly line drivers are getting well naffed off with the regime on the line following the recent-ish arrival of a new performance manager.

One driver's employment was terminated after less than two months off sick. Another was sacked - upheld on appeal - following a driving error which was...

Ask Tubeworker: Is Asbestos Removal Safe?

Q: There is a poster in Euston station, saying, 'this passage has been closed due to the safe removal of asbestos'. When enquiring, we were assured there was nothing to worry about. But can we trust them?

A: There are two types of work which deal with asbestos: complete removal, where the...

Protecting Safety, Refusing to Drive

Wednesday on the Central line saw more evidence of the failures of Metronet - but also an inspiring example of Tube workers acting to defend their own and passengers' safety.

At 9am, an eastbound train became defective at Holland Park. After initially fearing a possible derailment, it then became...

Seeing Sense

Given the pig's ear that Metronet has made of the stuff it is in charge of already, you'd think that no-one in their right mind would consider giving the bankrupt company any extra responsibilities, wouldn't you?

Fortunately, LUL has finally seen sense and abandoned its plan to transfer...

Spying On Cleaners

It seems that some cleaning supervisors think they can pore over the station's Visitors Register to check exactly what time the cleaners are coming and going.

They need to be reminded: The Visitors Register - like the Staff Evacuation Register - is for one purpose alone. That is not to spy on...

One Station, One Roster

Management want to introduce a joint 9-week roster for Supervisors at Farringdon and Barbican station.

Their 'carrot' is that Barbican will thus be upgraded and its rostered Supervisors get a bit of a pay rise. But no-one should accept this bribe, and should instead recognise the danger of this...

Crumbling Platforms

Down at Kings Cross, platform 2 is crumbling beneath the feet.

It seems that to avoid raising the nosing stones, and thus save some dosh, Metronet decided to use 8mm tiles, less than half the usual thickness.

Result? Lots of cracked tiles. Reason? PPPrivatisation Puts Profits before safety...

Communication Breakdown

With a person on the track near Paddington, a driver was told by the Line Controller to remain at Royal Oak. The driver then got another call on the Connect system - which shows an 8-digit code rather than a caller ID - telling him to reform and giving authority to proceed, which he did...

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