Piccadilly Line: cracked wheel sets

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

The Piccadilly line fleet has a serious problem with cracks on wheel sets. On Wednesday (20th September), a driver reported a bang beneath his train. Although this was the first that drivers knew of it, it seems that management have been aware of this problem for more like ten days.

Union health and safety reps got their hands on the problem yesterday, when a Cockfosters depot inspection revealed the true gravity of the issue. they forced management to agree that all trains must have two under-frame checks before being offered for service. All drivers need to stand up for ourselves in this situation. If you have any doubts as to whether your train has been checked, refuse to drive it. Any dodgy noises - take it out of service. Call your rep.

And the cause? The latest rumour is dodgy welding. What's the betting this has something to do with the privatisation and fragmentation of fleet maintenance? And who's to say that next time, the problem will only be discovered when a train crashes and people get hurt - or worse?

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