Projects, refurbs and upgrades

London Underground improvement projects, station refurbishments, new train stock etc - and the problems and issues that come with them

Tell Management To Take A Hike!

The refurbished Shed 25 to 28 roads at Upminster depot are nearly ready, and awaiting sign off from union safety reps. However, local management want drivers to get familiarised (aka "hiked") with just briefing notes and a video.

Unions reps strongly oppose this, arguing that drivers should be...

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...

Fix The Roof!

At Harrow and Wealdstone recently, a huge piece of the ceiling in the ticket hall collapsed, along with one of the lamps. Luckily, this happened at 4am and nobody was hurt. Just a few weeks ago, a piece of the ceiling in the cleaners' mess room also collapsed. Again, fortunately, no-one was hurt....

Floor Flaws

We hear that a station on the Central Line loop has a woodworm problem. The flooring in various rooms has been chomped away at by the little critters, leading to some serious issues.

Staff raised jobs months ago: this issue hasn't been addressed.

Tubeworker doesn't want to blame the woodworms...

S Stock: Station Staff Stand In For Technical Shortcomings (Again)

You'd think that the idea of bringing in new train stock would be to help the service run more smoothly. And you'd think that at the design stage, there would be some kind of of measuring or modelling exercise to check that the new stock will, erm, fit the existing infrastructure properly.

It was...

POM Upgrade Causes Confusion

Customers are struggling with the new, upgraded POMs.

The instructions are harder to follow, there is too much on each screen, and too many requirements to confirm your choice after you've already made it. Even the font is harder to read than previously!

This is causing quite enough difficulty...

Wot No Lifts?!

The brand new lifts at Edgware Road Bakerloo have failed a couple of times of late, leading to station closures. Cue irate passengers, who've walked to Edgware Road from Paddington due to the Bakerloo Line closure there.

The Edgware Road lifts were installed by, and continue to be maintained by...

Come on, feel the noise!

The escalator refurb at Kilburn Park is finished now. While it was underway, late-turn CSAs had to work next to an active construction site, with work beginning well before the station closed each night.

The noise was phenomenally loud. Unlike the SSs, the CSAs don't have a walled-off office to sit...

Taking Chances with Private Contractors

Having your station refurbished usually involves a bit of inconvenience and discomfort - so it's best if it doesn't last any longer than necessary. But London Underground's policy of contracting out work like this means that it is taking more time than it should: as Chancery Lane staff and...

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