Runaway London Tube Train Careers for Four Miles Without Driver
A London Underground sign
Suzanne Plunkett/Bloomberg
Transport service staff diverted passenger trains to the City branch of the line and directed the detached train to the Charing Cross branch, where services were then suspended, according to an e-mailed statement today.
Transport service staff diverted passenger trains to the City branch of the line and directed the detached train to the Charing Cross branch, where services were then suspended, according to an e-mailed statement today. Photographer: Suzanne Plunkett/Bloomberg
London’s busiest subway line was closed today after a runaway engineering train traveled for almost four miles (6.4 kilometers) toward the center of the U.K. capital without a driver.
The train became defective near Archway station in north London after undertaking maintenance work and was being dragged away from the city by an empty passenger unit when it became detached and began to roll southward. It passed six stations before halting at Warren Street as the gradient leveled out.
Britain’s RMT union, which represents Tube workers, said it understood that a collision with a passenger service “was only narrowly avoided” as the train left Archway. Matt Brown, a spokesman for Transport for London, said the incident on a stretch of line maintained by Amey Plc was “serious,” while declining to comment on the RMT allegation.
The subway’s Northern Line, which carries more than 500,000 people a day, was still partially closed at 4.45 p.m. local time following the incident, which occurred at 6.44 a.m. Services should be restored by the end of the evening, Brown said.
London Underground staff undertook a “swift assessment” as the incident developed, diverting passenger trains to the City branch of the Northern Line and sending the engineering train along the Charing Cross route, where normal services had been stopped and cleared, TfL said in a statement.
RAIB Probe
“We have of course launched an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident to establish the cause,” London Underground Director Richard Parry said in the release.
Parry told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the train was traveling no faster than 40 miles (64 kilometers) an hour and that he understood the nearest passenger unit was at least a kilometer away. The Rail Accident Investigation Bureau has also begun a probe and the use of engineering trains of the type involved has been suspended.
Amey spokeswoman Susie Carter said she couldn’t immediately comment on whether the train was owned by the company, a unit of Spanish construction company Ferrovial SA, or was being operated by a sub-contractor.
“Amey are contracted for maintenance on that part of the line but it’s far too early to draw any conclusions,” TfL spokesman Brown said. “With this type of situation there is never any sense in pointing fingers or apportioning blame until after a thorough investigation.”
‘Appalled’
RMT Assistant General Secretary Pat Sikorski said in a statement that he was “appalled and horrified” at the incident and that TfL should halt job cuts and procedural changes that have affected safety standards.
“When I heard the news I was stunned,” said Alex Walters, a student at City University who was diverted onto the City branch of the Northern Line at 7:15 a.m. “The service is slow enough as it is; now it appears to have become some macabre form of Russian roulette into the bargain.”
The Northern Line serves southwest London suburbs including Wimbledon and Clapham Common, as well as Hampstead and Highgate in the north. The line divides in the center of the capital, with one branch running through the West End entertainment district and the other via the City financial quarter.
The route also serves busy surface rail stations including Waterloo, Euston, London Bridge and Kings Cross. The Charing Cross branch between Camden and Kennington was still closed this afternoon, according to the Transport for London website.
To contact the reporters on this story: Steven Rothwell in London at srothwell@bloomberg.net; Francesca Angelini in London fangelini1@bloomberg.net
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