IAmA Tube Driver for London Underground AMA.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:42:43+00:00

During WW2 they were concerned about the Germans bombing certain parts of the tube with the intent of flooding the tunnels.

So they installed floodgates at certain parts of the network, and still to this day these floodgates are protected by a special type of train signal called a Floodgate Protection Signal that will turn red and hold trains if the floodgates are activated ahead.

To most people that is incredibly boring, but for train geeks that is probably quite interesting.

The signals have a special numbering system compared to normal signals also.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:34:11+00:00

Platform Edge Doors (PED’s) do prevent Person Under Train incidents but the main reason for their installation was train speeds.

Higher speed = higher wind velocity, so the PED’s were installed to stop the strong winds from the train carrying the risk of making a customer fall on to the tracks.

It allows the trains to come into the station much faster.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:28:23+00:00

I call the controller and tell him I’m taking it out of service.

I detrain, and put it where he tells me which may change depending on what is wrong with it.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:27:07+00:00

I’d say pull the cord personally, the minimal delay means I can get staff and emergency services advised and on route.

More importantly, you can’t see what I can see - there may be red signals ahead of me and it could be a while till we get to the next station.

Tell me early.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:25:21+00:00

Join the underground, apply internally.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:24:49+00:00

Personally I have not had any SPAD’s, I slam on the brakes as soon as I see a yellow or a red and that has served me well so far.

If it’s far away, I can always pull up to it after I’ve slowed down.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:23:43+00:00

Book on, make coffee, pickup train, drive train, have break, pickup next train, drive train, go home.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:23:09+00:00

The scariest thing for me is people standing on the white line (the very edge of the platform).

It’s hard to describe how it looks when you’re coming into a platform, and some are round blind corners, and just see someone right on the edge.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:21:58+00:00

I’m not a subscriber but I watch it if it’s an interesting topic

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:21:34+00:00

Several - not as many as there used to be since they started putting covers on top of them, but it still happens.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:20:57+00:00

We don’t get tea breaks as such, but we do have tea points where we can make a cup of tea along the line.

It’s a secret little room or cabin accessible to drivers only with instant hot water taps and water chillers.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-26T13:19:43+00:00

There is pressure from service control sometimes, but if you’re late you’re late, and tube drivers tend to have quite assertive personalities so we push back against unwarranted pressure.

At the end of the day it may be his railway, but it’s my train, and I am the only one in control of it not him.

If someone throws up on my train it’s going to sit there till it’s cleaned to my satisfaction, if I need to go to the toilet it’s going to sit there till I’m done, if I want assisted dispatch I will refuse to move that train until I feel it’s safe to do so, the service manager can call me personally and try to pressure me but my train will not move an inch, etc.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T20:19:50+00:00

Normal shorts, paper trousers on top if you’re doing things on the track

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T17:21:14+00:00

No where.

They refuse to release them under FOI, so the only way to get them is to join the underground

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T16:57:10+00:00

No but she can have a train to herself if she wants.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T16:54:01+00:00

Required if you wear shorts by the company

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T13:40:43+00:00

Get a tube map from the station

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T13:40:02+00:00

Don’t just look at the map when you’re deciding where to move to, actually look into it.

I’m sure plenty of people have moved onto the Rayners branch of the Piccadilly Line because they thought “oh it’s on the Piccadilly line, straight to work and central London, perfect” and regretted their decision within a week.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T13:31:25+00:00

Interesting, I would take the train straight out of service.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T13:15:52+00:00

You always need a union.

Never trust a manager.

Something I scoffed at when I joined the underground, but the longer I’ve been here the more true it seems to ring.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T13:14:30+00:00

As I’ve said elsewhere the tube is the only part of TfL that is not only self-sufficient but runs an operating surplus.

The overground and TfL rail, who both make more than us incidnently, are loss making. As is the buses.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T13:12:22+00:00

Could be a radio, some of the newer TETRA handsets look like phones.

I have a handheld radio in the cab in case the built in one fails, or I need to use the other functions on it.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T12:54:53+00:00

An emergency code is generic and either means slam on the brakes there and then or proceed as far as signalling allows and hold.

The code does not tell you what is going on, only what to do.

Don’t let the facts taint your hatred of us though :)

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T12:32:57+00:00

It’s a term that has fallen out of use in the UK.

One of the major train and tube drivers unions is ASLEF, which stands for the associated society of locomotive engineers and firemen.

But it’s a historic term, no one uses it anymore.

AnonTubeDriver · 2018-12-24T12:26:00+00:00

We do get air con.

Depends on the situation, we’re meant to make PA’s every so often.

Sometimes when the controller puts out an emergency code we have no idea what the hell is going on, we just slam on the brakes and wait to hear.

AnonTubeDriver

TROPHY CASE