Saturday, October 18, 2003

Piccadilly Line Train Derailment

A Piccadilly Line tube has been de-railed at Hammersmith at 9.25pm on Friday 17th October.

Fortunately, no one was hurt as the train appeared to be going slowly.

According to the BBC: "A London Underground spokesman said: "There was a very low speed derailment on a Piccadilly Line train.

"There were no reported injuries. As far as we understand at this time only the last wheels on the last carriage came off.

"We don't know the cause of the derailment. There will be a full investigation."


In the light of the recent report about passenger overcrowding only issued two days ago (see my blog entry) the London Underground is certainly going to be in the spotlight again.

This is the first accident to happen since the tube was privatised so it's clear there's going to be a major investigation here, and rightly so.

For more on the derailment see the various reports from Google News.

posted by annie mole at 3:06 AM

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Bus Safety

This tragic article reminded me of a report I heard last week about the poor driving by London bus drivers. I haven't been able to find a link anywhere, but the gist was that the Driving Standards Agency claimed that the dirving skills of up to 50% of drivers were very poor. I think they're all on the 68 route. Common complaints: driving too fast, too heavy on the brakes, missing stops, running red lights.

Probably safer to walk, unless you cross the road in front of a bus.

posted by pete at 1:46 PM

Friday, October 10, 2003

Rail Safety News

News that Jarvis are to give up their contract to provide day-to-day maintenance for Britain's railways. Jarvis have been implicated in several fatal rail accidents and also the recent King's Cross derailment. The latter highlighted the lack of communication between the numerous organisations repsonsible for running and maintaining the rail network.

Sting in the tail: Jarvis will continue to provide heavy maintenance on large contracts - where they make more money.

Question: does this have anything to do with Steven Norris'scandidacy for Mayor of London? , Norris is a non-Executive Director of Jarvis,.

posted by pete at 7:24 AM

Monday, October 06, 2003

GOING UNDERGROUND

Diamond Geezer is running a London Underground special this week. Mind the doors!

posted by pete at 1:10 PM