Travel

Passengers risked serious injury following several malfunctions of a busy rush-hour train stranded in a tunnel outside King’s Cross.

Having been stuck for more than two hours in rising temperatures, some passengers used the emergency opening mechanism to climb out of the doors, only for the train to start moving again.
When the commuters climbed back inside the train, they were horrified to see that for the remaining mile of their journey, three sets of doors were left “fully open”. Rail safety chiefs today initiated a widespread investigation into the incident.

The Brighton to Bedford First Capital Connect service had more than 500 passengers on board, many of whom were standing. The train broke down at 6pm, right in the middle of rush-hour, with two of the carriages still in the tunnel.

Due to problem with the overhead power cables, lights and ventilation system shut down leading to rapidly rising temperatures. Commuters had to wait two hours before another train was brought to move the stationary carriages.

By the time the other train arrived some passengers had already exited the train by using the emergency release handles.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) reports: “The train began to move at 9.03pm but this movement was immediately stopped because passengers were getting out on to the railway from the carriages within the tunnel.”

Commuters were ushered back onto the train and it finally started making its way toward Kentish Town. However, as RAIB reported, “three sets of doors towards the rear of the train still fully open,” Although the incident occurred on May 26th, details of the incident have only just come to light.

A First Capital Connect spokesperson said: “We are fully supporting the RAIB investigation and have commissioned an independent investigation into this incident as well. This will be made available to passengers.”

A Kentish Town street is fining nearly 800 drivers a month via an assortment of nine
traffic signs, a CCTV camera, a sunken bollard and a set of redundant traffic lights.
Grafton Road also features width restriction, a cycle and traffic camera signs. The
traffic control measures have caught 41,000 drivers and raised a total of £5 million
since they were installed five years ago.

Local residents believe that much of confusion is caused by a rule banning traffic in
one direction, which is then reversed in the afternoon. Two pairs of signs warn cars
and motorbikes about restricted times of the day, whilst the opposite side of the
road is flanked by no-entry signs. The road is divided into three sections, with the
central one used exclusively by emergency vehicles.

Local resident David Moore, 53, said: ‘I was stung by a £40 fine for driving through
when I shouldn’t have. The signs should be simple to understand, which they are
not, and that’s probably why so many people get caught.’

Gemma Knight, 37, who lives in Grafton Road, said: ‘It’s really annoying because
you’re not told early enough that you can’t pass through and by the time you realise,
it’s too late.

‘It’s massively confusing but that’s probably part of it being quite effective. There
is certainly less traffic on this road now than there was before all the signs were
erected.’

Paul Pearson, a campaigner for the Penalty Charge Notice website, believes that
Camden council are targeting motorists as a means to collect extra money, in the
wake of widespread budget cuts:

‘It’s absolutely staggering. This is highway robbery. It’s one of the most profitable
cameras in the country – and it’s in a residential street.’

A spokesman for the council has denied that the CCTV camera is used as a trap and
said: ‘The signs stating the restrictions are clear to motorists.’

Bosses have admitted that passengers will face more chaos after upgrade work is put on hold. Extra trains will not be added to the schedule until July, and only 3 more trains are due to run every hour once update works have been completed.

Recent problems that have included two breakdowns in the space of 12 hours on the 19th April, leaving thousands of passengers stranded, have led to widespread criticism for the Tube bosses. Mayor Boris Johnson was forced to brand the Jubilee Line “a disaster’ after 1500 people had to be led along the tracks.

London Underground dismissed claims by mayoral contender Ken Livingstone that Mayor Boris Johnson had ‘downgraded’ improvement works, thereby ‘breaking his promise’ to provide extra trains.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats in London, Caroline Pidgeon,, said: “The Mayor must now apologise to Londoners … it is time explained what really is going on. He should come forward with proposals to compensate long-suffering Jubilee passengers.”

There will be six more part-shutdowns from the 15th May to 26th June, made even worse when coupled with the five weekend part-suspensions occurring on the Metropolitan line during the same period. A huge section of London will be left without a Tube service.

The original upgrade works were due to be completed by Tube Lines in October 2009. The completion date was delayed by a year and when that deadline passed TfL claimed that the line upgrade would be completed by Spring 2011. The main problem is the computer software linking signal control to the trains. It has crashed several times leaving immobile trains blocking the line.
Mike Brown, LU managing director, promised “far fewer closures and much less disruption in future”.

Transport for London today confirmed that work would begin on a £50m cable car
across the Thames this summer.

The ambitious cable car construction will connect the Greenwich Peninsula and the
02 arena to the Royal Victoria Docks and the ExCeL centre.

When the project was initially announced last July, the full cost was originally
estimated to be about £25million, with private funding being sought. TfL have today
confirmed that it would now be providing ‘upfront funding’ and looking to recoup its
costs, although it could not confirm that taxpayers would not be footing part of the
bill.

A spokesman for the authority explained that the decision to pay in advance was ‘to
aid the quick delivery’ of the cable car, which TfL was ‘striving” to complete before
the Olympic and Paralympic Games next year.

The authority admitted that they will be racing to ‘an extremely challenging timeline
for a complex project’ and could not yet confirm a final completion date for the
scheme. The spokesman also said that the original costing had been a ‘preliminary
estimate’ and that the revised £50.5 million contract included operational running
costs of £5.5million for up to three years:

‘The cable car will play a vital role in the once-in-a-lifetime regeneration of east
London and provide a much-needed additional river crossing in this area of the city.
It remains the intention that TfL will seek to recoup as much of the cost as possible
through a number of sources including advertising, sponsorship and fare revenue.’

Mayor of London Boris Johnson welcomes the project and said the cable car trip
would provide a ‘truly sublime, bird’s-eye view of our wonderful city’ and was a ‘vital
component’ in local regeneration.

Up to 2,500 will be able to make the 1,200 yard trip in one of 34 gondola cabins each
hour and although fares have not yet been set, TfL have confirmed that Oyster pay-
as-you-go cards will be accepted on the route.

The Northern Line branch of Tottenham Court Road will close tomorrow for the next
8 months, causing travel headaches for more than 60,000 passengers a day.

The Northern Line platforms will be closed to the public until at least the end of
November, although London Underground said that they were determined that the
work would not over-run and the station would be open in time for Christmas 2011.

The works are part of a £500 million upgrade to Tottenham Court Road, including
extending the ticket hall, building four new or modernised entrances, new escalators
and an additional Crossrail ticketing area at Dean Street.

Tottenham Court Road is one of the busiest stations on London’s underground
network, with up to 147,000 tourists, West End shoppers, students and workers
passing through its gates every day.

The Central Line will continue to stop at the station, but Northern line passengers
will have to walk 10-12 minutes to use either Goodge Street or Leicester Square
stations instead.

An Evening Standard survey, in conjunction with ITV London and LBC, revealed that
many affected commuters do not believe that complete closure of the Northern
Line platforms is “inevitable” while the upgrade is taking place. The survey did show,
however, that many passengers recognised the need for patience during the major
work, with 19% believing that the disruption was unavoidable.

Richard Parry, London Undergound’s Strategy and Commercial director, urged
passengers to ‘bear with us’ during the closure, adding that ‘it will be worth it’:

‘The changes we are making to the station will transform it with a massive increase
in capacity, new entrances and step free access. But the size and scale of the works
mean we will need to close the Northern line platforms until November.’

London Underground (LU) is pressing on with plans to bring a Wi-Fi internet network to 120 stations in spite of numerous security fears.
A network-wide contract has been put to tender following a trial at Charing Cross Tube Station that could see  Wi-Fi up and running as soon as 2012.
Security experts have warned LU that a Wi-Fi network could increase the risk of tube passengers being victimized by criminals and terrorists but LU has denied these claims.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson announced that “The roll out will finally allow Londoners to use mobile devices to pick up their e-mails and stay in touch with the world while they traverse our subterranean network. We are inviting companies to bid before next June, which would mean Londoners underground will be able to keep up to date with the British medal tally at the 2012 Games.”
Founder of technology-related threats specialists the ICP Group, Will Geddes, said “There are lots of implications in terms of terrorism and security. Access to mobile and data networks is already common on many world metros. This will enable people to use their laptop on the Tube as if it was a cell phone.”
Not only would a Wi-Fi network allow terrorists to communicate underground, but fraudsters could use ‘Trojans’ (eavesdropping software) to gather sensitive information such as bank details from users’ laptops.
However, a spokesman for Transport for London said “Access to mobile and data networks is already common on many world metros and our customers tell us they would welcome this. The majority of the Underground is actually above ground where customers can already use mobile and data services. LU has tried and tested procedures in place to deal with unattended items on the Tube.”
Mr Johnson added that concerns are over cost, not security.