How An Emergency Alarm Closed London's Largest Railway Station | The Tube | Spark

[Music] on the tube there's an emergency at Green Park police are called to the district line and strike tensions mount if they're coming in somewhere now I'm on strike they're not going I'm early or not it's summer 2002 and London Underground faces an uncertain future but whatever the politicians may decide the staff still have to keep the service running Chris have you got a case then if you have come back northern gate lowing I thought I'd - Anya station supervisor brown Valentine has been with the company for 28 years the last 12 at London Bridge and he's having a tough start of the week to make matters worse there's a strike threatened and it's due to start tomorrow night peak times I'm stressed out escalators and I'm sure ticking off his equipment should have plenty of staff here is the rescue staff I put three members that stuff out yeah supervisor to the staff I put in the northern gate line where are you it's Monday morning rush hour and the lower escalator to the Jubilee Line grinds to a halt it might be a minor incident but it doesn't take much for the crowds to build up somebody hit the emergency stop button at the bottom maybe 70 mucking about maybe an accident and that's because we've got one escalator missing how long's that been there one minute and that's the result in 36 hours the threatened strike could bring the whole network to a standstill now she'll be out on strike I voted for a strike and that's what I should be doing if management start talking then we'll call strikes off if they're willing to go to arbitration they'll also be called off but at the moment nobody's talking to anybody twenty-five-year-old steve bennett has been working as a station assistant of victoria for the last two years I mean if you speak to anyone in a quiet station and they say oh where do you work I sell victoy and they say like would work there God's you know I mean and they also it's a nightmare their absolute nightmare but I think the staff here feed off it I mean they love it really they so they moan about it but they love it really just over a day to go and there's no sign the strike will be called off cheap strikes tomorrow there's no troops tomorrow no on any lines so that gives you all the information there you can't travel on the Underground tomorrow because there is a strike Steve not a political animal and he's decided to come in tomorrow one of the reasons show is for like keep the stability in my life and just strike being somewhere on smile and supply because otherwise I'd be a nightclub in every night or something so no it's just for me it's I'm gonna come in and if I need to I need the discipline it's the second strike in two months and tempers are already beginning to fray I've got one ticket office open out of tune and out of the four windows two of them are on because two of the others are defective is it too much trouble for somebody to come out and tell the Cure that that's the reason no it isn't customer service okay fair enough I'll take that on board and that's where we let you down fair enough for that one [Music] Tuesday and a torrential downpour causes more problems for an overstretched tube system desperately in need of investment of repairs ticket inspectors Darren Smith and Debbie Sultan her at Green Park to catch fair evaders but the bad weathers put paid to that sorry my ass case is going full on Broadway now is it all right for that no problem because the sauce manager there's some problems on the line there's a couple of stations closed because like without like a torrential downpour three or four inches people confused I have to separate the news for like five years and all of a sudden it's like I can't you know you break that line and it's like we go what do we do and so that's what you've got today you know we've broken their line and so now they're gonna have to go a level way around it and that's where we come in to it we're kind of like where the Queen ends always tell them how to get there not much fun for the people outside but unfortunately this evening it's the it's the element such cause it's not longer than the ground so long that on the grounds not to blame for the weather is it by 5 p.m. the ticket inspectors have abandoned all hope of working the trains around the whole structure a fire alarms gone off underneath an escalator then moments later a second alarm goes off [Applause] evacuation we now have to evacuate the station for hostages safety before and for the fire brigade to come and investigate well some staff trying to locate the source of the problem the priority is to get everyone out of the station safely and quickly we're not so sure if it's safe and basically to come points good I mean a fire bomb alone it's a grade-a emergency [Music] if you've got the public interest at heart you get them out to the building you don't stop the pendulum by the 1/2 the escalators working so you need to go outside the Victoria Station Steve's dealing with another emergency the passenger alarms gone off on the District Line platform and the train is stuck in the station [Music] [Applause] 3:02 district platforms yeah we've got a police officer a uniformed police officer on their way down into the platforms I think someone's been assaulted on one of those trains an alarm was activated on the emergency lines and another undercover police officers arrested one of the one of the culprits as it were [Applause] [Applause] [Music] yeah basically we thought this coming Stroh now the police are just coming just one second to a difficult situation basically we've got this cusp this person is assaulted of one of our customers and now should be removed from the state what happened was the customer was assaulted and they pulled the emergency alarm yet certainly there we go so now it's just a matter of getting back to normality yes again why we going on strike well we want our pensions to equalize there's two different pension schemes on this company there's some people to get privileged facilities on other railways and other people don't get so we want everyone to have that and the management of put a pay-rise into our papers we aren't negotiating it so much well I do apologize for their B for one day only and if management take any notice or government intervene that it won't happen again ever on strike day the man charged with making the tough decisions will be operations response manager Andy Barr it would only run trains when we're certain ensure that the safety of the customers is permanent and that we've made been able to determine that the operation of the train service and the station service safe Brown Valentine's boss Kevin Bootle has decided to pay a visit Braun rarely sees eye-to-eye with management trouble is people who don't work at the stations keep telling us out to run him and they're interfering us tell him to come and see us and they are see explaining the problems to him know you've got people in ivory towers go up the old ladder from University and ain't got a clue what they're talking about Green Park is still closed and the staff are trying to locate the cause of the problem it might be frustrating for the passengers but staff have to maintain safety it's been over 20 minutes so where's to propagate these guys built up the best safety systems in the world the staff don't know what they're doing they've got all the stationing on a closed station woman should make a decision he do you follow procedures I don't they see some fairly big emergency yes as yet we know nothing to what it could be it could just be a fault with fire panel it could be anything a few moments later word comes through from the station supervisor it was just a false alarm satisfied that there's no far on the station the supervisor gives the all-clear since the report into the Kings Cross fire London Underground her on the side of caution safety comes first and last year there were nearly 100 station evacuations Green Park might have reopened for today but it looks like it'll be closed again tomorrow the tube strike over payin conditions is due to start in a matter of hours and there's no sign that it'll be called off you wouldn't want to see the nurses go on strike but would they do be justified to going on strike for more pay I think they would the firemen are going on strike are they just if I don't think they are at the moment my union cannot negotiate with my management and this is our last resort we're going on strike for one day circle lines Baker Street Steve's concerns are practical rather than political I mean it is a nightmare shamanism and when I was coming last time in July to work they were lit she's fighting on the buses and when the conductor said no more no more it's too busy they were literally calling her names like names I can't even mention on the tape eight o'clock at London Bridge and the tube strike has officially started the late shift of striking drivers will not book on for work tonight so the trains will finish early a brand station staff will have problems getting home the problem is the calls you for let you catch the last train than anybody everybody else wants to catch a last ride get rid of as many as we can so they can get out Ally can get going shortly I'm not gonna let staff go home if they're gonna come in the more when we're on strike if they go if they're coming in tomorrow when I'm on strike they're not going I'm early and I understand at the time now I've got to do well that's why I'm saying yeah well all of them I'm losing the day spider Merlin if somebody's coming in here while I'm on strike they're not gonna have to work to their time that's the way I feel about it at 10:30 p.m. the last train is about to leave London Bridge two hours earlier than usual one minute to this last southbound train to the last train tonight it's 23 minutes past 10:00 and we are now officially on strike [Music] it's strike day the 25th of September 2002 and it's total shutdown on the tube for the first time in memory there's no service on any lines across the whole network with only 14 train drivers out of 600 turning up for work today London has come to a complete standstill but London Underground head office in st. James's Park a lot of the staff are out helping at the stations in the network control center management are dealing with the impact of the strike operational response manager Andy buys in charge any plans for later yeah when I turned down let me just see what happens we are so dependent on the individuals actually turning up yeah the picketing was very heavy this morning any see the list there a lot of pickets yeah that's why Australian isn't it very frustrating yeah yeah they're there for the dial yeah yep happy character payday spirits are always well supported it's slightly worse than we were hoping for with no service at all management had left to cope with thousands of disgruntled commuters Steve Bennett's boss Brian Ferrill would usually be busy managing Victoria and Warren Street two or one over there nearly three hours after Steve's shift should have started there's still no sign of him like the rest of London he's sitting on a bus in total gridlock shortly he said if I already anything started you Brian Farrow is a group station manager on the Victoria Line with a team of a hundred and forty staff then he knows nothing anywhere it's ten o'clock and there's no let-up in the constant flow of passenger inquiries so the suburbs always get this over sometimes don't work out yeah but yeah yeah yeah yeah there's none working this time mother solve no wasn't even our drivers well yeah right isn't it yeah no was it that's right more than three hours late Steve finally arrives for work look I know that very Layana what's all your enemy I should have been a half seven I've been on that bus for three hours I mean eighty three-years-old it's a bit ridiculous I'm disabled in one leg oh my daughter over there and I wonder if I could see Brian Q jumps for the passenger well it's been terrible actually this Lord Mayor what's his name Ken Livingstone you wanna stuff this road a piece you know third head office Ken Livingstone is attacking the management over their handling of London Underground say arbitrations already been tried and failed I still get very frustrated right here people making statement about my personal ability without any knowledge about how I deal with the day-to-day management of the railway that's my job and the political environment is one that I have no wish or require to get into why you gonna have to get a bus this you guys on strike sorry yeah boy you're gonna be using Bruce flowers Nora you can scratch and I'll be back yeah I think I might be a man since beginning to wear a little bits in there the old are we ever you're on destroy am i doing standing here I always but I'm gonna start always turn up a work I'm putting a high on stand outside the station he's one of my hobbies London Bridge is shut and the other brand station supervisor brand Valentine is at home the platforms are almost empty at lunchtime Brian Farrow gets wind of the fact that management are trying to run a limited Victoria Line service between Kings Cross and Victoria it's not just the fact that there's not enough trains in the crowd control it's it's people expecting it to be a full Victoria Line service and we're not we're just going Kings Cross to us you know make it survive era GSM Victoria I've heard that and I've ever rumored that we might be trying to run a let's get it in service I can't see the point because we're gonna raise people's hopes and in - him again and we're gonna have confrontation on the honour gates yeah and I really I put my staff in that position Andy Barr's heard about staff concerns and has decided to abandon plans for a service we had the availability of a number of trained operators at Seven Sisters which were more than the minimum that we needed to run the service but at this point halfway through a 2/3 of the way through a dispute we have to think carefully what the key issues are clearly Brian Faro caught wind of that and was concerned quite rightly for his staff at Victoria a la Steve hasn't been in there long but his shift is already over now can I get home turn me out of its Elena go down a wall below get the river bus down at air gateway a female rights in Somalia Andy Barr is coming to the end of his 12-hour shift it's not being the best of days we got within minutes of running a service on the Victoria Line minute unfortunately we weren't able to run the pole we could have run a train we could have made a Mickey Mouse measure to to prove to everybody that we could run a train that isn't common sense tomorrow vegetable 5:15 or forego normal service will resume but just obviously good service tomorrow [Music] the strike cost London's businesses an estimated 60 million pounds the strikers didn't get their pay increase but ken livingstone has agreed to reopen negotiations when he takes over the running of the tube next time Jeff Marshall tries to get into the Guinness Book of Records you just spent half an hour on a tray and you think this is bad you try doing it for 19 hours will he beat the world record and at London Bridge the track repair team have to be called in why not contractors are as much trouble as customers [Music] [Music]

Channel: Spark

Views: 525,653

Keywords: spark, spark documentary, the tube, the tube series, spark tube, london underground, london underground documentary, london underground video, trains, train documentary, public transport, public transport documentary, london victoria, bromley south, network rail, the tube series 1 episode 1, victoria tube station, victoria tube station to victoria coach station, victoria tube station upgrade, 2002, 2002 documentary

Id: 8OWCCANLu84

Length: 22min 42sec (1362 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 31 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/Hypno--Toad]

So what time it comes around, cause last time they had some walk out the same way. *Repeat* Have some walk out?

Yeah Yeah yeah

Cause last time it was 3 or 4 were working last time some walked out 'ave they?

Yeah there is none working this time.

None at all?

No not because we have got no drivers.

Lot of fat idiots aren't they?

Well no, it's their right isn't it.

Yeah but I know, gibberish but how is gonna get out now, some have gotta get home/out now

I don't think it's a dialect, its a guy wit mental health problems and jumbles up his words.

Source: I've lived with people with speech impediments(stutters mostly) like this, it gets worse when they start to get nervous or just naturally buffer their sentences with gibberish.

He was probably anxious about getting home.