How Do Train Drivers Learn To Drive? | The Tube | Spark

[Music] running a 21st century railway eats evermore complex systems on the newer lines these are already built in the older ones keep constant updating but wherever they are the systems are only as good as the people who run them and the people who run them have to be trained ishmael has been waiting over two years to be accepted onto the train drivers course the training will take four months if he passes his salary will almost double most of us we're eager to get on the train now ishmael will have a full month in the classroom before he's allowed to take the driver's seat the F Thor a hard for it the only time it becomes easy is if you know it it's a technical thing if you don't know it you won't you can't guess it this is the master controller it's a dead man handle yeah you drop the handle [Music] it says it's my watch - lt's wrong these days when trains go wrong they're increasingly complicated to fix this means more and more technical demands on the drivers at the end of the month Ishmael and his fellow student nangi will be tested on their knowledge of the rolling stock only then will they be let loose on a train so it's scary because you know you carry our own three four hundred passengers and anything can go wrong you dream of six you think of this is your life now since I started training up and dreaming of trains and I just sprayed all good I don't want to dream of trains them just sleep past wake up just in the meantime there's a lot of homework to do my wife is something new for the deer and she's had enough but she don't want to say but I know if he passes the course Ishmael will be based at Wembley Park the station is currently being rebuilt to serve the new stadium over the coming months the work is also going to affect the track itself meaning trains will not be able to run through Wembley Park at weekends this presents a particular problem for Jubilee Line trains manager Dez Moffitt at the moment we're doing work at Wembley Park for the stadium renovations which means where we'd normally reverse trains in the points there we can't use it it's become a matter of pride for des to get round the problem without resorting to a bus replacement service now under normal circumstances we run buses but we're not a bus operating company were a train operating company so what we're doing is running trains single line between Stanmore there Kingsbury there which means they run up and down the same line up the northbound back down the northbound now that creates problems because all the safety equipment and the equipment relate to the trains are all four trains travelling in one direction to make dezzy's plans work the points and signals that ensure the trains run safely will have to be locked shut one by one all the way from Stanmore to Kingsbury this is an unusual strategy and Dez's reputation depends on it working smoothly he's got an anxious night ahead of him to ensure the track is ready for the first train of the week as it stresses Raven running a model train set you know trains derail people make mistakes people don't follow the rules there might be something on the track normally it could be a spider or something run that can cause a major operating problem John Paul II was the driver himself until he gave it up for a desk job at Network control I enjoyed it and I do miss it in a funny sort of way but at least I've got my little trains to play with instead now and they're much less trouble I wouldn't have told the company but I'd have probably spend a lot of my time driving on the Northern Line for free but I never let on it's nice to see the public come along and they they recognize it as the tube and of course a lot of them have happy memories but I think the majority of memories are being squashed into a tube car in the wheel depo at NIEHS Dhin Horace Clarke as a traditional solution to an age-old problem that particular area down there this should be a thick layer of bird droppings on the floor there and it was really really bad because they seemed to have taken up nesting all along the girders their pigeons and their droppings are a constant problem in depots there's so much of it with a concern that it might be a health hazard some of the guys suggested once that we've got someone in to shoot them but I think the staff would have been upset about it because they found that she is alone but the more humane methods will fail to get rid of the pigeons until they found Ted Ted's an 8-year old Harris Hawk means a bird that comes from Central South America this particular one he was bred in Rumford was gonna attach the get to his tail also you have bail and that enables us to locate Ted when he goes out of eyesight basically we can hear where are you working with birds of prey poor math on you has to be attuned to their moods he can tell by his facial expressions that he's is a little bit on edge at the moment he doesn't like his feet be in touch this one okay we take now he's completely free to go [Music] the idea is that the birds flown on a regular basis in these shades and pigeons that are here become unnerved at his presence they tend to eventually get the idea of bird of preys taking up residency in the area and it's safer to be somewhere else he knows these ships like the back of his wing basically if he gets one I'm in trouble because he can spend the rest of the day feeding on it if I can't get to him so we do all we can to get to the bird before he devours that swap the food that he's caught for food which was in their bag so he still gets a reward after half an hour ted has been flown through just two of the four sheds at the depot [Music] let's play me about no it's not here I thought it was in front of me lost my bird already Mike to track him down basically as you see with the transmitter after get a signal and find him it could take 10 minutes it could take 10 hours it's less than 24 hours till Ishmael takes his test meg is also doing her homework you're prepared boy at the same time you're worried if everything goes well by this time tomorrow it's it's just over an hour since Ted disappeared I decided to fly out the shed and pick a fight with the local crows Magpies girls and anything he could find over towards where the houses were and he was getting there getting quite a beating from a match at least oh yeah he was losing yeah because it was any gang so he came down eventually and safely back as you can see they want him out of their area this is their territory [Music] it's past midnight at Stanmore the last train has been stapled in the yard des and the team are ready to start a long night securing the points for single line working Papa John bird will be in charge of the work discharged on both rows it's now soaked on to the railway the points are locked shut one by one the padlocks will make sure the points can't be changed by mistake should be that's a single line working in now when we get back on the platform I should hand it back the row will be handed over to me and then he's all mine until Monday morning yes why not met for 48 hours the team have been working all night and there's just time to get some tea before setting off on the first train of the morning over the weekend it will take 35 extra staff to provide single line working at this time of day they often number more than the passengers themselves we have an obligation to all our customers not just the ones at the busy stations any customer is equally important whether the busy station or a choir station they all have equal importance and we're obliged to provide them the top-quality service but the first train is barely out of the station before the top-quality service breaks down there's nothing wrong with a single line operation but by a stroke of bad luck this train has developed a fault and will have to go straight back into the sidings but all the points have been padlocked shut so this will mean undoing last night's patient work John's not happy which is let's stand more des morph its plans to keep trains running while engineering work is going on of come unstuck the first train of the morning is broken down and needs to be taken out of service but this is not as simple as it sounds got all the points this train goes into the side and you bring another one back out then we have to secure all the ropes back on forget it until they can get the train swapped there'll be no service at all is that 9 con des is desperate to speed the process up and get the service running again what we do in the Train so we have one on each end when it goes into the reception road the driver doesn't have to walk all the way back through and just live in it straight up and get this bit metronomic that's what we're looking for there's no time to turn off the traction current so the team rely on years of experience to perform the job safely exactly six and drop from six seven eight seventeen minutes has pretty good time if we need a double-ended we've done it even quicker in 17 minutes we've removed all that protection have got a train back in and back out that isn't too bad the service resumes and at last des feel single-line working is going to succeed after all [Music] just believe in yourself [Music] Sony knows that we'll let you down all right this is really all it stands now between you and becoming a full full-fledged train operator take your time over things and I think you should be okay in less than an hour Ishmael will know if he has a future driving trains but train operators are only one part of running a railway a good control of knows exactly where all these trains are it's in your head but Baker Street line controller Simon flat-out has a new system to show where his trains are it's called track Annette you're instantly informed by the diagram there's a train present sitting so it's faster than looking up in a time table to gather information we're running three different railway lines with four or five demos yeah 75 an hour trains and it's pretty constant today Simon has to organize some emergency engineering work the signal needs adjusting near Finchley Road Simon will maneuver his trains like pieces on a chess board to create space for the engineers to work and provide an empty train to get them to the site four three two Macs together as a Baker Street plays that's the Train we're gonna use for the engineering job just get involved a as four three two approaches Baker Street train manager Brian meager gets ready to take the engineers into the tunnel yeah the passengers from train four three two will have to wait on the platform while the works carried out while the work goes on there'll be no service running on the Metropolitan line [Music] well we're just coming up to the area where they're gonna reduce the current in the signal track they're gonna let me know where is it [Music] the team will be given just ten minutes to do the work which enough the traction current would only add more delays the engineers will have to work fast but with six hundred and thirty volts just inches away mistakes could be fatal [Music] already the work is causing delays [Music] five it's the start of Ishmael's final test a safety critical mistake now and his ambition to become a train operator will be over it might take him years to get back on the course and I need to check the pressure gives you my friend [Music] take your seat mate you'll be pleased to know your systems over anything you did I think I should fast we should pass very well-done night it's been a pleasure I release new anyway I enjoyed it but the nerves was very nervous but I need to tell my wife elevator yeah I've passed the test in here yeah I finished my assessment enough passed everything man [Laughter] your big sis is the train up now the engineers start to pack up with two minutes to spare they've made good time so our last two colleagues were at the other end checking the relay and they'll be back on time shortly okay let's go no more access and everybody's clear the track over that was a factory like clockwork that was quite a controlled event which is one take what we paid to do that was a good way the engineering work has caused a disruption for the service but it's soon forgotten in the cut and thrust of a busy day in the control room Ishmael has waited a long time for the chance to finally drive his own train [Music] for his first few months you'll be accompanied by an instructor [Music] [Music] is good but you have to keep watching everything [Music] his first real test is getting the train to stop at the mark but at the new Jubilee Line stations it's even more critical if the train doesn't line up exactly with the platform doors they won't open and you'll have to drive straight on to the next station this is never popular with the customers [Music] least until the closing doors mana doors see a wasted extra 10-second at that station ten seconds might not sound like much but London Underground have a target of 24 trains per hour on the Jubilee Line every second counts I think it went well enough but apart from toe station the first one Westman is not I read just up in mouth here and I should have read it here but overall Ishmael's first day has been a success and he's ready for his new life as a driver that's fine fine I like trying for that now and I'm ready to go up and down next time a trip into the past with Oliver Greene this is also the origin of the the word tube while Jason Collins explores what lies beneath Waterloo station [Music] you

Channel: Spark

Views: 461,826

Keywords: spark, spark documentary, the tube, the tube series, the tube documentary, spark tube, london underground, london underground documentary, trains, train documentary, public transport, public transport documentary, how to become a train driver, train driver's view, train driver journeys, train driver's view usa, rail transport (industry), how to become a train driver uk

Id: vZlaTcWiRt4

Length: 22min 34sec (1354 seconds)

Published: Wed May 01 2019