London Underground.Piccadilly Line. Drivers View and Commentary.Cockfosters-Northfields

well hello and welcome to a new video and welcome to Foster under London Underground Station at Fosters even which is the East End of the Picadilly line so we're going to do something a little bit different today we're going to take a train 1973 stock down to Heath row Terminal 4 um so we're going to stick you in the window of the cab I'll try and do some commentary and explain some things to you if um the mic will pick it up when we get on the train as we go down I'm not sure my batteries will last all the way down to Heath row if not I will then do it another day uh the bits I miss but at the minute we are due to head down to terminal 4 on the 1973 stock so just picking up the train now we've got what's called a double-ended unit which basically means we've got three cabs one either end and when we get there one in the middle this was cuz back in the day the old witch branch which is now closed used to run three car trains so there's the one in the middle so yeah I don't really know why they call it double ender because there's three cabs but anyway let's uh get on board and um get set up so this is my home for the next 3 hours me put that down put me coffee down the most important thing back and find my keys let put you there so let's set up the train yep that's working so just need to put in my radio number and that's so if I leave the train um to deal with an incident and control call the train the train will then forward the call onto my handheld radio and now I'm just going to set it up for the destination so that's all set and now I'm just going to check the uh we've got head lights and everything on the front that looks all good right now I need to find a home for you I will try and give a bit of a commentary as we drive just explain a few things about the line um you might find interesting if you've ever traveled on the pck line and wonder why certain things happen hopefully it will come out on video I'm just looking for my uh suction cup um if not I will add subtitles later I say the batteries I'm not sure if they'll last all the way to Heath R uh but we'll see what happens right I'll see you on the road all right well we've got the signal so we better get gone so we're heading westbound down to London Heath Road Terminal 4 just on your right hand side there is Foster's Depot you can see all the trees have been cut down on the left and right it's because we got new trains coming in 2025 and they're going to be longer so they need more space for them and this Depot we can uh bring trains in and out at the what we call the East End which is cop Fosters and we can also bring them out on the West End which is Oakwood so if you've ever been on a train that terminates at Oakwood chances are it's going into the Depo of course we make sure we stop for the Reds just like to advise all passengers we are just been held at a red signal be on the move again shortly thank you so we been held here due to a train on the platform or maybe one actually coming out of the depot hopefully it won't be here too long you'll see some of these uh signals and things with black bags on taped up or signs that say not in use that's all stuff they're preparing for the new trains because they're longer we'll have different stopping marks and things like that so we're now coming down into Oakwood for so these blue count up markers see it goes one through to six the idea is that if we have to stop whether we have a passenger alarm or something like that it shows how many cars out the station we are so that in theory if we're just before the six car Mark and we have to stop we could detrain everybody from car six which would still be on the platform so we have them at every station so those yellow signals are what what's known as repeater signals so the the signal they're repeating it's just telling me that it's red it's around the corner so we can't quite see it yet but if we come down here at full speed um I wouldn't be able to stop without me knowing the signal was red in advance next station is Southgate for I am actually going to move you down the window a little bit uh that there should be better for so we uh blow the whistle as we come out of the tunnel we also have whistle boards but we only do that between 7:00 a.m. and 700 p.m. any other time would only be an emergency someone on the track something like that or too close to the edge of the platform so next stop is arest Grove if you've ever been on the Picadilly line and you wonder why the train sits for a while at places like arest Grove it's what we call a regulation Point CU believe it or not we do run to a timetable but also it is an area where we would change drivers if we were changing drivers there's four different places we do it cop Fosters and aror Grover two of them this end of the line so it just allows a little extra time for the drivers to change over so once again that yellow just telling me the next signal is red I know where the signal is so I know not to come down here fast so if you're wondering about the rails what we have we' got four here so if we start on the right hand side that's a running rail middle one is the negative power the next one is a running rail then what your wheels are on obviously and then you've got your posit positive rail on the left hand side now between the running rails it's called the 4f foot as we see coming here if it comes up on camera there flashing yellow light should be two lights that's for a temporary speed restriction or TSR so in this case it's 25 M milph as we come into arest garage and as we picked up a couple of minutes late uh we're about a minute late here hence why we've got the signal straight away as you can see the TRU does go off to the right hand side that goes into aror Grove sidings uh I think it's seven trains can be stabled in there no trains there today next stop is bounds green we're heading into the tunnel it's the main tunnel it's uh 20 stations within this tunnel um and it's known as the pipe so we're heading into the pipe and we won't come out until we're out towards Baron's court so we still got that 25 mph speed restriction till just inside this tunnel you'll see the flashing lights in the 4 foot again that's between the running rails and it'll have um a t- board saying that's where it ends and if it comes out you just got the yellow flashing lights just by this signal here and then there's the te so now it's normal line speed which is 35 in this section so I say we're in the dark now for about 40 minutes if all goes well welcome everyone C we've got a speed restriction here 35 mph and it's called a PSR permanent speed restriction full speed maximum for the padil line is 45 although there's not many places you can do that speed few on the outs outdoor sections so here comes our t- board just on the right hand side so technically I can do 45 but just coming up is a 40 mph limit as well you'll see on the right hand side just past this signal just there now we're coming into wood green on the right side of the screen you'll see um some tracks or a road as we call it that's from wood green sidings we can put one train in there and that's so we can reverse from the eastbound to the westbound just see it just there next station is turn pip Lane for so next upop is Mana house there a bit of a trip this one it's probably one of the longer sections within this main tunnel or pipe would like to say if you are enjoying this video please give it a like don't forget to subscribe at some point I do want to do all of the Picadilly line for you um including in and out the depot and things like that when I actually do them but I also have some other the content I'm heading off to Australia in a few weeks and to Colombia so don't forget to subscribe to see them videos and hit that Bell notification so you are notified when a new video is out in for the next station is Finsbury Park you can change here for the Victoria line you may actually see one go past when we leave the station I always take extra care with this station cuz not only is it on a bit of a Bend it's also on a bit of a hill same on the eastbound it's also a regulation point so more often than not we do got held for a couple of minutes just to regulate the service or if we're running early so this is Finsbury Park for so got a 25 mph speed limit here there is some points here in a minute you'll see a tunnel to the left that's the Victoria line and they can bring train from the Victoria line across really only used for engineering trains so yeah on the left that's the Victoria line so we're now coming down into Arsenal station this station's usually relatively quiet unless Arsenal Football Club are playing at home and then it's a very different Beast of course it used to be called gillesby road I'll have to try and if I remember I'll Google when it changed to Arsenal and put the date in so I don't know if it comes out on the camera it still says Gillespie Road on the tiles just here on the right for if you've ever wondered why the uh tiles on these stations are all slightly different different colors different patterns apparently when they first built the tube a lot of people couldn't read so each station had its own pattern so people would know what station they're at to be fair I travel up and down here many times and I still couldn't tell you what station they are just by looking at the um tiles on the wall anyway next station is Holloway Road that next station is Caledonian Road on this line we do have some disused stations which I will show you as we go past them all for so the next station is King's cross St pancas so this is where things get a little bit busier always take a bit more care well I take care everywhere I drive but we're going to see start seeing a lot more signals I don't know if it comes out there is a yellow signal ahead which means we've caught up with the train ahead so I know there's a red around the corner so I'm not going to bother speed well I never speed anyway but I'm just going to at the minute I'm doing 20 mph I'd rather drive at 20 than keep stopping at red lights but at least I know I'm right behind a train so we've got our first of our disuse stations coming up which is York Road and you'll see it on the right hand side in a minute and again I'll try and find out the date opened and closed um and stick it on the screen below if I can't find out and haven't put it on there apologies we got 30 mph speed limit as well coming up I'm going to do less than that because I know we're not far from the train in front so we're just coming up to York Road now on the right hand side or just around this corner again I'm not sure how it'll come out on the camera but it's just here don't know if you can see the old platform and everything there I believe they're using it for storage so when they take old stuff off the stations they're putting it there uh to try and reuse on other projects so we're coming down into Kings Cross and panras so now I've got all greens I know I'm clear into the platform got 35 mph limit ahead but because we are downhill and on a Bend I never go that fast this station can be extremely busy so I'm going to break early you really do have to have eyes in the back of your head in this job people will just run into closing doors anyway next stop is Russell Square you'll see some points coming up so a road going off or tracks going going off to the right hand side there and that's because we can reverse and go west to east or east to west if we're going west to east in a second on the left hand side you'll see a a white board that says limit of shun and we' stop at that change ends and then we can go straight eastbound just there if you're interested so we'll do that during engineering works or if there's disruption ahead and we're suspended we can reverse go back the other way rather than just sit on a platform there are s of them I will try and point some out for those of you that do like to know how things work so we're coming into Russell Square it is downhill so you do have to be a little bit careful with his speed I would hate to run a red light or overrun the platform or both so next station is hurn you can get the central line from hurn so it can be an extremely busy station got 30 mph limit there if you can see it on the right but again cuz it's still we're still going downhill I personally don't go that fast for next upop is Cent Garden it's quite quite windy this section so it's 20 mph limit plus as you can see we we are starting to see a lot more signals than we did the other end of the line just means we can get closer to the train in front without fear of hitting it so you just bit more trains in a [Music] section and you can just see the eastbound Picadilly line there on the right hand side this is common Garden the distance between Covent Garden and leester square is the shortest of anywhere on the tube Network in fact if you're over here don't get the tube just walk it's quicker once everyone's on board I'll close the doors looks good next up is leester square and you'll see how short it is so that signals at the five car Mark so you see where the six car is just behind it we're probably another two car length and then there's the platform it'll take you longer to get down to the platform and back up again than it will to walk so here you can change for the northern line the Charing Cross Branch next stop is Picadilly circus platforms are reasonably quiet today but this has been filmed on a Monday Mondays generally are quiet or quieter should I say I forgot to say pick ailly circus you change for the Balo line next stop is Green Park you can change there for the Victoria line and Jubilee line so again usually a busy station with the interchanges it's also a regulation point we can be held here again just a reg late if we're or if we're running early coming up we have another dish H station which is down street the down Street station is actually quite famous Winston Churchill spent time there during the war and I believe his bath is still there I've not been to the station personally apparently his bath is still in there might need a bit of a clean so that's on the right hand side and then just after that you'll see down street sidings and we can put two trains in there I mean in terms of the disuse station not much you can see but it's just here on the right hand side obviously it's walled off most of it now and there's the sidings so we're now coming down into High Park Corner as we come into the station you'll see there is a road coming from the right hand side and that's because we a bit like King we can reverse we can go west to east which is direction we are or east to west it's usually a quiet station unless you've got things like winter wonderland or uh concert in the park at hide Park during the summer and that sort of thing and then it's murder here because it's only a small station have to confess it's warming here the uh we've got air conditioning in the cab except it doesn't work so I'm sweating everyone's on let's go doors are closed we got a green next stop is nights Bridge night's bridge is for hars it's what he's famous for again very busy station for people who've got more money than me got speed limit just around the corner here 25 so I'm just going to stay at that all the way around so there's the speed limit just there on the left and here's night Bridge so far we have been lucky with the platforms very quiet I might have jinxed it now so we got another disused station coming up um Brompton Road I think it was called again you can't see too much it's just walled off but I will point it out to you so whether it comes out on the camera probably doubt it so the next station we're stopping at is South Kensington is very windy so the speed limit is 20 but we do have a temporary speed restriction of 15 this is due to wheel Screech noise around the bends so we've reduced it or they've reduced it by 5 mph just to stop that noise so if you look in the 4 foot so that's between the two running rails you'll see hopefully if they're working some flashing lights yeah just about and bromton road is just here on your right hand side so that's an old station so yeah you'll see how windy this is so South Kensington you've got uh some museums and you can also change for the district line and circle line we've only got three more stations in this section of pipe or tunnel and then we're back here in sunshine for a little bit anyway so yeah this is South Kensington for next stop is Gloucester Road again you can change there for district line and circle line there is a 25 mph speed limit just coming up but I've not gone above that so it's just way so just one more um station left here or in the pipe and that'll be ear's Court everyone's on we've got the signal we're good to go doors are closed let's go so 's caught the next station again you can change there for district and circle line I think you head [Music] upstairs for so that's it for the pipe or this main pipe anyway we'll be heading back underground a bit later next stop is Baron's Court got a couple of speed limits before we get to Baron's Court we've got a 30 coming up and then a 25 beyond that we're heading uphill anyway so it's um that helps keep the speed under control so there's the [Music] 30 it's not on full power and it's sitting at 25 ready for this 25 mph limit that's coming up but I'll just come off the power just to knock it down a couple of mile an hour the speed's dropped down to about 20 so just past that signal is the end of the 25 and we'll be doing 25 at it now we're in full power that's if you're interested in how we drive these this is certainly how I do it anyway and we'll see some daylight looks a bit sunny so the track to the left and to the right far left and far right that's for the district line we're on what we call the fast so this is the westbound fast the one just to our right is the eastbound fast and then right to the left is eastbound local and to the right sorry westbound local to the left eastbound local to the right so you change here for the district line oh that Sun's right in my eyes we've been held on a red signal so it means we're on time or early we' just been regulated so the next station is Hammersmith there is two stations at Hammersmith you've got this one which is clust as the padillion district line Hammersmith and then you've got one just around the corner which is for the Hammersmith and City and circle line so there's a district line train going to W Minster and there's a Picadilly Line train going to cck Fosters we do have some sidings here we can do lots of different moves we can change ends in the sings we can go through the sidings uh onto different platforms or uh Hammer Smith if you've ever been on here when we've had engineering works we do that quite a lot a lot of signals in this area you really got to pay attention 20 mph limit and that temperary speed limit's been there since I been here so it's 8 years at least so this is Hammersmith next stop after this is AC Town his train is now ready to depart please mine the closing doors mine the [Music] doors so that alarm you heard just go off that's called an opo alarm some of you might know it is similar to like a dead man's handle so if we haven't held the handle down for 1 minute that alarm will go off if we don't press it down within approximately another 1 minute it sends an alarm to our Control Center and then they try and contact us so that if the worst was to happen and a driver was to collapse that would then obviously go off and send a distress call we got 25 mph temporary speed limit anyway just up to the top of this hill and then we're running fast through four stations the problem with these stations are the amount of people with headphones on that are oblivious to trains running through fast cuz we don't stop at them turn them green we will stop at we stop early in the morning can't remember what time cuz I don't do the earlies but at night we stop after 10:30 turn on green both directions but the others we don't do we used to be able to use the slow lines uh but they took the points out so we can't do that so AC and town in a few minutes can just see an A380 going into land into Heath can't see who's it is so turnam green is the next one and so that's where we would stop at night after 10:30 or if something would happen they could ask us to stop so if district line was suspended or something like that just got to look out for people too close to the edge that sun really is making life difficult to see looks like we're going to be bang on time into Acton town so Acton town is another one of them places where you can be regulated also it's a driver change over point and there's several sidings here so there's often trains going in and out the different sidings so if you're ever delayed in the air it could be one of those reasons as you can see I think there's two trains in the side ends now just ahead and district line on the left so we have three sidings there and then there's one side in the other side of Acton town message for trains approaching out on the westbound just had a stock and crew taking place in the westbound platforms both trains on the move so trains on get more shortly we do have a bit of congestion towards act to the westbound this evening um that's due to all H trains to run down the westbound local so congestion you approach this is due to H trains to run we are just been held at a red signal be on the Move shortly I don't know if you heard that we just made an announcement um we have the local and the fast line here and we can use both but due to a points issue at Northfields it seems like we're only running down the local which is where that district line Train's going so we once that's clear we should get the signal then into the local so act and town there is two different routes you can either go towards Heath North Fields Heath row which is what we're doing or you can take the branch line up towards rainers Lane and Oxbridge and then you got the district line that goes up that way towards El Broadway but we're not doing that today I will try and do that another day for you well he's closed his door so he should be on the move as we're going into the local we're at 15 mph speed limit so we're basically going to go on to the left just checking he give me the right signal he did so these tracks that you can see or roads coming out on the left hand side that goes into the main actum Works um I believe they're refurbishing some of the central line trains in there never been in personally but so this is actum town so we was on time now we're 2 minutes late that's everyone on we've got the signal let's go so I said there was sidings just past act and you won't be able to see them from up here so the sings are just down on the right hand side in the middle of the uh East West and eastbound fast the road that you'll see off to the right hand side is towards um El Broadway rainers Lane o Bridge we're just coming up and over I hope you're enjoying the commentary well I hope it comes out all right I appreciate that um I'm sort of just stating facts rather than talking more natural but obviously my attention needs to be on driving the train more that's more important safety but hopefully it just gives you a little insight into some of the things that we do that may impact your service or if you've seen bits and you thought oh I wonder what that's for so next stop is south eing of course you got to make sure you don't mix up the signals here those Reds on the right hand side that's for the fast our signals are on the left we've got a green a yellow and then a red just waiting for that red to change there we go we are just been held at a red signal be on the move again shortly thank you so even though we can't see it there's a train in the platform ahead of us at Northfields I don't know whether it's going into Depot or whether it's a heo service but we just got to wait for the signals to clear now we'll move up slowly to the next signal hopefully it'll clear before we get there so now we're coming into Northfields again this is a place to be regulated and change of driver and also you got trains coming in and out of the Northfield Depot you'll probably be a to see on the camera there is a train ahead of us just uh coming out obviously not onto this road they're going eastbound check we've got the right signal we have we've got a green signal that white disc on the floor with the red line across it that's the shunt signal so if that turned so the red line was at an angle that means we were signaled into the Depo

Channel: Dale Charman Travels

Views: 273,198

Keywords: Cab ride. Drivers eye view, Trains, London Underground, Piccadilly line

Id: U0MviFve2n0

Length: 70min 26sec (4226 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 23 2024