The Ticket Collector

Trapped on the Tube

Todays Mood: F**king Pi**ed Off and Hot (oh and an hours pay lighter).

Well what an utter rubbish day, no seriously it has been. After being trapped on the Central Line for an hour, in a tunnel because a train broke down on the approach to Bank in front of us, it couldnt get any worse.

So what exactly happened in the tunnel I here you ask?

The driver came on the PA to say something about a Traction Problem? We were not able to move, but hopefully it would be sorted soon.
5 mins later “there is a track inspection at Liverpool St, hopefully when they are done they will switch the power back on again.”
A further 5 mins or so later he came on to say “Ok ladies and gents, it seems that an object has fallen off the train in front of us, and we have run-over that stuff. Now we are sitting on the debris and so the power can’t be turned on, so we may have to de-train - stand by”.

I identified myself as Surface Railway Staff, which did seem to calm most people down for some reason!
I started to try and assess the situation, who was pregnant, who was elderly, who would need more care, young children, etc. I was lucky that in the carriage I was in there was only 1 elderly person which I identified would need to be looked after. I then delegated this ‘job’ to a young business like lady.

Then the power completely went, No more battery power. Yippee sitting in the dark with some tunnel lighting. Most people were calm and getting the mobile phones out so they could have light. Boy was it funny seeing people using mobiles as torches!

The PA spluttered into action again and we were told we would have to de-train towards Bank station, this confused a few people and they started asking “whats de-training”

We carried on chatting and talking about each others holidays and joking about anything that popped into our heads, just to keep everyone calm and relaxed as from my training I know that Panic is the worst thing you need when your de-training.

I saw someone in the next carriage trying to force open some doors but I don’t know if they succeeded or not.

Around 20 mins later, after being told 3-4 times that help was on the way , we were told if anyone was ill, medical staff would be coming thru the train to help.

I did see some hi-vis people coming thru the carriage which did re-assure a lot of people, One of them had a folded chair in his hands.
After a while they came back through the carriage with a woman who was in serious trouble and looked very very stressed and was definitely in a panic attack.

10 at a time we were allowed off our train and up into another train and then into Bank station platform. At this point I identified myself and assisted with the de-training of the further few carriages.

I cant remember exactly when LUL confirmed the whole train was empty as I was told to go to the surface and give a statement to LUL.

I am wondering should I try and claim the 1 hour pay back off LUL or just think ’sod it I was on free travel anyway’.

Comments are welcome. If you want to quote parts of this please put a link to this site.