Episode 3 The Tube

'Contains some strong language and some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.'

Below London's streets exists another world.

The madness is my swimming pool. I'm at home in that kind of water.

Every day, 20,000 workers

struggle to keep four million people on the move.

There's a customer asleep on the platform. Get him on a train.

And it's not easy when the Tube is undergoing the biggest upgrade in its history.

You've got five minutes. I want this site cleared!

Now cameras will reveal an underground world we've never fully seen before.

10,421 mobiles since April.

Listen to what I'm saying, pay as you go.

You just went.

This guy running up the stairs, you need to stop him.

'We're just the underground part of the city.'

London comes down here every single day.

It is part of their world.

It is part of everyone's world.

I love you.

There's always one.

Every day at 5:00am, 600 drivers clock on at 15 depots across London.

This is a test. Testing, one, two, three, three, two, one.

Dylan Glenister is picking up his train

at the west end of the Piccadilly Line at Acton.

OK, this train is ready to depart.

Stand clear of this train, please.

That's just for the benefit of any cleaners or anything that might be about to jump out.

As you can see, it's absolutely creeping along at the moment

because this one carriage is trying to pull all the others...

and now you can hear it go back on-line again.

Here we go, off and away.

It's a great job, it really is.

It is one of those jobs where you wake up in the morning

and you don't resent the fact that you have to go into work.

It's not a case of, "Oh, God, I've got to go and drive trains all day." It's, "Cup of tea and go to work."

It's nice to be part of the bigger picture of the Underground. It's the lifeblood of London.

Train's ready to depart. Mind the closing doors, please.

London Underground employ 3,200 drivers,

each one dedicated to one of the eleven lines.

It's one of these jobs I don't think everyone could do.

You've got to be...in a way, be able to deal with your own company.

Hello!

-Hi, honey!

-Good morning, madam(!)

You can sit here and be bored if you want

or you can get on with it, enjoy it and talk to people.

I've been doing it a while now.

It's been about 31 years so...

I've seen quite a few things.

Some good, some bad.

It's not what we do that we get paid for.

Probably most people can drive a train.

It's knowing what to do when it all goes very badly wrong.

And it can go so easily wrong.

It can be dangerous and the things you see people do...

It's mind-boggling, some of the things - some people leave their brain outside.

Every year there are 4,000 incidents

of passengers being injured on the Tube.

2,500 involve people falling down stairs and escalators.

Nearly 500 happen on platforms,

including 40 serious accidents involving trains.

The Network Operations Centre responds to all emergencies

across the 274 stations and 526 trains.

OK, we've got a male, 49, conscious, breathing and not all that alert.

Our primary role is command and control function.

We come into things when things go wrong.

He suspects he's having a heart attack.

It's either abject boredom or organised chaos.

There's nothing happening and everything's quiet

and then someone's thrown themselves in front of a train.

A person under a train is commonly referred to

as a "one under" by Tube staff.

It's the most distressing and disruptive incident the network has to face.

The Network Operations Centre have their own emergency response units

covering the entire Tube system 24 hours a day.

Two small air bags, two large air bags.

Two hammers, large bolt cutters.

There are four emergency response centres across the city.

The busiest cover central and northern London.

Tube stops gate frame, four wheels.

We're doing our daily checks.

We've just started our shift so we generally like to come in,

go through all the vehicles, all the equipment...

Watch out for this, Paul.

Any emergency on the Underground,

anything that could put passengers in danger,

we basically get called out to.

A set of burning hoses, burning box, skate bag, TSR bag.

We're a longstanding team.

We've been together for probably about ten years now.

There's not a lot that can shock us.

Two body bags.

Let's hope we don't need them both today.

PHONE RINGS

-Hello.

-Hi, it's Theresa. Who's that?

-It's John.

-John, we've got a "one under" northbound, Northern Line.

-Northbound, Northern Line?

-Yes.

-OK, my love.

-Thank you.

The Emergency Response Unit have been called to help deal with a woman who has been hit by a train.

There's not a lot there, is there?

There's a shoe. And there's... I don't know what that paper is down there.

Just so that we can clear all that up, if we can get the juice off...five or ten minutes.

A lady had fallen down or jumped, we don't know,

down between, stuck between the train and the platform edge.

On our arrival, the fire brigade had just released her, so...

that's all that we know.

The woman is 20 years old and has been taken to hospital in a critical condition.

-Have you got a time that the body was actually out?

-Yeah, just come up here.

Every year, the Emergency Response Unit deal with around 40 people

who have fallen or jumped in front of a train.

About half don't survive.

Even though this is an unexpected incident, er...

it's not out of our remit.

It's something we do, not every day, but when it occurs,

and we have to deal with it.

Northern Line driver Peter Capper is one of London Underground's trauma-trained counsellors.

He's been taken off his shift and called to attend the scene.

It's not like a car, bus, or anything like that.

You can't swerve to avoid. You're stuck on rails.

All you can do is try and stop.

The weight of one of these, especially when it's fully laden, you're not going to stop it in time.

-This is the trauma support...

-Hello, mate, I'm Peter.

Peter, nice to see you.

Peter has come to counsel the driver who was involved in the incident.

I've come close a few times and this weren't nice, but she's survived, innit.

Yeah, but it's liable that it could be a couple of days down the line, a couple of weeks...

This was a bit...

-a bit shaky.

-You will be, mate.

It definitely was, because it was a bloody shock.

-At the moment you're going to have adrenaline running.

-That's gone.

-It will kick in.

-Nah, it's gone.

HE LAUGHS

Customer service assistant Siobhan French

was the first person to get to the woman under the train.

If you want to see anyone, we can arrange for you to have counselling or anything like that.

I know it wasn't a nice experience for you.

-I'll be OK.

-It is the nature of the job.

-Definitely.

-Unfortunately. You been on the job long?

-Erm, four years.

-Four years? So it's your first incident?

The train was halfway pulled into the platform,

and I saw a body...

..underneath the train.

The top half of her torso was leaning onto the platform, erm,

so I was able to communicate with her and talk to her and try to keep her awake, keep her alive.

Just seeing her underneath the train is what replays

and...just her talking to me...

also.

A lot of them are not sure about counselling, you know,

especially, you tend to find the old-school drivers don't use the counselling side of it.

Guys who don't go for counselling straight away

don't realise it, but they're very short with their family,

their wife and kids - very snappy.

They tend not to sleep properly.

Erm, tend to...when they wake up, the first thing they think of is the incident,

and it can mess up a lot of people's lives, something like that.

That was my first one.

It's not something I would ever want to experience again.

Not at all.

Sadly, a week later, the woman died in hospital from her injuries.

Touch wood, I've never had anyone jump in front of my train. I've had two people attempted.

I've had a "one under" before. I never thought it would affect me, to tell you the truth.

I thought, if people want to jump, let them jump.

But when it actually happens to you,

it's a totally different kettle of fish.

I can hear and see him on the windscreen all the time.

I felt like a murderer.

And then, for ages afterwards, every train I saw,

I looked at, thinking, "I wonder how many people that's killed."

This is exactly where it happened, pulling in here.

I started to accelerate into the platform and that's where it happened.

You never forget it.

The worst thing I'd hate would be to have a "one under",

which is a person under a train.

Thank God...

I haven't come across that yet and I hope I never do.

Good morning. Our next station is Oxford Circus.

You can change here for the Central Line and Victoria Line.

And we have a very good service on all London Underground lines at the moment.

Hi. Excuse me.

-You can't use your flash.

-Sorry.

-That's OK.

It's 5:00pm at Oxford Circus and the beginning of the rush hour.

-Hello.

-Fifty pound, please.

-You're not normally this late.

-No, not normally.

Dot Gleeson has worked on the Underground for eight years.

-King Pancras.

-King's Cross?

-Sorry, St Pancras Station.

-Return.

-There you go.

Oh, we're getting busy now.

Got one of them?

-Another note, yeah.

-Let me just give you a ten.

-That's it.

-Yay!

-Lovely.

-We did it!

Sometimes you get people that are stroppy.

They don't, maybe, understand.

-Four pounds, please.

-What?

-That's how much it is, love. I don't set the prices.

OK.

When they walk in the Underground, their brain dies.

-Erm, there's a queue there, dear.

-Sorry.

They just seem to lose all sense of understanding.

You must touch your card on the reader when you enter the station,

so it's charged you £6.50.

Maybe when some people are out of their normal environment,

they just go different, I don't know.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah, man.

Are you going to carry them both down?

Mind the lead. Keep hold of them, yeah?

I think as soon as people walk into the Underground they go a bit crazy.

I'm on my guard all the time because you've got no idea what people might do to you.

Keeping an eye on the four million journeys we take every day

are 700 British Transport Police officers.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Can you do that outside the station?

On duty today are Kim Dight and Mike Scott.

You have no money? You have no money?

Let's go upstairs.

The British Transport Police work exclusively on railways across the UK

and the Tube network.

They have the same powers as any other police force.

Oxford Circus has a lot of...theft problems. A lot of pick-pockets.

That's the type of person we tend to look out for.

It's offering reassurance to the public, and members of staff,

considering, recently, we've had a staff member assaulted.

Any Eight Delta or Lima unit able to take an immediate call to Deptford Bridge, DLR.

Member of staff assaulted on Platform 1. Any unit respond.

Go ahead with the subject's details.

How tall was your subject?

The British Transport Police's control centre

responds to crimes on the Underground.

Could you ask whether your subject's got a tattoo on his chest?

It would be a face with snarling teeth, over.

Every year, they deal with 1,500 assaults and 6,500 robbery offences.

You've got two Eastern European males, both very drunk at the location.

One male is holding an open container of vodka.

Staff have asked the males to leave but they keep going in and out of the station, received.

All officers have a GPS tracking device

and their movements are monitored at the control centre.

This is Hainault depot.

And if I scroll out, you can see where the officers are.

This is two units. We've got 8C670, that's a PCSO,

and 8C73, I think,

and they're both at Woodford Green taking a statement.

You can see if they move.

They're making their way now to Hainault. We can track them.

If they get stuck you can say, "Turn left, turn right."

You can guide them in to where they need to go.

Especially with trespassers or people on the track.

They're not always going to be by a railway station

so you get the nearest road and guide them.

It's very clever.

I don't believe you're 15. Unless you can prove it to me...

It's not my problem.

Back at Oxford Circus, Kim Dight is dealing with a suspect fare evader.

-I'm going. I don't have time for this.

-You're not going.

-Don't touch me.

-Unless you can prove...

-I don't have to prove nothing.

Yeah, you do.

He's clearly not a child.

And he's blaming a member of staff for selling him the wrong ticket.

It's exhausting.

Can you keep your hands out of your pockets, please?

Keep your hands out of your pockets, please.

Keep your hands out of your pockets. Both of them.

We don't know what's in them, that's why.

I know he's going to use a child ticket.

You can just tell people are going to do that because they hang around,

then see the police officers, they don't want to top up their Oyster cards,

so when they come through a little light shows up that they've got a child ticket.

They think you're stopping them because of what they look like.

That's what a lot of people do. They use that against you.

They say, "You're stopping me cos of the way I'm dressed."

"No, I'm stopping you because you're travelling on an incorrect ticket."

You've been arrested for travel fraud before, is that what you're saying?

-No, no.

-Well, then, we wouldn't know you.

All of you know my name so of course you know me.

-It doesn't make any sense.

-You don't make any sense.

I hate dishonesty.

I really do. It drives me mad.

I don't really want to be out there.

My worst experience is getting punched.

What happened then?

I'd only been on the job eight months

and up the other end, when we had the old manual gates, you had to open the gate to let them out.

There was a chap coming along with a pushchair so I got my arm on the gate ready -

that was the way he'd have to go.

And, erm, as he was walking across

he's..."Open the gate, get the effing gate open!"

"Can I see your ticket?" "Yes, I've got a ticket."

He didn't quite say that(!)

And, erm...

I said, "I need to see your ticket."

I didn't see it coming. He just punched me right in the chest.

I went flying back against the wall. A man with a kid in a pushchair.

Please move right down into the carriages, using all available spaces.

Keeping the city moving safely is already pushing the Tube to its limit.

But it also has to respond to the demands of passengers travelling

to an increasing number of events across the capital,

the biggest of which is Notting Hill Carnival in August every year...

The station is closed.

..where an extra one million people use the Tube.

You're going to get stations closed, stations open, one-way systems put in.

You get stations that are way out only, way in only.

Every timetable is changed.

You have spare trains - "hot spares" - sitting with drivers on,

ready to go, to be called out to clear platforms.

Pretty much the entire western side feels the impact.

Welcome to everybody this afternoon.

This is our pre-meeting for Notting Hill Carnival.

What we intend to do is to go through what is going to be,

I think and certainly others believe,

a slightly different Carnival...

The event is carefully planned by an emergency contingency group and the Transport Police.

'For any event of this proportion - a million people out on the streets of West London,

'that is a challenge just getting people there safely.'

We do, obviously, have to consider the civil disorder potential.

Prior to Carnival, we will be operating Operation Shield

to try and disrupt people, especially gang members,

with metal detection arches and dogs

to ensure we make the best available use of our search powers

to disrupt people coming into Carnival.

It's Bank Holiday Monday and more than one million people will be travelling to Carnival on the Tube.

This is a massive hub - King's Cross Station.

We've got lots of people coming in from all over London to change to go on the Hammersmith & City Line,

to Westbourne Park, Ladbroke Grove and most of the Carnival footprint on the Tube.

This is a knife arch. It's a metal detector.

Usually we'd be using it but, at the moment, there's a power in place

that allows us to stop and search individuals for weapons.

We're not actually using the arch itself at the moment.

We've also got Rufus, the drugs dog, to scan people as they're coming through,

to see if they've got any substances that may cause their behaviour to change.

Walk on through, guys. Thank you very much. Cheers.

The police have been given a special Section 60 power

to stop and search anyone.

All we're going for, really, truly, is to have fun, innit.

Obviously, they're doing their job. We hate it, I'm not gonna lie.

At the end of the day, they're just doing their job, to make London a safer place.

But no-one likes it really.

Every year it happens. You get stopped and searched.

No doubt, when we go there, the police are going to stop us again, but that's life, innit.

The Tube has implemented a special train timetable for the event.

I think the riots have... they've upset so many people.

People want to have a good time,

people want to put the riots behind them

and say, "Look, that's not us. This is us having a good time, playing, partying."

And also you've got that much police there at the moment

that any sort of trouble is just going to be jumped on really fast.

Oi! What are you doing?

There's a bloody toilet over there.

-TANNOY:

-Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the station.

Whatever you're doing, chill out, relax and enjoy yourselves.

Control receiving you, DRM. Send your message, over.

At the Baker Street control room for the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines,

Dave Nottage and his team control the flow of trains to the Carnival area.

We expect trouble. That's what we're here for(!)

Anything - person under a train, signal failures, point failures.

The next eastbound train into Paddington Sub - train 224.

That's it, mate. Cheers, mate.

Train 224, which is going to arrive in this platform fairly shortly,

has got a passenger alarm operated. Could be an unattended bag, somebody's collapsed,

you know, robbery, mugging.

Or it could be nothing. It could be a little child's just pulled the big red handle

and seen what's happened.

This way for the carnival, please!

You all off now?

OK, it was accidental operation and you're now on the move. Thanks a lot, 224.

It's a lot busier than a normal rush hour.

You get a lot more people trying to get on at one stop,

trying to get off at another.

It's just manic.

Keep the customers all informed, not that most of them listen.

The joys of having iPhones and iPads and all sorts of electronic gizmos.

Sometimes I've even had them playing instruments.

HORNS

As part of the contingency plan, extra safety measures

have been put in place for trains coming into platforms.

The drivers have been instructed by the controller

to act on the duty manager's instructions,

so they're looking at me for hand signals

and I can hold the train in the platform or get him to leave as quickly as possible.

Bring it in a bit slower to allow the people on the platform to leave.

Cheers, Peter.

This train coming in slow is both providing protection for the customers on the platform,

but it's also allowing them to leave before this train empties out.

It's very busy now.

Sometimes the service is too good and that causes problems.

Just slow everything down in order to be able to keep things moving.

Driver's just back on to me at Paddington now

so I should have more information any second, over.

LOUD HORN

CHEERING

That's it. C'mon, guys.

-Make some noise, then. Make some noise for me!

-CHEERING

-What have you got in there?

-Pineapple juice.

That looks disgusting.

That didn't look like pineapple juice.

I love it. It's very busy.

It's very busy but it's great. It's great fun.

I would rather be out there though...

dancing.

It's great to see the crowds, isn't it?

I think it looks...it's great to have all those people out and about.

The other thing, you get all these lovely smells from the food cooking.

It makes me a bit jealous that I'm not there.

Actually, it makes me a lot jealous that I'm not there.

LOUD MUSIC

The Transport Police are still using their special

stop and search power in an attempt to find weapons and drugs.

There's a good atmosphere, I haven't seen problems.

We've got a few hoodies about but you're going to get them anyway.

Doesn't mean a hoody's a bad person but you wouldn't necessarily

search an old granny for weapons as opposed to a...a young man.

People who are getting stabbed and stabbing each other,

they're...of a certain profile.

They're the ones I always tend to go for.

People can complain about it but in a way it might be

saving your kids from getting stabbed.

It's near the end of the day and the Tube is gearing up

for transporting nearly a million people home.

Hello, Richie. Are we all set, again?

-Have you got my megaphone? Good!

-I've got your megaphone!

Every Carnival, the Tube's boss comes to help out.

I can't think how many Notting Hill Carnivals.

I come here with the same duty managers.

What we do is, we do the return traffic.

I was brought up in Trinidad, spent several years there.

Carnival's in my blood somewhere.

Every year I think the volume goes up a bit.

POUNDING BEATS

-We've got a bin for the alcohol, two members of staff in position.

-Good.

-So, we're ready to go?

-Are you happy? Yeah? OK?

All day, Notting Hill Gate Station has been exit only

but now they're about to open the gates for the returning passengers.

Right up to the station, ladies and gents.

Keep moving. No alcohol in the station.

No alcohol in the station. Drop it in the bin here, please.

We now need to get all of these people from this area

into our Underground system.

If you can imagine a big funnel, they're all coming into this entrance here.

We need to be able to control this because we do not want

the Notting Hill Gate Station and the Underground to become too crowded.

We're dealing with minutes and seconds here.

A six-minute gap in the service means that this flow of customers

will fill that platform and we may need to do something about it.

OK, folks, keep walking down to the end of the platform.

Right down, all the way to the end of the platform, please, everyone.

Next year, we'll have a warmer Carnival.

This was a bit chilly, wasn't it? But we had a good time.

It was a nice Carnival and we look forward to having more like this!

Every train is now running to its full capacity of a thousand people.

Keep moving down the platform, please.

Extra staff have been brought in to help move 21 trains an hour

through the Central Line platform at Notting Hill Gate.

This train will be leaving in about 10 or 15 seconds.

Your next train is just one minute away. Stand clear of the doors, please.

I normally do a desk job but this is more exciting.

This is where my roots lie.

You can see this, this is adrenaline. I like this.

-Get down there.

-Get off!

MOUTHS

SHOUTING

Do you want control from street level, base?

Do you want control from street level?

Just 20 minutes after opening, the station is full.

This is street level. Station control at street level.

No-one in at street level.

No-one comes in until these people are down to platform, yeah?

No, no, no! No!

No! No-one comes in until I say. Listen to me!

Take your time down the stairs, ladies and gents.

Someone's lost their flip-flop.

They're always tricky to put on when you've had a few.

Right down inside, please, folks.

Come on then, guys.

As Carnival comes to a close,

the police take a more hard-line approach to prevent disruption.

You lot with the blue hat searched me this morning already

when I came in.

I'm not getting a second search, no way!

I'm not going to lie! I'm through with that, fucking right now, mate.

SHOUTING

The British Transport Police made only 42 arrests

and there were no serious incidents.

Everybody on the platform, if you've got a whistle or horn, please blow it now.

WHISTLES AND HORNS

SHOUTS AND CHEERS

Good job done. Another year.

But just 20 minutes later, the party is brought to an abrupt halt.

We've had a report a person's fallen under a train

and that services have been suspended,

and until that person's removed and we find out what's happened,

the trains won't start again.

Relief and reform at Edgware Road into 2-4-6.

The incident is unconnected to the Carnival but it's in the same area

and will affect revellers trying to get home.

Line Control at Baker Street stop all trains on the western side

of the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines.

TANNOY: Service is suspended, Hammersmith to Edgware Road.

This is due to a person under a train.

Westbourne Park Station is on one of the affected lines

and is being evacuated.

We've had a person fallen under a train at about ten to nine.

We've had confirmation now that that person is deceased

and the act was non-suspicious so it's an unfortunate situation

but one we have to deal with here and it does happen from time to time.

The incident happened here on the eastbound.

What that effectively does is it shuts our railway down

from Hammersmith up to Edgware Road.

So nothing is moving along this section of the line.

The guys' job is to get any other trains in this section

into platforms and clear the customers off them.

Once the section is dead, if you like, we can keep trains moving

all around the Circle Line and keep the rest of London moving

while we're dealing with the incident.

So we're intending to terminate you at Edgware Road

and reverse you back towards Plaistow or Moorgate.

So at the moment we've moved the train back a little bit,

back from the body.

Current's been taken off and the guys are removing the body from the track.

Another 10 minutes, Ed? Another 10 minutes and we'll get it on a roll.

Hopefully, the ERU need a bit of a clean-up

but so long as the police... I suppose they can take their photos on the platform.

To control, because of the problems on the Hammersmith branch,

can you divert by the inner rail Circle on this trip, over.

We do treat everything with absolute respect on site because we have to do that

but we have to think about the rest of London as well.

We've got an awful lot of people trying to get home.

We've got to get the thing cleared as quick as possible,

with the greatest respect for the person on site and everything else.

Thank you. Is there a spare driver in place to move the incident train

back to Hammersmith via Edgware Road, over?

Traction current restored, that's all traction current restored.

Just to finally confirm, I'm intending to resume services fairly shortly, over.

Try and put it back together now.

At 10pm, just an hour after the incident,

the team have managed to get a full service back up and running.

All traction current has been recharged, therefore it is safe

to continue westbound towards Hammersmith, over.

TANNOY: Ladies and gentlemen, this is a customer service information message.

At present we have a good train service operating

on all London Underground lines.

Good morning.

Morning, sir.

Good morning.

Have a nice day. OK.

I feel that my role is really

to help people to connect.

How are you? Good morning. I know, massive change, isn't it?

I think people... they change their personality

when they come into the Underground.

They've got no point of reference as regards anything spiritual

or anything natural.

You don't ever see the sky, you don't hear the birds sing,

you don't see any greenery.

And for a lot of people, they might see a potted plant in their office

and they might see some lettuce in their sandwich.

That's the only thing that they'll see that's natural.

I think they forget how to interact,

they forget to behave as social creatures.

Good morning.

It's amazing how many people are leaving London.

-I hope you get out tomorrow.

-Thank you.

-OK, and have a nice weekend.

I think it's the most loveless city in the world, let's put it that way.

It's quite sapping, energy-wise.

I think if you're happy-go-lucky going to London

you come out of it feeling quite depressed, you know. I know I do.

Can I get a single to Islington, please?

Yes. Four pounds, please.

Thank you.

He looks sad.

You look at people on the platforms and, you know,

the only people I find happy are little kids when they go...

And you wave back at them and think, "Oh, bless him,"

because that's the sort of thing I used to do. I'd wave at drivers.

I did, one morning, have a woman and she was obviously very upset.

I just said, "Are you all right?"

And f... Well, not funnily, but she'd just been told she'd got breast cancer.

And then I just went like that and she went, "Oh, have you had it?"

I talked to her for about 15 minutes and she felt a lot better after that.

-Him. Just want to watch him for a minute.

-Yeah, yeah.

He's completely lost.

-You all right?

-Which way's Waterloo? I'm not from around here.

-I want to get back to Aldershot.

-Hold on, hold on. All right.

-Have you had quite a lot to drink?

-A lot to drink.

I left all me mates. I just want to go back home.

-I think you're too drunk to travel.

-Nah.

-Yeah, you are.

-Trust me.

Believe me.

'You get a lot of people that are drunk, that travel.'

Yes, I've arrested people for being intoxicated on the railway

or being drunk in a public place.

Go outside, get yourself a coffee, sober up.

Give yourself half an hour, 40 minutes, and then you can come back.

-And go to Waterloo.

-Look, you need to come home.

-You're wasted.

'They're a danger to themselves.'

It's not about criminalising somebody,

it's about making sure they're safe.

I would rather arrest somebody, put them in a cell,

let them sober up and then they get home safely.

I don't want to phone your missus saying he's fallen under a train.

-I ain't done nothing.

-I know you haven't.

We're trying to prevent it from happening.

-It's your welfare I'm concerned about.

-You talk to my missus then.

Let's go outside. We've got no signal here.

I know. I'll phone your missus, don't worry, I'll tell her for you.

Many people, especially at night, you get the kids, they've been drinking.

They pretend to push their friend onto a track.

We had that incident ages ago at Earls Court

where there were three or two lads on the platform messing around

pretending to push people over the platform.

The guy pushed his mate too hard and he went over the edge.

As he went over, he grabbed his mate who in turn

grabbed an innocent bystander and the three of them got killed.

Hello?

Yeah. He's very drunk. He's at Oxford Circus.

All I'm trying to do, I don't want to arrest him,

all I'm trying to do is keep him safe.

I'll tell him what you've said.

OK. He's just walked away without his phone, actually.

His girlfriend said to me, "He's paralytic,

"please don't let him travel."

I've said I don't want him to travel, he's too drunk to travel.

Purely from a welfare point of view, she's pregnant,

I don't want to be scraping him from the tracks where he's fallen over.

Listen. I'm sure your baby wants a father.

That's why I decided to leave my friends and go home.

-But I want you to go home alive!

-I'm going to go home alive!

You're too drunk.

It's Wednesday morning, just after the rush hour,

and the Emergency Response Unit have been called to a fox on the track

on the Metropolitan Line.

Hello, guv, it's the ERU.

We've got a report of a fox on the southbound from Finchley Road

to Baker Street by Lords Disused.

Yeah, what we do, guv'nor, we need to pick him up, right, and

we need to use one of your trains as protection while we're doing it.

A fox has been hit by a train.

It's causing an obstruction so they need to remove it from the track.

That's it.

It's from Finchley Road to Baker Street

but Lords Disused is a disused station half way between.

I think this is our train coming in now

so I'll have a word with the driver.

Hi, guv, I've had a word with the line controller.

We've got a dead fox from here to Lords Disused towards Baker Street.

The only way for Frank to get to the dead animal

is to use a passenger train that is still in service.

-I'll get it going and shout when we're rolling.

-All right. Lovely job.

Have the passengers been informed we're looking for a fox?

No. You don't tell the passengers. You get it a couple of times a week.

Then you might not get it for a month or whatever.

You've got the canal running here. They can get in here, see.

The Grand Union Canal here

and they can jump over. They'll wander along the track then.

It's just looking for food.

Right, this is Marlborough.

It's around here somewhere. I don't want to go over...

Are you sure it weren't just a kip? He's got up and gone home.

He's playing games with us.

Hold it there, guv, hold it there. No, that's not him. Up a bit more.

ALL: There he is. See, right in front of that signal.

Right there. Slow it down, there, now. If you stop her here, guv.

There he is. Right, if you go to the side, Gary.

-Why don't you go down first and hand me the stuff?

-Yeah, yeah.

Watch your head.

To minimise disruption to the service, the electricity is kept on.

But as part of a safety procedure,

the driver hands his train keys to Frank.

-Got the bag there.

-Hold the bag, Gary.

Would like to apologise for this delay,

we'll be on the move pretty soon. Just something on the track.

Couple of minutes, we'll be on the move.

-Lovely job.

-You all right?

-Lovely job.

So what are you going to do with him now, then?

-We'll take him back.

-Give him a burial.

We've got a fridge back there for dead animals.

Here we are.

You've got one, two, three, four, five.

It's probably a little part of an animal, there.

Mainly we've got foxes, but you could have a badger.

A few muntjac deers, small little deers, up on the Central Line.

You could get them out in Amersham.

The problem is you've got the Underground in the city,

and you've got so many animals.

You get the foxes, urban foxes after the food and the heat,

but matey didn't realise what time the trains run, so...

obviously the train hit him this morning.

Every year, the Underground remove more than 100 dead animals

at stations and on the tracks.

I had a swan here, right here on the track once.

I don't know how it got there. And I couldn't move the train

because its neck was hanging over the track, over the railing.

I had to get out of the train and shoo him back in.

It had a sore foot, cos when I kind of shooed it across, it was limping.

It was lame. So, I think it hurt itself when it landed.

Why it landed on the track, I don't know.

Good morning. It's the end of the week.

-And you've got the long weekend?

-I'm so excited.

-And where are you off to?

-New York.

-Very nice. Just for the weekend?

'I've been here six years,

'so over that course of time I've got to know a lot of the regulars.'

And these are called fascinators. Why are they called fascinators?

-I don't get it.

-Cos they're fascinating!

'We're Londoners, we're supposed to be a little bit cold.

'It's hard for us to perhaps overcome these barriers.'

There you go. No worries.

'One of the things about London'

is that it attracts a lot of single people.

'They get into perhaps a busy work schedule,

'they don't have time to make friends.

'There's a lot of lonely people in London,

'and the way I see it is that, standing here in the mornings,

'I might be the first person

'that some people get to talk to in the morning.

'I might be the first smile that they see.

'And I feel that's important, to actually give a friendly greeting,'

to give a friendly face to somebody's day.

Might just be the difference between them having an OK day

and having a really terrible day.

It's nice to get the tail end of the evening rush hour,

and see the evening drawing.

The best part, this time of year, is seeing the sunset.

Some of the sunsets are absolutely gorgeous.

It's lovely to come out of the tunnel after 50 minutes

and just see the sky, just a blaze of purple or yellow and orange.

It's just, wow, it's like the sky's on fire.

I love sunsets anyway, but you do get some spectacular ones on the Pic.

I love the Pic, I've got a real fondness for it.

I get fiery when people say, "The Piccadilly Line's rubbish,

"it's shit. The trains are old, they're falling apart."

I say, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute.

Every time every other line goes up the wall,

doing weekend engineering works, what line is always running

to carry the burden? The Piccadilly. The premiere, perfect Piccadilly.

The Metropolitan Line's a bit brash, "I'm the Metropolitan Line,

"I go to Amersham and through the city.

The Circle Line's: "You're nothing, mate!

"I'll go round and round the city and all that."

I'd say the Central Line is probably a librarian,

quite sort of, "Ooh, here we are. West Acton, da-da-da."

But the Piccadilly Line, if it was a mate of yours,

it'd be a mate where you'd say, "He doesn't say a lot, he's very cool,

"but when the shit hits the fan, he pulls it out of the bag all the time.

"He's really slick." Look at the trains.

Look at the faces of those trains.

They just smile at you, they're cute, they're streamlined, they're classy.

Without trying.

I have to do something here, now, cos there's a graveyard there.

Sorry. Right, there we go.

Do you always make the sign of the cross when you go past a graveyard?

-Yeah, you have to.

-Why?

-It's a religious thing. I'm a Catholic.

And...

..it's...

for penance. It makes me feel good, too.

It's ten to four on a Wednesday afternoon,

and the Tube is gearing up for rush hour.

-LU?

-Hello, who's that?

-Chris.

-Hello, Chris. It's John.

-All right?

Hello, mate. Can I view Southbound? We've got a "one under" there.

There's a person under a train at one of the busiest stations

in Central London, and the Victoria Line has been suspended.

-Down, is it?

-Well, the Tube's, yeah,

it's been a person under a train, I'm afraid.

-The trains are not stopping here, that's all?

-The station is closed.

There's been a person under a train at the moment, I'm afraid.

-What, here?

-Yes, here.

There's an element of excitement,

not knowing what you're going to come across.

It could be someone alive and trapped,

so it's like, can you get them out?

When I did my first one, I got a massive adrenaline rush,

but it wasn't an adrenaline rush of excitement.

There's a massive difference. It was an adrenaline rush of fear,

of not knowing what I'm going to come up against.

When I go to them now, it's just an adrenaline rush.

I don't have fear of going down there.

The Victoria Line's down at the moment. OK, where do you want to go?

The police, fire brigade and paramedics are already on the scene.

The Emergency Response Unit arrive to find the body of a man

is under the train.

The plan is now to switch a current back on, as this guy's deceased,

move the train away, turn the current back off.

Emergency Response Unit staff will get down there, clear the body

and get the trains running again.

-Have we got a train driver on site?

-En route, apparently. I'm not sure if we've got one on-site.

But there is a problem.

As the current has been turned off here,

they're stuck on trains further back in the tunnel.

So, they need to get those passengers off those trains,

back on to the platform.

So we have to wait until that's completed

until they can recharge current here,

and then move the train away so we can access the deceased.

One stop down the line at the next station,

the last of the 1,200 passengers are being led out of the tunnel

through a train in a platform.

-Is there another place?

-Where do you want to go?

-I need the Northern one up to High Barnet.

-High Barnet.

Your best bet is to walk along to King's Cross and get it from there.

-Why are the trains closed?

-There's a person under a train, I'm afraid.

-What's happening?

-There's been a person under a train, love.

I think they've accepted it.

Most people who travel to London have seen it before, unfortunately!

There should be a coroner, which would hopefully just take the body.

Stand back. The train is moving.

The guy who's deceased has gone right there,

it's actually called a Suicide Pit.

So it's in a pit about that deep. Once they confirm the current's off,

I'm going to put this self-testing CRID, and it will test the current.

VOICES SPEAK AT ONCE

What we'll do, we'll pick him up, so we could probably do with

another couple of people just to hold the body bag open.

'I found that it was one thing to actually see the body

'or the massive injuries,'

but another massive step to actually get hands-on, if you like.

For now, just get him on there and jiggle it into the bag.

If you can't do it, then basically you're no good.

You're no good to the guys you're working with.

'It is a determination to get past the mental side of it

'and do what you need to do.'

I can't get down there.

If it...if it helps, yeah.

'I try not to bring my work home.'

We speak to each other, if anything, but it's not the sort of thing

you really want to speak to over the dinner table.

You know, "I was picking up a body today."

Yeah. That's it.

A little while ago, a family friend actually did it.

So, that kind of brought it home as well,

that it's not just members of the public.

Up and over, now, yeah?

Well done, lads.

'Makes it all the more real for me, cos I know exactly what'

that scene would have been like, so even more horrific. It's very sad.

The last person to see the man alive was the train driver, Tony Barrett.

The man was captured on CCTV, waiting on the platform.

The first thing you expect to see

is the platform on your right hand side there,

but before I even focused on that,

this man was jumping right across.

He just floated over and down.

Despite the man going under the train,

most passengers on the platform were oblivious to what happened.

There was de-training, taking people off the train

and just closing the doors.

I did that just to do something routine and just to help.

I didn't really know what to do at the time,

but I didn't want people to get back on the train.

Although I did try to stop the train as quickly as possible,

I mean, there was nothing I could do.

Once you're in the cab, you realise it is a possibility.

One day, during your normal working life,

someone's going to either be pushed or jump in front of your train.

You know, it's a hazard, and you can't escape that.

But people have been around, on the job 25, 30 years,

they've not had one.

But other people, shorter time, they've had two or three.

While the Emergency Response Unit clean the track,

the police attempt to identify the man.

I think granules, scoop and then we'll go for bio.

The team use an absorbent powder which makes it easier

to clean the track.

We're just trying to get these last bits up.

Time's getting on, you're coming into the rush hour.

It's just getting this cleared up, so we get the passengers home.

The body is taken away to be examined by the coroner.

So, I'll take protection up then, and we're clear.

It's not a nice job.

You ready to take the SCD up?

Guys, thank you very much for your help, fellas.

We'll see you again, yeah? Take it easy.

It's going to be running in 10 minutes' time,

with my latest information.

-Where are you going to?

-Waterloo.

-Warren Street.

Warren Street, the Northern Line from there, yeah.

Nearly two hours after the incident,

the Emergency Response Unit head back to base.

You never get used to "one unders" We've done so many over the years.

I mean, you've just lost count of them.

You never get used to them.

We can't dwell on it cos we know we're going to get loads more.

They will come.

There will be another 40 people this year, 50, that'll do this.

Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you.

The only ones I think I've ever thought about

was when we did the bombings. The terrorist attacks.

That was probably because it was in the news,

so you had no choice but to put a face to the victims

that you were surrounded by whilst you were at work.

Because the incidents that we go to at the moment,

on the Underground, they're not really publicised.

You very rarely see them in the national press and on the news.

So, it's quite easy to detach yourself.

You're never going to forget,

particularly as you go through the same station every day.

It has left that bit on my life, which...probably won't ever forget

although I'm not sort of over-morbid about it.

It's an occupational hazard.

Good morning, it's me again.

There's only one working lift at Regent's Park,

so you may have a little while in waiting.

You could stay on this train with me,

and we can go to Baker Street and then you could go overground.

Take a walk back down towards Regent's Park, it's not that far.

And if you have time, you may stop for a cup of tea. And a biscuit.

I don't mind what type of customer gets on my train,

as long as they respect me, polite to me, we'll get along famously.

There you go. Come and get it. There you are.

Hell-o, come and see me.

-Hello.

-Can I put £5 on there, please.

Thank you.

He was nice!

I don't look for fellas. Been there, done that. Got divorced.

I'm just happy with me cats and me charity work, that keeps me busy!

I don't think the Underground's a grim place. I think it's lovely.

You either love it or you hate it. It's like Marmite, isn't it?

I can't stand Marmite, but I love the Underground, so...

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