0:00:02 > 0:00:04Good morning. It's me again.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Below London's streets exists another world.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13The madness is my swimming pool. I'm at home in that kind of water.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14What can I say?
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Every day, 20,000 workers struggle
0:00:18 > 0:00:21to keep four million people on the move.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24What, there's a customer asleep on the platform?
0:00:24 > 0:00:25Yeah, get him on the train.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28And it's not easy when the tube is undergoing
0:00:28 > 0:00:30the biggest upgrade in its history.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34You've got five minutes. I want this site cleared!
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Now, cameras will reveal an underground world
0:00:36 > 0:00:37we've never fully seen before.
0:00:37 > 0:00:4210,421 mobiles since April.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Listen to what I'm saying - pay as you go.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47- Yeah.- Yeah? You just went.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Northern barrier, this guy running up the stairs.
0:00:50 > 0:00:51You need to stop him.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54BLOWS HORN
0:00:54 > 0:00:56We're just the underground part of the city.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00London comes down here every single day. It is part of their world.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02It is part of everyone's world.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04- Where'd you go?- I love you.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13TANNOY: 'This is Stratford.'
0:01:13 > 0:01:16'This is Mile End.'
0:01:16 > 0:01:19'This is Oxford Circus.'
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Every weekday, the Underground takes on the job that defines it -
0:01:23 > 0:01:25to get Londoners to work and back.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Rush hour is a misnomer.
0:01:30 > 0:01:3450 years ago it might have been one hour, but nowadays it's about three.
0:01:34 > 0:01:35Three hours of absolute mayhem.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43Passengers think only of their individual struggle.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46The staff have to deal with us as a crowd.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50They're just people with different clothing and they do different jobs.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54If you get them on their own, they're nice and polite.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56In a crowd...
0:01:56 > 0:01:57they'll hang you.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01At the moment, we're totally overcrowded downstairs.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05There are gaps of two minutes, three minutes, eight minutes
0:02:05 > 0:02:07during rush hour. I mean, it's just a joke.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11You just can't plan your life cos they can't provide a proper service.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16I hate commuting. I hate London.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Look at this. It's crap.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23There's never any seating. Never ever.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25At this time of night, you've got no chance of getting a seat.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28There's a lot of very angry people
0:02:28 > 0:02:30on the Underground travelling around,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34but every morning, every single day, they have to press all that down,
0:02:34 > 0:02:38push it down and just try and remain composed and get to work.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41They are right on the edge.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44- You need to get in. - Yeah, so you don't have to push me.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47- No, you're trying to push me. - No, you were pushing me.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49You were behind me.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Boom.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53The pressure on the system's enormous,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55and there is no margin for error.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Got anything between a quarter
0:02:57 > 0:02:59and a half a million people on the network at the moment.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02That number of trains, of people, there is no room to breathe.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Anything going wrong has the potential to cause catastrophe.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Each morning, Bob Weedon braces himself for an onslaught.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19He supervises a station that is at the heart of rush hour.
0:03:21 > 0:03:22This is Bank station,
0:03:22 > 0:03:27which is the biggest underground complex in Europe.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29If you walked round every corridor on this station,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32it would take you something, probably,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34like about an hour and 15 minutes at brisk pace.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Not many people see it like this. It's nice and quiet,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40you can...it's only your voice here. It's like an echo, isn't it?
0:03:40 > 0:03:44It's like it's all your station, just yours.
0:03:44 > 0:03:45Just us and the mice!
0:03:57 > 0:03:59In the morning peak,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02one million commuters pour into the Underground,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05each hoping to get to work on time and unscathed.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08You know, people come in, they've got their blinkers on,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11off the train, up the escalator at the station.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15But there's a lot work goes in for us
0:04:15 > 0:04:22to ensure they get to their place of work safely and quickly.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24I think sometimes,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26you should almost...I'd almost say it should be
0:04:26 > 0:04:28a bit of a forgettable experience.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31If people have people have almost forgotten they've travelled
0:04:31 > 0:04:32on the tube, in a way you've done a good job,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35because it's not been any inconvenience, you know?
0:04:35 > 0:04:38They've just...they're thinking about their work,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41not always travelling, so if you can make it as painless
0:04:41 > 0:04:45and as speedy as possible,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48I think then you've probably done a good job.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Some commuters have their journeys down to a fine art.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56I know I get in for eight.
0:04:56 > 0:05:02I know how long it takes me to walk from my flat to the tube.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05I know I've got to get the 14 minutes past,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07which is actually getting a little bit tight,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10and if I miss that train,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13that means I'm late, 100%.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17So...yeah.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Just might run a bit.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Getting London to work on time is
0:05:32 > 0:05:35the responsibility of Howard Collins,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38chief operating officer of the Tube.
0:05:38 > 0:05:39It's like the race.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42The other times of the day are like the practice runs
0:05:42 > 0:05:46and, you know, the...it's an important time any time of the day.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50But that 100 metre final is every day
0:05:50 > 0:05:53at round about between eight o'clock and nine o'clock.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55That is the test of our performance.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58'Can I have the tube lines, please?'
0:05:58 > 0:05:59Each morning, senior managers carry out
0:05:59 > 0:06:02a postmortem of the previous day's service,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04using reports from across the network.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08'8:28, the Jubilee was suspended for track access.'
0:06:08 > 0:06:10'A metal object on the track.'
0:06:10 > 0:06:13'Traction current discharged...'
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Today, the troublesome Jubilee line is high on their agenda.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Presumably, they're going to go through that Jubilee...
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Blow by blow, George.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Early days to start pointing fingers,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28but I think we'll find all this out in the investigation.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30So that lost us about a third of the service
0:06:30 > 0:06:32yesterday on the Jubilee line.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34You know, you can't say, "Oh, well,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37"we're all here together, it doesn't really matter."
0:06:37 > 0:06:39People have got to know if it was a signal failure.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43If someone did the wrong job, they have to be accountable for it.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49The rank and file are also feeling the pressure.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Bank station is predicted to reach capacity within four years.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58If nothing is done, passengers will have to queue
0:06:58 > 0:07:01for an hour just to get into the station.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Rush hour starts from half six,
0:07:04 > 0:07:05seven o'clock.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Seven o'clock till ten is busy.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12- So the old notion of nine to five's a bit old-fashioned, then?- Very true.
0:07:12 > 0:07:13There's no nine to five.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20John Hodges is the control room assistant at Bank.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23It's just suits and boots going to work.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25I'll go to work, they're going to work.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28They're just rushing about from A to B.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31John monitors every corner of the station.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34As long as they're moving, it's OK.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37It's when they stop moving, it's a problem.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42I don't think they give themselves enough time to get from A to B.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46They're just moving like sheep.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49I'm an observer of people.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53'I've got a lady here on the gate line'
0:07:53 > 0:07:55'and she's dropped a glove on the track.'
0:07:55 > 0:07:57'She's just wondering if someone can get it. Over.'
0:07:57 > 0:08:00She's dropped her glove on the track,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03and she wants us to stop trains and pick it up?
0:08:03 > 0:08:05They're on drugs.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08PHONE RINGS
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- How long have you worked at Bank? - Too long.
0:08:12 > 0:08:1328 years.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Man and boy.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21John is also a second pair of eyes for the supervisor
0:08:21 > 0:08:23working down at the coalface.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29All right, Barnet service. This train is about to depart. Stand clear.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Bob came here as a new supervisor, he didn't have a number.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36I said, "What do you want to do?" He said, "well, I'm going out mobile."
0:08:38 > 0:08:41I said, "OK, Bob. You're Mobile Bob."
0:08:41 > 0:08:43He's been Mobile Bob for three years.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45Yeah, Mobile Bob to SCP.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47'Yeah, go ahead, Mobile Bob.'
0:08:47 > 0:08:51The other supervisors have got numbers. He's Mobile Bob.
0:08:51 > 0:08:52He likes it.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55'Highly delayed down towards city...'
0:08:55 > 0:08:57'Severe on the District...'
0:08:57 > 0:09:00..and still part-suspended on the Jubilee.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Good on the rest of the lines.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05We've got problems on a few lines,
0:09:05 > 0:09:07but it's not been too bad at the moment.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09This is flowing quite well.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Fingers crossed. So far, we're having a good morning.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Each line lays on up to 20 extra trains during peak hours,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24but it's a delicate balance.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Too few won't cope with the crowds. Too many will cause a jam.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34I'm at control. Train operators approaching Edgware Road,
0:09:34 > 0:09:35particularly on the eastbound,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38may be a tiny bit of congestion there for five minutes.
0:09:38 > 0:09:39We've got an additional train in the area.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Metropolitan line controller Simon Flatto
0:09:44 > 0:09:46must keep 100 trains running
0:09:46 > 0:09:49through 54 stations to a strict timetable.
0:09:49 > 0:09:50Hello, it's Simon at Met control.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Stick off platform 3, all the 4s, no movement...he's just gone. OK.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56'I'm a juggler.'
0:09:56 > 0:09:59I've got hot potatoes, and I don't want to burn my hands,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01so I've got to keep them moving and oh, OK,
0:10:01 > 0:10:03you can have that one...
0:10:03 > 0:10:04Oh, and you can have that one.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Oh! In comes another couple. Oh, right. Keep them going.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Basically you don't want it to stop.
0:10:09 > 0:10:10I don't want the wheels to stop turning.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15We influence half a million people's lives every day, you know,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18and we're almost like the silent force.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21My best explanation is you remind them of Thomas The Tank Engine
0:10:21 > 0:10:22and the Fat Controller,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26because people can get their heads round that.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Thank you, driver. Out.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31The yellow boxes, they're the stations.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33The smaller boxes in multi-colours,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36they are representative of a train,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39so you could be looking at anything from 500
0:10:39 > 0:10:42to 750 people on any one of those trains out there.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44In the central section,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47you basically want a train in every single platform.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50If you've got a train in a platform and another in the tunnel behind it,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54something's gone wrong, because in a tunnel, creates frustration,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57you've effectively created an additional stop for the train,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00and to stop a train and start it up again takes two minutes.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Every second counts on a journey.
0:11:05 > 0:11:06Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Welcome to Canary Wharf station. Please change here for the DLR.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13If you look at a tube map, it's veins.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16It's the veins through the heart of London.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19So if one of them gets broke or clogged up,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22not only do us staff have heart attacks,
0:11:22 > 0:11:24but the rest of the system has a heart attack.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27You've just got to look, the Underground's like a massive heart
0:11:27 > 0:11:29with all these veins going into it,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33and if it gets clogged up, it causes a problem.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42This morning, not all the veins are pumping normally.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Was there no announcement on the train?
0:11:57 > 0:12:00The tube itself has taken the unprecedented step
0:12:00 > 0:12:03of deliberately severing a section of the Circle line
0:12:03 > 0:12:05for a whole month.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Go to South Kensington on that one,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10- and then the Piccadilly line up.- OK.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11OK?
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Commuters are usually spared the pain of engineering work.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19But without weekday closure, this part of the upgrade
0:12:19 > 0:12:22would take six months to complete.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Yeah? Come on, crack on.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27All the track between High Street Kensington
0:12:27 > 0:12:30and Edgware Road is being dug up and replaced.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Let's go, then, lads.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35This part of the line has some of the oldest stations and tunnels
0:12:35 > 0:12:38on the network, dating back to the 1860s.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41One of the problems we have round this stretch is,
0:12:41 > 0:12:43we have a lot of flooding.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46That's caused by poor track form, poor drainage.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48What that gives us is constant signal failures,
0:12:48 > 0:12:53what that does is grinds down the reliability of the Circle line
0:12:53 > 0:12:54and the District line.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57This job is going to fix that.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Replacing two roads of track
0:13:01 > 0:13:03along a one-mile section is costing £10 million.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Ahead of the tracklayers, teams are working to improve drainage
0:13:09 > 0:13:13by digging a complex system of pipes into the earth.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16But London's clay can conceal surprises.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19- How we doing, lads? All right?- Yeah.
0:13:19 > 0:13:20What's the hold-up?
0:13:20 > 0:13:21It's a sewer.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25- That's one of the problems, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:13:25 > 0:13:26That drains into...
0:13:26 > 0:13:29- Into the main sewer, which is in the middle.- Yeah.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31One of the problems we've got here is,
0:13:31 > 0:13:32that's a sewer.
0:13:34 > 0:13:35As we go through here,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37we keep finding these.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41We knew a lot of them were there, and some we just come across,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43because they're not on any drawings
0:13:43 > 0:13:45and they've been lost in the mists of time.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48What they do is they hold us up.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55With Victorian sewer pipes blocking the planned trench for new pipes,
0:13:55 > 0:13:57the team is forced to improvise.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02We have to now dig this whole thing out by hand,
0:14:02 > 0:14:07and there's probably about 100-odd metres of it.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Behind this, of course, then we've got sand coming,
0:14:11 > 0:14:13we've got ballast coming,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17so these guys are running ahead of that programme,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21and if they slow up, then what they can do is,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24they can cause that programme to slow down behind them.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Back to the old days with navvies and shovels, isn't it?
0:14:29 > 0:14:32With the dig, drainage and installation of track
0:14:32 > 0:14:33happening simultaneously,
0:14:33 > 0:14:38there are up to 150 people working on the site at any one time.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41This is the bit in the railway industry people don't realise.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Everything's got to be done by hand.
0:14:44 > 0:14:45All these rails, they're 90 meters long,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47they've got to be lifted up by hand.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Machines designed to lay track on open sections of railway
0:14:51 > 0:14:55can't fit into the tight, curving tunnels of the underground.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Each 90-metre rail weighs five and a half tonnes.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02Imagine the rail like an elastic band.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07If you bend an elastic band, at the centre point, if the whole thing doesn't come over together,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10the rails will start whipping around.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12That's why we've got to do it together.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14You watch the end of the rail... Easy, lads!
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Easy!
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Watch your hands in there, mate!
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Go on, lads, bring it over.
0:15:24 > 0:15:25Steady!
0:15:25 > 0:15:26Go on, lads. Nice and easy.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32There you go. One rail in. Next rail to go.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34I think it's pressure all round.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38A lot of pressure comes all the way down from the Mayor's office, all the way down to us.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42They want to see results. Everybody wants to see results.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46And it's a challenging project.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53We need to do this stuff. Some of this rail was put in before you and I were born
0:15:53 > 0:15:56and probably before our dads were born.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00We've got to bring this stuff up to modern-day standards and make sure that it's fit
0:16:00 > 0:16:03for a 21st century railway.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11TANNOY: Ladies and gentlemen.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Service update from the Liverpool Street control room.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18On the Bakerloo line, there are severe delays due to a signal failure at Queen's Park.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24Control room assistant Mark Davies has worked on the tube for 14 years.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28From his lookout, he's learned what to expect from the 50,000 passengers
0:16:28 > 0:16:31who pass through his station during the peaks.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37It's quite a short window between somewhere around quarter past, twenty past eight
0:16:37 > 0:16:40to about twenty past nine.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43That's when everyone really is rammed in.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49I don't even know what everybody does in the City.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51I don't even know what all their jobs are.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56It's not like they sell something. You can't go to the Gherkin and say, "Give us a dozen of them, please."
0:16:56 > 0:16:59What do they do?!
0:16:59 > 0:17:00HE LAUGHS
0:17:00 > 0:17:03I don't... I don't know what people do!
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Check out the amount of customers now.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13I said 8.30 and you'll see a difference in customer flow.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16If you look at them customers, maybe all them three won't get on this train.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20It always baffles me why they don't make their way to the middle of the platform
0:17:20 > 0:17:23cos they could have got on this train, if they did.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Customer information. Please use all available space on the platform.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Move towards the centre of the platform, where you'll find there is plenty of room to stand
0:17:31 > 0:17:33and board your train safely.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36- Are they listening?- No, they don't listen, really.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40They can't. They have to stand there every morning.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43That guy there, he's been doing that for 30 years.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48They have to go to THAT carriage, to THAT door so that when they arrive at their station,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52they are closest to the escalator or the first one out of the station.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54It is a rat race.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57- TANNOY:- Please use the alternative routes available. King's Cross...
0:17:57 > 0:18:01But in the rat race, every small advantage helps.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03- TANNOY:- We are not moving at present...
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Why did you choose this seat?
0:18:12 > 0:18:15This seat? It's nice and out of the way.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Also, I've got the heater under here.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19It's one of the warmest places.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24And it's close to the door so when I go to Baker Street, I get a quick exit.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28So, have to plan these things properly, you know.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37- RECORDED MESSAGE:- ..change for the Central line.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39Get ready to run!
0:18:39 > 0:18:42You can see why I get on to this carriage.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47I was good at the 100 metres at school. If you're good at sport, you can do the tube!
0:18:47 > 0:18:49Seat.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57If we'd got on more up the train, we wouldn't have got a seat. It's kind of your strategy...
0:18:57 > 0:18:59- RECORDED MESSAGE: - This is Marble Arch.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01..getting a seat. Wow!
0:19:01 > 0:19:03If you look at it like that, it's sad!
0:19:03 > 0:19:04SHE LAUGHS
0:19:07 > 0:19:09I think it's today's society, isn't it?
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Everywhere, you've got to be somewhere, you got to do this,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16you've got to cram as much into a day as you possibly can.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Everyone's just got it in their head that they need to make that train.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23They need to get on that train because there's not gonna be another train following in a minute.
0:19:23 > 0:19:28That minute is just going to be the world of difference for some people.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31This is it. We've got the and the tunnel now
0:19:31 > 0:19:32so this is Baker Street.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Here we go. Get in position now.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Fighting for position on the stairs.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49And some people will actually run round the back just to get a few yards
0:19:49 > 0:19:53but...when it's like this, I like to do things properly.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00One commuter has taken the desire to be in poll position a step further.
0:20:02 > 0:20:08I was finding myself travelling from the office to various places or from home to various other places
0:20:08 > 0:20:11and I noticed that
0:20:11 > 0:20:14if I got on the right door of the right carriage,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19it would place me adjacent to the exit that I needed. I thought, when that happened,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21it was generally by coincidence.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23It made me feel, strangely, really good.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28I thought, "Maybe I don't need to put it down to chance any longer.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33"What about if I started recording which door of which carriage to get off
0:20:33 > 0:20:37"so I'll always be the first one off? and adjacent to the exit that I need?"
0:20:39 > 0:20:42I got on the tube every morning and rode the whole London Underground
0:20:42 > 0:20:47and marked out which door of which carriage to board for all of the stations
0:20:47 > 0:20:48all 700 platforms
0:20:48 > 0:20:51and all, must be, 4,000 interchanges.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57I've still got some of the original records.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01You can see that there's lots of them.
0:21:01 > 0:21:07I'd literally have it pre-planned and printed out in terms of which of the stations
0:21:07 > 0:21:11in sequential order and where there would be a transfer.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I just have to then mark which direction that the train entered the platform
0:21:15 > 0:21:19and the appropriate door of each carriage.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Hands up, I'm definitely a tube geek at least!
0:21:22 > 0:21:24Maybe a geek in other ways.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29There is an element of obsessiveness to get the whole network but then I don't think there's any point
0:21:29 > 0:21:32just doing it for the busy stations.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35People need it, even here out at Cockfosters.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38To know that you can get off the front door of the first carriage
0:21:38 > 0:21:44just saves that walking, which can be late at night. Just that little bit of timesaving
0:21:44 > 0:21:45more than trying to beat the crowds.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52Lance has now sold a phone application based on his research to more than 100,000 other
0:21:52 > 0:21:55time-conscious commuters.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57TANNOY: ..the Hammersmith and City line.
0:21:58 > 0:22:04226, platform 2. Reform to 261 for the Hammersmith westbound 8.47.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06It's the peak of the peak.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11Even a minor incident can now escalate into major delays.
0:22:12 > 0:22:18We've had a train sitting down at King's Cross for 15 to an additional 30 seconds.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Now you can see the trains are bunched up in the tunnels.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25The knock-on impact of 15 seconds of someone holding the doors
0:22:25 > 0:22:28so there mate can grab the train and not spill their coffee
0:22:28 > 0:22:33is, basically, one, two, three, four, five trains have all had an additional stop.
0:22:33 > 0:22:40That's ten minutes of extra railway time lost because
0:22:40 > 0:22:42we can't gain that time back.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47The immediate train behind will be two minutes late. Four trains back, it'll be ten minutes late.
0:22:47 > 0:22:54All because one person wanted to hold the doors just so they could say, "See you Saturday to their late.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57That's why it says please don't obstruct the doors, it'll cause delays.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03The knock-on effect is 1,000 people behind have been delayed by somewhere in the region of
0:23:03 > 0:23:07about ten minutes each. That's massive.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09PHONE RINGS
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Stand back against the walls, please, as the train comes in. Stand away from the platform edge.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15Train is approaching.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18"Stand behind the yellow line, please. Stand behind the white line."
0:23:18 > 0:23:22Why are they standing so close to the edge?
0:23:22 > 0:23:26The train is moving out. They're still standing there. Look.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34See that guy at the end? He's over the yellow line.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36He's obviously oblivious to it all.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Now he's stepped back.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40I wouldn't stand at the front if I was a passenger.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43It only takes one little nudge...
0:23:45 > 0:23:48It could be fatal, really.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Essential gate line. Take out another gate, please.
0:23:54 > 0:23:55Take out another gate.
0:23:56 > 0:24:02At Bank Station, the number of people moving from one line to another has grown by 40%
0:24:02 > 0:24:04in the last ten years.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07It's stacking up, one after the other now.
0:24:07 > 0:24:13See how you've got this knot of people all trying to squeeze onto that escalator.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Staff have worked out a system to deal with bottlenecks.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23A science of people movement that buys valuable seconds.
0:24:23 > 0:24:31We're trying to slow people down, make them walk an extra ten paces round to an exit - slows them down.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35If you want the Central line, down this corridor and turn left for the Central line.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Down this corridor and turn left for the Central line.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Pull it across. Yeah, pull it across.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48If you try and spread the crowd out because they're getting congested at the bottom of this escalator,
0:24:48 > 0:24:53what you try and do is thin the crowd out, make them walk a bit longer round this block to thin it out.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Also, there's another exit to the Central line along there.
0:24:55 > 0:25:00If they walk along there, it's quicker to walk along there than it is to get up this escalator.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04It's about trying to manage the crowds.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08We're trying to make it quicker for people to get off the stations and safer.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10But people don't always appreciate that.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Central line and exit down this way, turn left.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Down this corridor, turn left.
0:25:16 > 0:25:17That way. Way out? Yeah.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Down there and turn left, my love.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25He's closing the gate again now so the people coming up will see a closed gate,
0:25:25 > 0:25:30and they'll think, "Why is he making me walk all the way around, when all I have to do is go straight across?"
0:25:30 > 0:25:36They have no understanding, when we do something like that, it is for a reason.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39It's not just to have a go at them.
0:25:39 > 0:25:40"Let's pay back.
0:25:40 > 0:25:46"For all those times that somebody swore at me. Let's close a gate and make them walk a bit further."
0:25:46 > 0:25:47It's not like that.
0:25:47 > 0:25:53Anyone for the Central line, it would be quicker going down that corridor, up the stairs for the Central line.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58Some of the things people do, if they saw themselves on camera, they wouldn't believe it.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03Some people will try and dive in a closing door. It's dangerous.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06If they watch themselves do it, they'll think, "What am I doing?"
0:26:06 > 0:26:09You look at the board and the next train is in a minute. It's unbelievable.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13They'll push and jostle each other. There's no manners. Ask anyone here,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16you know, is it any fun travelling to and from work?
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Nine out of ten are going to say, "No, it's horrendous."
0:26:19 > 0:26:24For the Central line and exit down this corridor and turn left. For the Central line and exit
0:26:24 > 0:26:26down this corridor, turn left.
0:26:26 > 0:26:32A station supervisor shepherding crowds is one way to keep people moving.
0:26:32 > 0:26:38But there are more subtle methods at play. Paul Marchant is part of a design team
0:26:38 > 0:26:42that uses signage to speed up the flow.
0:26:42 > 0:26:43As you come in, you use the gate line
0:26:43 > 0:26:45and then you enter into the decision point.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50The idea is that all the information you need to make a decision, once you enter the system,
0:26:50 > 0:26:52is here and readily available.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56You look up, you have a colour-coded Central line, the Northern line, the Waterloo line,
0:26:56 > 0:26:57the Docklands Light Railway.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59It's called phased disclosure.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04What we do is we give people enough information to make decisions at that particular point.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07But we're not giving them too much information to overload them.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12The point size that we use, the size of the lettering
0:27:12 > 0:27:15has to be a certain point size. They are called x heights. In other words,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18if you're ten yards away the size of the lettering has to be so high,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22if you're 15 yards away, it has to be so high and so on.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25It's all about your sight lines or your sight distances.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33As we're moving along the interconnecting passageway, we're coming to the escalator.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35This is a decision-making point.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39We have a suspended signage, reassuring us
0:27:39 > 0:27:41that we are going in the right direction.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43As we get down to the bottom of the escalator,
0:27:43 > 0:27:47there will be a decision-making point again.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50A decision-making point here. We have a piece of suspended signage
0:27:50 > 0:27:53and again a split.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56The Northern line splits, either southbound or northbound.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00You're aiding the flow because you don't want people to dwell here.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05As you move on to the platform, as a point of reassurance,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09you have a repetition of that signage as a large-scale.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15Without the signage, people wouldn't be able to make decisions at particular points
0:28:15 > 0:28:17and then things would start backing up.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20People would back onto the platforms,
0:28:20 > 0:28:25people wouldn't be able to get on the trains, get off the trains so the system would slow down.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30That's what design does. It enables a system to work more efficiently.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33There is an enormous pleasure in doing that, but when you talk about it,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36people are puzzled at what I do for a living.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38They think it happens by itself.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42But it doesn't. It's a very considered way that things are done on the underground.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50It's not just people that clog up the system.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Rubbish and litter is a big problem here. The newspapers
0:28:54 > 0:28:59that are given away freely are thrown about the station...freely.
0:28:59 > 0:29:04We have to deal with two tonnes of newspapers at this station.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Leave them on the trains, platforms, anywhere.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12Throw them on the seats, on the top of the escalators, bottom of the escalators.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15They just cause hassle.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22This is the busy part of the station, paperwise.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26Sometimes, you get people just throw it on the floor.
0:29:26 > 0:29:27It does get on your nerves.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30I have worked here five years.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34When I first started, the free papers were not here. But since the Metro's come in,
0:29:34 > 0:29:40it's definitely increased our workload.
0:29:41 > 0:29:47If one puts one on the bottom of the escalator then...
0:29:47 > 0:29:51everyone else thinks it's all right for them to put it there, so...
0:29:58 > 0:30:02I just got a call to say someone's not well up at exit number six.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05All I know is that it's a female who's not well and can't move, so...
0:30:07 > 0:30:08That's as much as I know.
0:30:08 > 0:30:13More than 300 passengers a year faint on the underground.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18A young woman at Bank needs help after falling ill on her journey.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20Code one on the spiral stairs going down.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27While staff tend to the passenger at street level,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31mobile Bob is alerted to a second incident down in the station.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35Yeah, I'm going to go down here, there's another one - someone's
0:30:35 > 0:30:38fallen down the stairs going down to the Northern line from the Central.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41- I need some details.- OK.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43RADIO: 59 you're...
0:30:45 > 0:30:48It's so busy now, there's a lot of congestion.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50We're going to try and get them
0:30:50 > 0:30:52moved to an area out the way of all the crowds.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58She's cut her nose and everything else, she's aged 23.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02Let's have another look now, love. Think you might need a stitching.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07- You feel OK?- Yeah.- But shaken? - Yeah.- Course, yeah. Course.
0:31:07 > 0:31:12Yeah, we've got an ambulance or paramedic coming at exit six,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14staff are at exit six.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18All right, for them to come and treat you down here, it's going
0:31:18 > 0:31:23to cause chaos and it's not a very good area to treat you in anyway.
0:31:23 > 0:31:24Right.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27RADIO: You're going to get a few more people going round...
0:31:27 > 0:31:30BLEEP so obviously they can't get down the BLEEP spirals so just let them through, please?
0:31:30 > 0:31:34Shut it! Right, an ambulance crew is on their way down to you.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41The ambulance crew is on its way to you, do not pass each other!
0:31:41 > 0:31:45Yeah, mobile to Gate line, hold the ambulance on the Gate line
0:31:45 > 0:31:48please, hold the ambulance on the Gate line, we're coming up.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Yeah, the other side there, the other side now.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54They're just coming on the west.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57- All right?- Yeah.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01She's fell on the stairs, split her nose as you can see.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04- Lot of blood and that.- How many stairs did you fall down, my love?
0:32:04 > 0:32:08Barely has the second casualty been seen to than another is reported.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10Yeah, go ahead 35.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Yeah, I need a first aid team at platform four...
0:32:17 > 0:32:22This is mobile, first aider required down on four.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28Before you go, we've got another woman downstairs who's fallen
0:32:28 > 0:32:30and bashed her head. I know.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33That's not the one that the paramedics came, I've got a third one.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35Going down the stairs, hit her head on the floor.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39- What's going on down there? - I don't know, listen, it's one of them mornings.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41What are you doing to me today, John,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44with people collapsing everywhere?
0:32:44 > 0:32:47We now have three casualties, the third one which is the one on platform four,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50I'm going to make my way down now with a member of the ambulance crew.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53We've got paramedics on site
0:32:53 > 0:32:55and an ambulance crew is coming down to you, Imran.
0:32:55 > 0:33:00See, wish you hadn't come now. It don't rain, it pours! Honestly.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02You get mornings when nothing happens
0:33:02 > 0:33:05and now this is the third one within ten minutes, it's just...
0:33:05 > 0:33:07You just can't tell what's going to happen.
0:33:07 > 0:33:13They're like flies, ain't they, this morning? Flipping heck.
0:33:13 > 0:33:18- You're not wrong.- Keep left, keep left! Keep left. Keep left, please.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21- What's your name?- Carly.- Carly, OK. I'm Simon. What happened?
0:33:21 > 0:33:24- Just fainted.- We're you on the train at the time?- Yeah.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Do you want to move along, my love, do you want to move along?
0:33:27 > 0:33:28You're blocking up the platform there a bit.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30- Are female passengers common fainters?- Yes.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35Why do you think that is?
0:33:35 > 0:33:40Cos they're female and they don't listen. They don't have breakfast.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42They don't eat in the morning.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47Did you say you didn't have any breakfast this morning?
0:33:47 > 0:33:49- Yeah, no I didn't. Never have breakfast.- Oh really?
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Cos we get a lot of people faint cos they haven't had breakfast.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55- She's been standing up for 25 minutes. That's why, I'd imagine. - Yeah.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59- Yeah, 50 to, uh... Yeah, you receiving, over?- Go ahead, Paul.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05Yeah, are you on your way down to platform four with some water?
0:34:05 > 0:34:11- Want any soda in this? Lime? - You took your time, bro!
0:34:11 > 0:34:14He's got you a martini, I don't know if that's any good.
0:34:14 > 0:34:15Thank you very much.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22- We've got another one, Dan. - What is going on today?! Fourth one!
0:34:22 > 0:34:23It's a busy day.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Platform four again.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31You're not going to believe this,
0:34:31 > 0:34:33I think we've got another one up the platform.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35Yeah, there's another one up the end of the platform, over.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39- Right.- No, sir, I got two... I got many things going off.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42- Yeah, it happens quite a lot to me. - Does it?- Yeah.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48- We've got an ambulance, paramedic here.- No, no. I'm fine!- You're fine?
0:34:48 > 0:34:55- I'm sure you are. What's your name? - Mel.- Mel, I'm Simon. Right.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59- Bit of a busy morning this morning. - I'm sorry.- It's all right.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01Have you been standing up on the train?
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Yeah, just come from Stockwell. Yeah.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09And you've been standing? How long?
0:35:09 > 0:35:12Yeah, both the mobile.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16Yeah, 50 receiving, state your message.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19Well, I may need your medical assistance
0:35:19 > 0:35:21on platform ten in a minute.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28- Yeah, can I have details please, John. Over.- Yeah, I'm awaiting them.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31Don't move. Don't move, that man.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36I should keep my mouth shut.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38That's been my record now, five in a row.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42- Where's this lady who fainted? - Platform ten.- Platform ten.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47- How long have you been standing up on the train for?- Uh, I don't know.
0:35:47 > 0:35:4950 receiving, state your message.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53Right, platform four, shoe has now fallen onto the track,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56obviously you'll need to contact the controller.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00Arrange protection to retrieve, over.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03Yeah, received.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06I think that's going to have to wait a minute, Phil, we're still dealing
0:36:06 > 0:36:09with this lady on platform ten who's going to require medical assistance.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14Um, soon as I get a chance I'll pop up and see the person on four but it might have to wait a bit.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18This happens a lot - they're running for the train, specially with their
0:36:18 > 0:36:21flat shoes, the shoe goes like that, under the train and onto the track.
0:36:21 > 0:36:27Ordinarily, if I wasn't so busy, what I'd do was hold a train,
0:36:27 > 0:36:30discharge the traction current
0:36:30 > 0:36:32so there's no electricity running through the rail, get down, pick
0:36:32 > 0:36:35up the shoe, give it back, traction current on, train's on the way.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38That can all be done in less than a minute.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40If I wasn't dealing with all this as well.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43But really, that's going to have to wait.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46If she wants to hang about and wait ten minutes till we get this lady sorted.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52Good fun. To me it's fun.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56And I don't mind ducking and diving, I think, "Yeah, that's the game."
0:36:56 > 0:37:02East end boy. East end boy, I love it. Good game, good game.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06With five potential delays averted,
0:37:06 > 0:37:09mobile Bob has one remaining obstacle to clear.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16So, we're holding the train in protection.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22Because the shoe is not near the live rail,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25Bob can reach is safely without switching off the power.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29Yeah, 50 to SCP.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Retrieved the shoe from the track, just going to bring
0:37:33 > 0:37:35the line controller, thank you for his assistance.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40It don't rain it pours. Anyone else? Is there anyone else, any more?
0:37:40 > 0:37:44Yeah, I was going to push someone under a train right now.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48I can open a vein for you or something. Anything? Take me wallet.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51There's a lot of unspoken understanding between the staff,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53it's a really good team there.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56You can imagine if we were dealing with that
0:37:56 > 0:38:00sort of level of incidents in the Olympics, everyone's going to
0:38:00 > 0:38:04be stretched, everyone's got to be on their game, but they are.
0:38:04 > 0:38:05Really good staff.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07Really good staff.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12Base to all staff, all staff, thank you, got rid of a nice morning now.
0:38:12 > 0:38:13Well done.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Cheers.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Terminates here.
0:38:23 > 0:38:24All change!
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Between the peaks, the underground can afford to slow down a little,
0:38:30 > 0:38:35but behind the scenes work steps up as line controllers release
0:38:35 > 0:38:39up to a fifth of their trains for much-needed maintenance.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43Central line trains are serviced at Hainault depot at the eastern
0:38:43 > 0:38:44end of the line.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47Rush hour is just tailing off at the moment.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50We've got roughly round about five hours to
0:38:50 > 0:38:51do all the tasks that we need to do.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57The Central line stock is twenty years old
0:38:57 > 0:38:59and the trains have up to a million and a half miles on the clock.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05One of the jobs today is to replace a worn set of wheels.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07We test it, make sure all the
0:39:07 > 0:39:10breaks work, we've got traction forward and reverse movement
0:39:10 > 0:39:14then it'll be back on the track.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16Is that the way they like it?
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Well yeah, they like having trains on the track!
0:39:19 > 0:39:22Keeps London moving, doesn't it?
0:39:22 > 0:39:25If you do a good job they do appreciate it,
0:39:25 > 0:39:26the bosses will thank you.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31Doesn't happen often though.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35- How about the passengers?- We never see the passengers, there's no...
0:39:35 > 0:39:41We're stuck in the depot. All we see are the trains. That's all we see.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45Which is fine with us, really.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Central line trains are also being refurbished in preparation
0:39:50 > 0:39:52for the Olympics.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56After two decades of pummelling during the rush hour,
0:39:56 > 0:40:00all 23,000 seats are being ripped out and replaced.
0:40:00 > 0:40:01Oh, my word!
0:40:03 > 0:40:05Paul Marchant was behind the commission
0:40:05 > 0:40:07for the new seat cover design.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11This is the new London Underground moquette,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14and the moquette is a woollen tufted fabric.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19If you get on a tube train in Stockholm or Sydney or Adelaide
0:40:19 > 0:40:25or Montreal, you get a bucket seat or a plastic seat or a metal seat.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Well in London you get moquette and if you close your eyes and turned up in the city
0:40:28 > 0:40:31and sat on the tube you'd know it was a London Underground train.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36The colours that we chose were all the colours that you see on the tube map
0:40:36 > 0:40:39and the idea that it should reflect a modern London.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42There's about four London landmarks on there.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47The London Eye is kind of there, you might have, maybe a famous place
0:40:47 > 0:40:50where Royal weddings happen,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53and you might have a clock, kind of here.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56I think the important thing is that the design works well close up
0:40:56 > 0:41:01but as you pull back it creates a kind of abstract repeat that's
0:41:01 > 0:41:03pleasing to the eye too.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08WHISTLE BLOWS
0:41:12 > 0:41:17Anything that slows down work in the depot can slow down service.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19WHISTLE BLOWS
0:41:19 > 0:41:23So the underground's most unlikely employee has been called to Hainault.
0:41:23 > 0:41:28The problem with the pigeons in the depots is this -
0:41:28 > 0:41:32you've got droppings all over the floor.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35If you've got chaps that are working on the trains,
0:41:35 > 0:41:39they don't particularly want to get covered in pigeon...crap.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43A load of pigeon have settled on the roof as we've been speaking now.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Yeah, it's just really a health hazard.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49WHISTLE BLOWS
0:41:51 > 0:41:54We're not really here to catch the pigeons as such,
0:41:54 > 0:41:58we're here to deter them from coming in here in the first place
0:41:58 > 0:42:03cos what you want to get into the pigeons' minds is that the hawk
0:42:03 > 0:42:07has taken up residence here so it's not a safe place for them to be.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10So they move on somewhere else.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15Six odd years ago when I started here,
0:42:15 > 0:42:19we went in and we had to do a cull. There was no other way for it
0:42:19 > 0:42:23and we actually shot 40 birds in one evening.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27It was absolutely rife, there was pigeon mess everywhere - so much
0:42:27 > 0:42:32so that they had to close part of the depot, it was just unworkable.
0:42:32 > 0:42:37But now, the hawk just keeps in down to an acceptable level.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40Maybe two or three pigeons and that's it.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44- Why did you name her Toyah? - Oh, Toyah!
0:42:44 > 0:42:48That's going back to my youth!
0:42:48 > 0:42:51About 16 years ago you had Toyah Wilcox and, oh,
0:42:51 > 0:42:54I just fell in love with her.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57Do you think she's better to work with that another person.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59Oh yeah, definitely.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03We're going long in the van and I don't get her going,
0:43:03 > 0:43:08"Oh, you should have turned left there," Or, "Turn right!" Or whatever. None of that!
0:43:17 > 0:43:20Even the quieter times of day can spring nasty surprises.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25What's happened to the Jubilee line?
0:43:25 > 0:43:27Is it not working? Oh, no!
0:43:27 > 0:43:31It's two o'clock in the afternoon.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33Part of the Jubilee line
0:43:33 > 0:43:36has been suspended for over an hour due to a power failure.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43More than 700 people have been stuck on two stalled trains
0:43:43 > 0:43:46just outside Bond Street.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48The passengers have finally been led along the track and up to
0:43:48 > 0:43:53the platform under the supervision of tube chief Howard Collins.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57There must have been about how many people on that first train? 300?
0:43:57 > 0:44:02Easy, I think the original estimate was 350 and about 400 on train two.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05- One pregnant lady.- Two pregnant.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07Two pregnant ladies, several young children...
0:44:07 > 0:44:11The trouble started when old communication wires
0:44:11 > 0:44:14running along the tunnel wall fell across the track,
0:44:14 > 0:44:16short-circuiting the power supply.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19When the tunnel was built in the mid-'70s
0:44:19 > 0:44:24it's bore through very wet ground which actually leaks
0:44:24 > 0:44:26and the water drips through the tunnel.
0:44:26 > 0:44:32And that water gets on the cables and is a very corrosive substance.
0:44:32 > 0:44:33We clean it very regularly
0:44:33 > 0:44:39but somehow one of the brackets holding these two wires to the wall has broken.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44My concern is it's quarter past two.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48We've got to get that service back up and running for the evening peak.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52- PA SYSTEM:- Ladies and gentlemen, the Jubilee line is part suspended.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57Waterloo to Finchley Road - there is no westbound service from this platform.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01We do apologise for any delay or inconvenience to your journey today.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04This is all due to a power failure within the Bond Street area.
0:45:06 > 0:45:07With part of the line down,
0:45:07 > 0:45:11trains coming from East London now have to terminate at Waterloo.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16- Hello, sir, you OK? - There's no westbound service?
0:45:16 > 0:45:18Not at the moment. Where are you travelling to?
0:45:18 > 0:45:21I'm going... I want to get on to the District line
0:45:21 > 0:45:23so presumably I've got to go Bakerloo.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26If you take the Northern Line, it's the better interchange for you.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30The suspension is an inconvenience for the afternoon crowd
0:45:30 > 0:45:33but in two hours time London's busiest tube station
0:45:33 > 0:45:37will be inundated by 60,000 commuters heading home.
0:45:39 > 0:45:44I presume they haven't given any prognosis about the Jubilee line?
0:45:44 > 0:45:46They'll run a special service, will they?
0:45:46 > 0:45:49In the Network Operation Centre,
0:45:49 > 0:45:52Andy Hogg is coping with the Jubilee line failure.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54The question now is what to tell the public.
0:45:54 > 0:46:00Every piece of real-time passenger travel information people receive,
0:46:00 > 0:46:02it comes from here, from that desk there.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04It all originates here.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08So we've got to think of a way of telling people what's going on
0:46:08 > 0:46:10by putting out a delay message.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12And what we've got to tell people is either,
0:46:12 > 0:46:16"You're going to be delayed but stick with us, we'll get you there as quick as we can,"
0:46:16 > 0:46:18or in this case, "You're going to be severely delayed.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21"If there's an alternative route available, take it.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23"Try going another route because it'll probably be quicker."
0:46:26 > 0:46:27Silver Control, over.
0:46:27 > 0:46:28Oh!
0:46:31 > 0:46:33That's definitely current on.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37With power restored to the track at Bond Street,
0:46:37 > 0:46:41engineers can now move the two stuck trains out of the tunnel
0:46:41 > 0:46:43to asses the damage.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48So that's what caused the problem.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51This got wrapped round both trains.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54You can see it's all bits of copper cable.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57This is the emergency way of taking power off
0:46:57 > 0:47:00and thus the emergency communication of the radio systems.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02So this is an important piece of kit for us.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06It's been around as a design for 100 years.
0:47:06 > 0:47:11It's a very safe system but it can be problematic in certain conditions.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14The Jubilee line must remain suspended
0:47:14 > 0:47:18until all the damaged wire has been cleared from the track
0:47:18 > 0:47:19and fixed to the tunnel wall.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24In this case, there's a bit of acid coming through corroding tunnel wires
0:47:24 > 0:47:26but which bit of tunnel wire do you check
0:47:26 > 0:47:29because there's hundreds of miles of it?
0:47:29 > 0:47:31There are hundreds of millions,
0:47:31 > 0:47:34if not billions, of pieces of kit out there.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36Absolutely countless amounts of kit.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40And how do you proactively check every single one
0:47:40 > 0:47:42to make sure it's not going to break?
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Cody, it's Howard Collins here.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47Can you get hold of the station supervisor upstairs and ask him
0:47:47 > 0:47:51if he's got staff to assist on the lower circulating area
0:47:51 > 0:47:53for the Jubilee line, OK?
0:47:54 > 0:47:57I'm on my own. Everyone is looking confused.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01- We're going to Westminster. - Westminster?
0:48:01 > 0:48:05Go to Oxford Circus, change on the Bakerloo line, to Embankment.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08- Oh! Why is this? - It's broken.- It's broken.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12- Kaput. Not working, unfortunately. - Is it not better to go...
0:48:12 > 0:48:14No, it'll take longer. Believe me, I've been here 34 years.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16I know what I'm doing.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19I've got 12,000 staff. I just need one or two of them down here.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29What are those guys doing sitting over there? Relaxing.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31Probably having a break.
0:48:32 > 0:48:37Well, there's a lot of clearing up to do so it's all hands to the pump.
0:48:37 > 0:48:45The closed section of the Circle line is due to open tomorrow morning in time for rush hour.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48So all of this rail is all pinned properly, is it?
0:48:48 > 0:48:52Yeah, it's held in with two pins there holding it together
0:48:52 > 0:48:53to stop it moving around.
0:48:53 > 0:48:59First signal failure we get because any rail down here shifts,
0:48:59 > 0:49:01you get shot.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03That's right, that's why it's pinned.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06I'll take a photograph of every one, George, if you want.
0:49:06 > 0:49:07Yeah, all right.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14It's going all right. It's going all right.
0:49:15 > 0:49:16What we're picking up, really,
0:49:16 > 0:49:19is the little kind of house-keeping bits.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23Leaving clamps and bits and pieces round the side of the track
0:49:23 > 0:49:26is fundamentally unhealthy for our railway.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30These rails actually form the signalling system.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35If that signalling system is compromised by a piece of metal,
0:49:35 > 0:49:37we have a signal failure.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40And I think everyone in London and the country knows what happens
0:49:40 > 0:49:41if we have a signal failure.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45It grinds the railway down and somebody has to come along a fix it.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49So what we've got to make sure is that we sweep through and hoover all this stuff up
0:49:49 > 0:49:52and make sure there's no possibility for that to happen.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54Keep going.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57You're never complacent. You can't afford to be
0:49:57 > 0:50:01otherwise something will come out of leftfield and bite you.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05But I think, so far, we've got it all under control.
0:50:05 > 0:50:06He says.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13Good luck and I'll be back, as they say.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17- PA SYSTEM:- Once again, stand clear, please.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19Allow passengers off this train first.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22The Jubilee line is finally up and running again...
0:50:22 > 0:50:24Please move right down inside the cars.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28..but it's now the evening rush hour and there's still a problem.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34Every train is not where it's supposed to be.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36The wrong crew is driving the wrong trains
0:50:36 > 0:50:38in the wrong direction at the wrong time.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40You have to put in a special service.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42Just keep the trains a certain amount of space apart.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45Keep them all running to all destinations as best you can.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Get everyone home and then when we've got a little breathing space later,
0:50:48 > 0:50:50then we can start chopping and changing and reversing trains
0:50:50 > 0:50:52and getting everything back to how it should be.
0:50:52 > 0:50:53Thank you very much.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57Right.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00Yeah, well, don't waste too much time trying to get signals on site.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04If they're saying it's glowing then it's glowing so let's not fanny around.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06To make matters worse for Howard and his team,
0:51:06 > 0:51:09reports are coming in of a new electrical fault.
0:51:10 > 0:51:15Jubilee line. There's now a separate problem.
0:51:15 > 0:51:21There is a glowing chair earthing every time a train goes through
0:51:21 > 0:51:24in the Swiss Cottage area.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27A rail chair is the running rails,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30ie the rails that the wheels of the trains go on.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33You can tell, they're the shinny ones, smaller ones.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Every few yards or so
0:51:35 > 0:51:40they sit in a metal clasp that fixes to the sleeper.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42And that's called a rail chair.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45It's basically a holder, a vice, that the rail sits in.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49They're saying there's a problem with the rail chair and that might be where the earth is
0:51:49 > 0:51:53but that's not the rail that holds the traction current which is what is earthing out
0:51:53 > 0:51:56so I can't... We'll look more into this and find out what's going on.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59They want traction off to go under.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03They want it off, so there's the change then.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05Yeah, using a dual span.
0:52:05 > 0:52:06No, they want it off.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12Now commuters face even more delays while traction, or power,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15is switched off to allow engineers to investigate.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18It is an important line,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21not only because it carries 500,000 people every day
0:52:21 > 0:52:26but it is the line which serves City Hall, Canary Wharf,
0:52:26 > 0:52:28with some really important people.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30From the commissioner downwards,
0:52:30 > 0:52:32if something goes wrong with the Jubilee line,
0:52:32 > 0:52:33even if it has a little cough,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36everyone asks us what's going on and when it'll be fixed.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39- PA SYSTEM:- Ladies and gentlemen,
0:52:39 > 0:52:42there are currently severe delays on the Jubilee line.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44With one line delayed,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47displaced passengers trying their luck elsewhere,
0:52:47 > 0:52:51which means more customers changing at Bank.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53It's manic.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57It's organised chaos, I suppose, is the best term to call it.
0:52:57 > 0:52:58Down this way and turn left, please.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02Central line, Waterloo And City line.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06Central line, Waterloo And City line, down this way and turn left, please.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09When the Jubilee line has a problem, a lot of Jubilee customers
0:53:09 > 0:53:12will divert through Bank, usually on the Docklands Light Railway.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15There are more people than normal here tonight
0:53:15 > 0:53:17because Jubilee's had a problem all afternoon.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20People have to have to get through the system somehow.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22One part's blocked, people go another way.
0:53:22 > 0:53:23This is the other way.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26Do not stop halfway, please. Do not stop halfway.
0:53:26 > 0:53:32It's ridiculous that they can't control the undergrounds really.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34And you the number of people on the platforms like this
0:53:34 > 0:53:37and they don't have the infrastructure in place
0:53:37 > 0:53:40to support to number of people around this area.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43It's just unacceptable.
0:53:43 > 0:53:49I mean, it's outrageous that the taxpayer's being pressurised
0:53:49 > 0:53:53or being forced into paying additional fare increases, right,
0:53:53 > 0:53:56for a service that is inefficient, doesn't actually work.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59There's been a multi-billion pound investment into the tube system
0:53:59 > 0:54:03for the last two years and it still doesn't work.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06- PA SYSTEM:- Your next train will be with us in about four minutes.
0:54:06 > 0:54:11Every peak, I am judged, not just by the politicians or the boss,
0:54:11 > 0:54:14but by every single customer who travels round the network.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18My feedback is instantaneous.
0:54:18 > 0:54:24I've only got to walk around the system and I can feel how people feel.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28Everyone's off the track now.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31Can they call the controller, tell him that?
0:54:31 > 0:54:34Yeah, and if you can call the line controller straightaway,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36tell him you're all clear.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39OK, mate. Cheers, John. Bye.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Finally, after six hours of disruption
0:54:44 > 0:54:47and too late for all but the last commuters,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50normal service is resumed on the Jubilee line.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55Technicians have discovered what was behind the day's second electrical problem.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00You know how they say you learn something new every day?
0:55:00 > 0:55:03When you get an incident, the first thing that you're told is wrong,
0:55:03 > 0:55:07it invariably turns out that it's actually something else that's gone wrong.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12It was fuse. Just a little fuse. Probably a little circuit breaker.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16But it's the circuit that actually tells us there's a fault...was faulty.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19Now you know what we have to deal with on a daily basis.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25Seven o'clock, everybody. Well done out there.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29Well done. We got through a heavy peak tonight. Well done. Thank you.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31Game's up.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33Dinner time.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39It's home-time for some but for engineers on the Circle line,
0:55:39 > 0:55:41work is continuing.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44It must be ready to re-open in the morning.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47The final countdown.
0:55:47 > 0:55:52So there's a load of people running around doing a load of last-minute stuff.
0:55:52 > 0:55:58We've go the last 15 metre section of rail that's got to go in.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01That provides the traction current, the current that powers the trains.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04So we've got to connect up that last bit.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11Now this is the last bit of the puzzle.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14So the sooner we get this finished,
0:56:14 > 0:56:18the sooner we can turn power on to the whole lot
0:56:18 > 0:56:19and then we can get our trains
0:56:19 > 0:56:24that are waiting down at Earl's Court triangle.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27We can get them out and run them up and down
0:56:27 > 0:56:30and test their systems to make sure everything's OK.
0:56:38 > 0:56:43Just everywhere you look, there's another bit of work to do isn't there?
0:56:43 > 0:56:48It's the first time that we've had significant investment in the Underground
0:56:48 > 0:56:51for generations.
0:56:52 > 0:56:58And putting all this stuff right. It's just such a massive task.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09With all the work successfully completed,
0:57:09 > 0:57:11George McInulty can catch the first test train
0:57:11 > 0:57:14before giving the go-ahead for the line to re-open.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17You know, people go onto a platform and they look at the DMI -
0:57:17 > 0:57:19the Dot Matrix Indicator -
0:57:19 > 0:57:23and if it says more than three minutes, they feel hard done by.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26And that is...
0:57:26 > 0:57:31That is testament to the service that London Underground provides.
0:57:33 > 0:57:35First one's coming.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39HE CHUCKLES
0:57:39 > 0:57:42I told you there'd be a few people on the front.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53Mind the doors!
0:57:53 > 0:57:55- HE LAUGHS:- You love it, don't you?
0:57:55 > 0:57:57I haven't said that for a while.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04So far...I'm as pleased as punch.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Here we are. It is 04:05 and it looks to me
0:58:13 > 0:58:19like we'll be opening bang on time for start of passenger service.
0:58:19 > 0:58:20Fantastic.
0:58:43 > 0:58:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd