0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains some strong language.
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?
0:00:15 > 0:00:20Every day, 20,000 workers struggle to keep 4 million people
0:00:20 > 0:00:21on the move.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Is the customer asleep on the platform? Get him on the train.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30It's not easy when the tube is undergoing the biggest upgrade in its history.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34We have got five minutes, I want this site cleared!
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Cameras will reveal an underground world
0:00:37 > 0:00:40we have never fully seen before.
0:00:40 > 0:00:4210,421 mobiles since April.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47Listen to what I'm saying, pay as you go. You just went.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52Over the barrier, this guy running up the stairs! You need to stop him.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57We are just the underground part of the city.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01London comes down here every single day, it is part of their world.
0:01:01 > 0:01:02It is part of everyone's world.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05I love you.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17You know people are going home by the way they look,
0:01:17 > 0:01:23the way they act, their face, their facial features,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26you can see they are tired and worn out and ready to go home.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Stand outside the yellow boxes, please. Thank you.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31PA: 'There is another train directly behind this.'
0:01:34 > 0:01:37The evening rush hour is in full swing.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41The tube is taking a million weary Londoners home.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48Hello, guys. Move down, please. There is tea and cakes at the back.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Keep moving, please. Can't stop there, my friend.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Number seven has stopped, somebody has pressed the diamond.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00We are going to reverse number six.
0:02:04 > 0:02:10There you go. There'll be a lot of people not going to the gym tonight!
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Watch all the miserable faces, man.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Faces as long as a wet week. If they're going to work,
0:02:21 > 0:02:25they should at least have a smile or something on their face.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Or don't look so goddamned miserable.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33Like most people, I have a timetable to go home,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35I know what time I finish,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39what time the National Rail trains are to get me home.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46But not all tube staff go home in the evening.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50As the rush hour is finishing,
0:02:50 > 0:02:546,500 underground workers are getting ready to start their day.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Tunnel cleaner Alan Whitting travels to a different station every night.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21I love it, if you look around, there's nobody here to bother you,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23you ain't got to rush around for seats,
0:03:23 > 0:03:28you ain't got to be crammed in, and it's such an easy ride in.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31A lot of people would love to have that.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34I have a job that actually allows me to do it.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37I do not think I'm missing out, I think I'm lucky, because
0:03:37 > 0:03:42I have got a great job, great bunch of guys I work with.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Here we go. I am just part of it, just going along with it.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55The early hours are the only time when the stations
0:03:55 > 0:03:58and tracks can be properly cleaned.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Some workers are more eager than others to get going.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06Nobody here yet. Surprise, surprise(!)
0:04:09 > 0:04:11On the other side of London,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15engineering workers get ready to go underground.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Gentleman, for those who don't know me, I'm Marshall,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21the site person in charge, I'm in charge for the job tonight.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Tonight, we are rerailing.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26For some people, it is the best time of day to be working.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28I love nights, I love it.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32It's the best thing that ever happened for me, man.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34I didn't know people worked at night.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38When I found out, I went, "I'm having some of that."
0:04:38 > 0:04:43I'm a night person, basically. I'm a vampire. I only come out at night.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46There are 10 different teams here tonight,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49getting ready to repair track, signals and points.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53But before the night workers can start,
0:04:53 > 0:04:55they have to wait for the stations to be closed.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00At Camden Town, that's easier said than done.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03SHOUTING AND CHATTER
0:05:05 > 0:05:08With five minutes to go before last trains, it is the job
0:05:08 > 0:05:12of customer service assistant Debbie Moore to get the clubbers moving.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14It's the end of the month, payday.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20This is generally what Camden is like as a rule.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24The good, the bad, the ugly. You get a bit of everything here.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Never dull.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32The last train going south is at 12.24.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38Three minutes! Yes.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Run, run. She needs to get cigarettes, just wait.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Run to the shop!
0:05:47 > 0:05:51If you're going south, you have about two minutes.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58If you're going south, you've got about one minute.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Train is coming in now, you need to hurry up.
0:06:10 > 0:06:11The last train south has gone,
0:06:11 > 0:06:16but there is still time to catch the final train going north.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18I have got northbound only, Edgware, Barnet.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24Going south is buses only now. Where are you going to?
0:06:24 > 0:06:26See that white building?
0:06:26 > 0:06:29You need to turn right, go to the second bus stop, get the 88.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- Where's the train going?- No, there's no more southbounds. You missed it.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36- What about that one? Just let us in.- Sort yourself out.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39If you listen to me, I'll tell you what bus to get.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- I missed the last train, I'll just get a bus! - HE LAUGHS
0:06:43 > 0:06:45ALARM SOUNDS
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Fantastic, so nothing has stalled.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Soon as we see that one moving, I'll get them to ring the list
0:06:50 > 0:06:52and we'll decide what to say.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54At the Network Operations Centre,
0:06:54 > 0:06:59duty manager Andy Hogg is overseeing the last trains across all 11 lines.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02That was the last District, leaving West Ham.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05That is going eastbound towards Upminster, and you can see
0:07:05 > 0:07:11the last one's gone through Canning Town, Jubilee, so it's 12.33.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14We're pretty much now at the end of traffic.
0:07:14 > 0:07:15Contrary to popular belief,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18we don't turn the power off and put our feet up and go to sleep.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21We have to shut the line down at night to give the engineers
0:07:21 > 0:07:24a few hours at least to go and do some work.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28The wear and tear, purely on infrastructure, is colossal.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30Each train takes a pounding.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34The track itself is solid steel, but it wears out, even signals going
0:07:34 > 0:07:38green and red, there are moving parts in the signals, relays that are going
0:07:38 > 0:07:42back and forward every minute, and we have to do maintenance on them.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47The more we can do, the less problem we have during the day
0:07:47 > 0:07:49with disruptions because of infrastructure failures.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00The Underground has always relied on getting its repairs
0:08:00 > 0:08:02and cleaning done during the night.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07NARRATOR: 'Just look at all this dirt. 100 tonnes of it every year.'
0:08:07 > 0:08:11In the 1950s, passenger numbers and investment declined, night work
0:08:11 > 0:08:14was just a matter of maintaining the existing infrastructure.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Come on then, you're invited!
0:08:17 > 0:08:18Today, demand is soaring,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22and the tube is in the middle of its biggest ever upgrade.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27Night workers must modernise the system, as well as maintain it.
0:08:27 > 0:08:34All right, lads, make way. Make way. Get out! Shut up.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Your chariot awaits, ladies.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Marshall and his team are on their way to a rail replacement job
0:08:44 > 0:08:45at Regent's Park station.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- It is a big job tonight, isn't it? - Major job tonight, guaranteed.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58It's not easy, what we're doing tonight, at all.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Problems always turn up unforeseen.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Something breaking down, that's our worst nightmare.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06If a tool or equipment breaks down, we're in serious trouble.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11Hopefully nothing breaks down, fingers crossed.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20I call us the invisible rats. As in tunnel rats.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22We come down here, we do what we've got to do,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25the public don't know about us. While we're working,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28they're sleeping.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31When we finish, they go to work in the morning.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34If the people saw what we done on the track every single night,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36they'd be amazed.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Night on the Underground is short.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58They will have only four hours to complete the work.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Less if the station is late closing.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Can't get into the station until the passengers are clear.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07We're always impatient, that's why you see us walking around,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09we're always impatient to get to work straight away,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11but we've got to be patient and wait.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Finally, the last train of the night leaves Camden.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Hello, where are you going?
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- Sorry?- Where was you going?
0:10:24 > 0:10:25Belsize Park.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Last train's gone.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Another day at the office.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37See how quiet it is now? It's lovely.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Some passengers refuse to accept the bad news about last trains.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44ARGUING AND SWEARING
0:10:46 > 0:10:48< Let them in!
0:10:48 > 0:10:51Get your foot out.
0:10:51 > 0:10:52Right.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01We've literally just missed it, about three minutes ago.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05I don't know, it's not on, is it?!
0:11:05 > 0:11:10Yeah, it's definitely early for the last train, we need to be going home now.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22JEERING
0:11:22 > 0:11:26By 1am, the Tube staff finally have the Underground to themselves,
0:11:26 > 0:11:28and peace reigns.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33BELL TOLLS
0:11:38 > 0:11:43At Waterloo, it takes supervisor David Latham an hour to bar and bolt the station.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49I've been here 14 years, and it's the longest I've ever had one job.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54I was a lecturer at University before I come here.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58Network installations, computer installations.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01I just got fed up with it,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05I saw a bloke I knew from one of the pubs I used to go in,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07he'd started here, said, "You want to try it?"
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Within two weeks, I was here.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Dave will be left alone now to look after the station for the whole night.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19'My relief will come in at 7 o'clock.'
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Once all the escalators are turned off, you could hear a pin drop through the station.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30'Then once I've locked up and had a quick check round,
0:12:30 > 0:12:34'I basically haven't got a lot to do until I have to go and do the checks in the morning.'
0:12:40 > 0:12:42See what I mean about the silence?
0:12:42 > 0:12:44HE CHUCKLES
0:13:04 > 0:13:09With the last customers gone, more than 4,000 train carriages can be taken off the tracks
0:13:09 > 0:13:12and housed at one of 15 depots across London.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Good morning, Tower?
0:13:27 > 0:13:32234 on 4-9, you're clear to stable on 2-9, 29 south.
0:13:32 > 0:13:38Victoria Line depot controller Gary Hart has been putting trains to bed for 19 years.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45What we're doing,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47we're steering trains into depot...
0:13:47 > 0:13:49RINGS BELL
0:13:49 > 0:13:54That bell indicates that I've got a train just coming down to me now.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Yeah, 227 on 4-9, you're clear to 3-2 32 south.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05Gary steers trains home with the same control desk used every night
0:14:05 > 0:14:07since 1968, when the line opened.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12This is directing the train. At one stage it was there, which would send it up that way.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15With that, the train there is going to go to 29 South.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20Every indication indicates a four car unit,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22that is 16 cars, in other words, two trains.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27It looks complex, but it's like... everything's easy when you know how.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Some people think it's boring, but...
0:14:33 > 0:14:38..when it's really going, you don't get a chance to think, really.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41You're just... concentration all the time.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Cos if I don't do my job correctly, it can mean to say
0:14:44 > 0:14:47that the Victoria line doesn't have a service.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50240152, you're all clear down to Stockwell 48.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Simply getting all these trains off the tracks in the right order
0:14:54 > 0:14:56takes two hours every night.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04235 on 49, you're clear to stable on 31, 31 South.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15We have a wash road over here,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18which cleans the trains externally.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Trains get cleaned every few days.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29The trains are shampooed going in...
0:15:33 > 0:15:35..and rinsed off going out.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38That's the exam shed there.
0:15:38 > 0:15:44The trains have to be examined underneath for wheel cracks,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46everything imaginable has to be taken to pieces
0:15:46 > 0:15:49and put back together again and examined.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13Now the trains are off the tracks, an important decision can be made by this man...
0:16:13 > 0:16:17- Hello, power control.- ..at a secret location in central London.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Canning Town to Belsize Park on the northbound
0:16:19 > 0:16:24and Elephant and Castle to Clapham Common on the southbound. Thank you, ta.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27We do actually have all the power for the underground.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29It's a lot of responsibility.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Safety-critical decisions, could be life-threatening decisions as well.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38- Line clear for you...- Power controller James White is in charge of the Northern line tonight,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41the tube's most complex line.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45I sort of describe the job as like an air traffic controller
0:16:45 > 0:16:46but with electricity.
0:16:46 > 0:16:51James used to work in track maintenance before joining the power control team.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54I'm one of the youngest ones.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57I did my apprenticeship when I was 18 and then worked my way up.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59I was wearing overalls before and stuff like that.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02I still get a rash on my neck where I'm not used to wearing a collar
0:17:02 > 0:17:04but it does make a difference.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09People speak to you nicer when you go into shops dressed up smart so yes, I do enjoy it.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12James and his team are responsible for switching the current off
0:17:12 > 0:17:15along all 249 miles of track.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18It looks like a computer game,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21but you don't get no extra lives or nothing like that on here.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24I can make a mistake now and turn on the wrong section
0:17:24 > 0:17:26and potentially kill people.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34With the power off,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38Marshall and his 25 strong gang at Regents Park station can get going.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:17:46 > 0:17:49At the same time, seven miles away at Blackhorse Road,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Alan Whiting joins fellow tunnel cleaners,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56or "fluffers" as they head down to start work.
0:17:58 > 0:18:0124-year-old Harry Reeves is in charge.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06There's always going to be work for people cleaning down in tunnels, definitely.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08A train can't clean a tunnel.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13Ah... Another night, mate.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19This is probably the cheapest, most efficient way to do it.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Tonight, Harry's men must remove dust and fluff
0:18:21 > 0:18:23from more than 300 metres of track.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26They clean a different stretch each night.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31This is a tunnel from Walthamstow all the way down to Brixton,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34which means that it does get dusty in here.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35There's nowhere for the air to go.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40They have big air systems in here but it doesn't do an adequate job
0:18:40 > 0:18:43for the train drivers, so you have to come in here and do it manually.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46These pipes here, they need to be done,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49the walls needs to be done. It gets very, very dusty down here.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53The average person loses round about 80 hairs per day.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Just a normal person's dirt, basically.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Let's get this rail in. Thank you.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10Over at Regents Park, Marshall and his team have four hours to remove a worn out rail
0:19:10 > 0:19:13and install a five ton, 90 metre long new section.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17When you first work here, it's terrifying.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20The first time in this environment is totally weird,
0:19:20 > 0:19:23totally oh, scary, yes, very much so.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Trains, currents, rails, hammers,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29cos all tools are flying all over the place,
0:19:29 > 0:19:30so you've got to be very careful.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34It should be just outside the station somewhere.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Mr E!
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Spanner!
0:19:38 > 0:19:42I need a spanner! The big one, quickly!
0:19:42 > 0:19:46THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:19:49 > 0:19:52In the process, you jack this rail up. Once we've jacked it up,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54we cut right in the middle of the bed, here.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57They do the same at the far end and once both cuts are done,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00they take out the O rail, put it to one side
0:20:00 > 0:20:03then they put this rail in, it comes in through here.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Now the fun begins.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18CRASHING
0:20:18 > 0:20:23The new rail was brought into the tunnel two weeks ago
0:20:23 > 0:20:25in preparation for the job tonight.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Now it must you manoeuvred exactly into position.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32Take it up, take it up.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Hold it there.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Take it away!
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Being in the tunnels working at night time can be very depressing.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51Sometimes I say they should paint stars in the tunnel segments, because it is depressing.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52Sometimes you can work outside
0:20:52 > 0:20:56and you think you never want to work in the tunnels again.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Yo, my friend, mind out the way.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Benny, are we ready?!
0:21:02 > 0:21:04They are halfway through the job
0:21:04 > 0:21:08and as they get close to lining up the new rail, there is a problem.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10The light's not working.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12You don't know what's happening?
0:21:12 > 0:21:14INAUDIBLE
0:21:14 > 0:21:15No.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20They're having trouble getting the lights on.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22Go and help him out sorting out the lighting.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25The first time this has happened this week.
0:21:25 > 0:21:26Excuse me for a minute.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29If they can't fix the lighting in the next hour,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31they won't finish in time.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35At the moment, a little bit of a delay.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38We can't work properly without proper lighting.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Only him! Only him!
0:21:41 > 0:21:44The technique for replacing track overnight
0:21:44 > 0:21:47has barely changed in the last 60 years.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54NEWSREEL: 'They lug up the old rail, 100 yards at a time, mind you.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58'Then they replace it.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00'Replace the whole lot.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03'It takes some doing too.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07'Last train at night to first train in the morning is about four hours
0:22:07 > 0:22:08'and you can't skimp this job.'
0:22:10 > 0:22:14The work of the fluffers today,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17removing dust and fibres from the tunnels
0:22:17 > 0:22:19is also as much as it was in 1958.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25'That's what they're called - fluffers. They're VIPs too.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29'Not just here to tiddly up the place. This is fire prevention work.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33'If all this dust, paper and fluff was allowed to pile up,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35'you'd only need one spark, and woof!'
0:22:40 > 0:22:43But the fluffers themselves have changed.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48Where once they were women, now they're men with vacuum cleaners.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50The fluff has changed too.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Different part of London, the type of fibres that you find
0:22:53 > 0:22:55and the fluff changes across the network.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00Certainly in west London, there's more cotton and more wool
0:23:00 > 0:23:02and fine woollen fabrics in the fluff.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04And you get parts of east London and south London,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07the amount of polyester in the fluff actually changes,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11the composition of the fluff. Um, yes.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16I've found credit cards, Oyster cards, wallets, everything.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18I find a T-shirt every now and again.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20The best thing I found was a tenner.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24- How you finding it, all right? - Yes.- Easy, 'innit?
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Harry has been a fluffer for two years.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Six nights, every week, six nights.
0:23:30 > 0:23:31Mind that there.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33I only have Saturday nights off.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38I can't have too many days off, mate.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Because if we don't work, we don't get paid.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43So, you get the hours in, you know?
0:23:43 > 0:23:46He's only recently been promoted to boss of the team.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50Just looking to make sure all the walls have been done down to the floor,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54to make sure all the cables have been nicely hoovered off,
0:23:54 > 0:23:55which they have.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58They're meant to clean 360 metres of tunnel tonight,
0:23:58 > 0:23:59but they're a man short.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06This is where you're going to start on this light, yes?
0:24:06 > 0:24:09You're going to be doing this side.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Tonight, it's about nine lights, it's about 90 metres each.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Because we needed to cover 360 metres,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18so we just give everybody nine lights,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20so then everybody does their 90 metres.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Nobody wants to be hoovering a tunnel.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Then you've got someone telling you you ain't done a good enough job, of hoovering a dirty tunnel.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33You don't need that in your life.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35My girlfriend hates me working nights.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40She hates it. But my girlfriend says, "You waste the whole day in bed."
0:24:40 > 0:24:42It's not like I waste the whole day in bed.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45I have to get up and work all night, you know?
0:24:45 > 0:24:49And I'm sure more people than just myself have had arguments
0:24:49 > 0:24:52with their partners over something like that.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54She would like it if I could work in the daytime,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57but to be honest, I quite enjoy working nights now.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00Now that I'm used to it and I've adapted to it.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03While the fluffers clean the tunnels,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06a separate team are at work at the platform edges.
0:25:06 > 0:25:12Good evening, my name is Vladimir Penchev, I will be your PM and first-aider for tonight.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Every two weeks, the stations get their own deep clean.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Hazards we've got is slipping and tripping.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20The juice is off, we can go safe on the track.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38The reason to come here is looking for a better life.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41If you ask every single foreigner, they say the same thing.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44But I was lucky, to be honest.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48I really was so lucky, because I never was without a job.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51If you're looking for a job, every time you'll find it.
0:25:51 > 0:25:57That is my philosophy for every single thing.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04I was cleaning one school.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- But I didn't like it, to be honest. - LAUGHS
0:26:07 > 0:26:11It's a lot of kids around and everybody's laughing to you
0:26:11 > 0:26:13because you're the cleaner.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17But it's nothing shaming, to do the job, any job, it's not a shame.
0:26:18 > 0:26:24I think funny is the Government is giving money to people for not working.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27I don't understand this one at all.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30I never see a country like this one in the world.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34I worked in a lot of countries to be honest, I never saw that.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49DISTANT TRAFFIC SOUNDS
0:27:05 > 0:27:10Night is the time when the tube's most vulnerable equipment,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13pounded during the day, can be looked after.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Like the 8,000 points across the system.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Movable rails, allowing trains to change from one track to another.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26Points can be the tube's Achilles heel,
0:27:26 > 0:27:29causing huge delays when they fail.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33Michael and Fiona Perryman are two of the underground's
0:27:33 > 0:27:37850 points and signals technicians, who must prevent a failure.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Tonight, they've been sent to Bank station,
0:27:44 > 0:27:49where another maintenance team is already doing work that may disturb the nearest points.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53What's happened is the sleepers have dropped a little bit.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56They've only dropped by four mill,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00So it will be straight and it's dipped.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05They're now clearing out the valley
0:28:05 > 0:28:07and packing underneath it to raise it up,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11even though it's only four mill, just to raise it up to make sure
0:28:11 > 0:28:13that it's all back level
0:28:13 > 0:28:17and why we're here, because they're working around our equipment,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21and we want to make sure from what they've done,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23they haven't affected our equipment,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27and it's safe for the trains to run in the morning. So...
0:28:28 > 0:28:32This shouldn't take long. Touch wood.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Michael and Fiona met four years ago.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42My dad and her dad were apprentices together on the underground when they were 16.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46So they've known each other for years. My mum was her boss.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50My mum's the apprentice manager of the Underground...
0:28:50 > 0:28:53So she got to send me to whichever depot she wanted
0:28:53 > 0:28:54and I ended up here.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59- How long have you been married? - Since September.- September this year.
0:28:59 > 0:29:04- We're pretty much with each other 24-7.- 24 hours a day, really.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07- We haven't managed to kill each other yet.- We're all right.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09INAUDIBLE SPEECH
0:29:11 > 0:29:14The rail repair has finished, but Michael and Fiona have found
0:29:14 > 0:29:18a different problem with an electric motor that changes points.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25- No, only getting 13 volts. - 'How are you getting on?'
0:29:27 > 0:29:30- Trouble in paradise.- 'Lovely.'
0:29:30 > 0:29:34There just isn't enough electricity to make the points move.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36Now I'm not getting 110 where I should.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40At the minute, I'm looking for 110 volts.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44And I'm only getting 13 volts at the minute.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49Everything is going straight through.
0:29:49 > 0:29:56- No.- No, nothing. - 'Can you check on your 1B?'- No.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02Now they have only two hours to find and fix the problem
0:30:02 > 0:30:05before getting off the track to make way for the first train.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13The Tube has 274 stations in use.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17But there are also 18 abandoned, or "ghost" stations,
0:30:17 > 0:30:18that passengers never see.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Roy Kenneth, the Tube's emergency planning manager,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34is checking the security of Down Street disused station,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37just off Piccadilly in central London.
0:30:51 > 0:30:56It's the thrill of being somewhere where most people don't go,
0:30:56 > 0:30:59these hidden spaces, there's lots of them under our feet.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Down Street isn't very far from Green Park
0:31:08 > 0:31:10and it's not very far from Hyde Park Corner.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13The station itself was hardly being used,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17so the company at the time took the decision to close it.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24The station originally closed in 1932 and then was used during the war
0:31:24 > 0:31:28as an air raid shelter for the Railway Executive.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34I warn you now, it is not pleasant in there. It's dark, it's very smelly.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38It's a bit wet through here, as well.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44Britain's entire rail network was run from Down Street during the war.
0:31:44 > 0:31:4775 people worked, ate and slept down here,
0:31:47 > 0:31:50keeping the railways running, even at the height of the Blitz.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54'Londoners take to shelter, unafraid.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59'Old and young, their spirits undismayed.'
0:32:03 > 0:32:06SIRENS WAIL
0:32:09 > 0:32:14Churchill used these rooms too, for War Cabinet meetings
0:32:14 > 0:32:17before a purpose built bunker was opened, and often slept here.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22They used to say this is Winston Churchill's bath tub.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24Brick walls were built along the platforms
0:32:24 > 0:32:27to conceal this complex from passing Tube trains,
0:32:27 > 0:32:29which might have been carrying German spies.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33There's a whole series of offices and committee room spaces,
0:32:33 > 0:32:35telephone exchange, this would have been manned
0:32:35 > 0:32:37by a couple of telephonists, transferring
0:32:37 > 0:32:42the calls from the Railway Executive to whoever they needed to talk to.
0:32:42 > 0:32:43This is the grey room.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48It's an electrical switch room that for some reason,
0:32:48 > 0:32:51everything in the room has been painted grey,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54including the lights and the lightbulbs,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56we don't know why.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12The Underground's lost stations were once busy with passengers,
0:33:12 > 0:33:17but now, no longer wanted, they are almost all silent and shuttered.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23These ghost stations are unmarked on any Tube map.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26We pass through them without realising they are there.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29TRAIN RUMBLES PAST
0:33:38 > 0:33:40DISTANT CREAKING
0:33:40 > 0:33:42- What's that sound? - I don't actually know.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45The rumble was the train, I don't know what the other noise was.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47Maybe it's the ghost!
0:33:47 > 0:33:48HE CHUCKLES
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Is anyone here?
0:33:50 > 0:33:52The strange acoustical effect when you walk up the stairs,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55it sounds like someone is walking up behind you.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59That's caused many a person to run out in fright.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01If we go through this way here...
0:34:06 > 0:34:11It is quite a lonely place, and certain areas are completely black.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17Your imagination starts playing up. The slightest noise becomes loud.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19And you start thinking, what is that noise?
0:34:19 > 0:34:22You imagine all sorts of things.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24HE CHUCKLES
0:34:40 > 0:34:43There can be ghost stations within working stations,
0:34:43 > 0:34:45as Dave Latham at Waterloo knows.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51Still is the word I would use, I think.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55Because none of the escalators are running, nothing is working at all.
0:34:59 > 0:35:00You can walk round
0:35:00 > 0:35:04and hear your own footsteps, and everything echoes.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06Some people like it, some people don't.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09A lot of the stations, they reckon are haunted, so some people
0:35:09 > 0:35:12really worry when they start walking round, but it doesn't bother me.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17This is where people used to come in from the old Eurostar.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25Completely unused. There is nothing they can use it for.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29We had a ticket office down there, car hire was all down there.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34I am one of these people, in fact, my mum said it a while ago,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38both me and my two sisters can be on our own, we enjoy our own company.
0:35:38 > 0:35:43I don't know, I can't understand people that need people round them.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07When I was at school, I was really lazy, I never done any homework.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09I was one of those kids.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11If I had had the dedication that I have now in my life
0:36:11 > 0:36:14towards things, I probably would have done a lot better at school
0:36:14 > 0:36:17and probably would have got to go to university.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21- What would I study?- Yeah. - Astrophysics and particle physics.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Probably go and be a scientist in CERN,
0:36:24 > 0:36:26go and work on CERN in Switzerland.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28I would like to have the chance to go and do that,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30but you know, looking back,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34made your bed, got to lie in it. Making the best of the situation,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37coming down here, trying to work my way up in the Underground.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40So, that's what I've got to work up towards, you know.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42Got to aim high, or you will never get anywhere.
0:36:51 > 0:36:5530 year, I work in theatre.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00At this moment,
0:37:00 > 0:37:04I am no good time from culture,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07no good. No.
0:37:11 > 0:37:16I am clear. Very, very good.
0:37:18 > 0:37:22My son student, Edinburgh. Yeah.
0:37:22 > 0:37:27Need money. I work, for my son.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32- Sorry! - STARTS UP CLEANING APPARATUS
0:37:34 > 0:37:35Bye.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58For the last 12 years, Mick Denyer has led a nocturnal life,
0:37:58 > 0:38:00like the animals he deals with.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09I would rather do this on a night time than a daytime.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11It's the only time they come out as well, so...
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Mick is one of 40 pest controllers,
0:38:26 > 0:38:28covering the entire network.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31Tonight, he has been called to the west end of the Piccadilly line.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35All right? Someone has put out a fault for a mouse.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38You might be able to smell, actually.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45- Has anyone actually seen it?- No. But it was heard, though.- OK.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54- Initially, I did see the mouse on the ceiling.- OK.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57It is quite a scare, because it might bite you
0:38:57 > 0:38:59and things like that, they have got diseases,
0:38:59 > 0:39:01they are really filthy sorts of rodents.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15We have got a dead mouse on a trap just above your head, basically.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18How on earth did it get up there?
0:39:22 > 0:39:25Sorry.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32The bite's not a disease,
0:39:32 > 0:39:34it's actually infection in the urine, isn't it?
0:39:38 > 0:39:41I prefer them not to be in the station at all,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44you can never get rid of them, that's the only problem.
0:39:44 > 0:39:50- OK, all finished.- Thanks for removing that smell.- No problem at all.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52Thank you very much.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13London Underground makes tens of millions of pounds selling advertising space.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22Adam Lenski and his team try to change seven posters a night.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30Some of the posters, it's really hard to match up.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32It's a problem with the paper, it sticks too much,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34so it's harder to move it.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36But after some time, you get used to it.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46When I get home, when I am in my bed,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49newspaper, or read something on my phone,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52then as my eyes are moving, they close little by little,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55then after that, like a baby for five or six hours.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57Nothing can wake me up, literally.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10I am stripping the backing.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14The backing is the sticky thing that we stick the poster on.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17Basically, it is like double-sided tape, only much stronger.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20If you do a lot of it, it just sticks to your skin,
0:41:20 > 0:41:24then after some while, you get really rough skin on the fingers.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26Before, this was all done with paste,
0:41:26 > 0:41:29like huge wallpaper, something like that.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32But after some time, it was very dirty, it wasn't looking very good.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36So that's why it has changed to this, the process looks much better.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42Most of the stuff that we post, not to be rude, is mundane.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47Only a few of them that you catch a glimpse of, you are interested in.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49We used to have someone to help us with the rubbish,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52but know we have to do the rubbish ourselves.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56The worst-case scenario is, the station supervisor can kick us
0:41:56 > 0:42:01off the station and we only done half of the poster,
0:42:01 > 0:42:04that can lead to us not working in Camden for a while.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06So, yeah.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09When I am travelling on the Underground, then I am
0:42:09 > 0:42:12actually quite proud, if I was on the station,
0:42:12 > 0:42:14I had done this job, so I can...
0:42:14 > 0:42:17If I am travelling with my girlfriend, my friends,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19I am just saying, "Yeah, I've done this one."
0:42:19 > 0:42:22But when I am on the station posting bills, it is completely different,
0:42:22 > 0:42:26I am just doing my job, getting it done and that's it.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29- WOMAN: Would you say you are a perfectionist?- Yes.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33I would say that, yes, I am trying to get them perfect.
0:42:33 > 0:42:34It's not always possible,
0:42:34 > 0:42:39but I am trying to get them as close to perfection as possible.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43The tops are going a bit down. The bottoms are going up.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48So, it's not perfect, but you won't notice it.
0:42:51 > 0:42:56Good morning. My number is 7834, November 3803.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58The tracks are now safe for trains to run.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00Thank you. Goodbye.
0:43:06 > 0:43:11Even my son is a pest controller. My other son, he is a hairdresser.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14Tell us, Mick, how many kids have you got?
0:43:14 > 0:43:16Oh, ten children.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18HE CHUCKLES
0:43:18 > 0:43:23They range from about 36 down to the age of three.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Will you have more kids?
0:43:26 > 0:43:30- I don't think so. - HE LAUGHS
0:43:30 > 0:43:33I can't, I work nights.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35The missus works days, we never get the time.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38Plenty you've had so far!
0:43:38 > 0:43:42Well, now, I didn't always use to work nights then!
0:43:45 > 0:43:46Hello!
0:43:48 > 0:43:51The dead of night is the best time for Mick to carry out
0:43:51 > 0:43:53one of his most unpleasant duties.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57We are going to sort some guano out today.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59And if there is any pigeons in the way,
0:43:59 > 0:44:02we will have to try and get rid of them somehow.
0:44:03 > 0:44:08As you can see, it's all spikes and everything else,
0:44:08 > 0:44:13and the pigeons are still getting in. And they will just eat anything.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18Anything at all. Burgers, food they've thrown on the floor.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25It's not very nice for people to come and sit in the station
0:44:25 > 0:44:27when there is pigeon poo on the seats and stuff,
0:44:27 > 0:44:29because you're going to work,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32so you don't want to be smelling of pigeon poo.
0:44:34 > 0:44:35There he is.
0:44:35 > 0:44:40You've got to aim for the head so you get a quick kill.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46GUNSHOT
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Sorry, mate.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52It's your last resort.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56I don't really like killing animals.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58But it's just a job I've got to do.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02I think we're causing the actual problem of the pest.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06We clean up our act and they'll probably go somewhere else.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28London will be coming back to life soon.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31The underground's night workers are running out of time.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47At Canary Wharf station, the cavernous spaces call for the specialists.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53Industrial abseilers, that's what we are.
0:45:54 > 0:45:55INDISTINCT SPEECH
0:45:55 > 0:45:58Then they ask you what you do. "We're cleaning windows."
0:45:58 > 0:46:01"Oh, is that it?" you know?
0:46:01 > 0:46:03Can I have a tea break, please?
0:46:03 > 0:46:06No, we ain't got time for a tea break.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09I never want to get down.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11I'm a bit behind, to be honest.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13We're on a deadline.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17Lee Crane and Carl Ballantine are given just four hours
0:46:17 > 0:46:20to clean the inside of the glass roof once a year.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24The team comes down from Suffolk specially for the job.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28I'm getting in a muddle here.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30I've never known it to be this dirty.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33It's absolutely filthy.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35- That's how dirty London is! - LAUGHTER
0:46:37 > 0:46:39But it has to be done.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41It has to be cleaned.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43I don't really like coming to London.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45I don't like the traffic.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49- Too busy for me.- I mean, it's nice to work here and see everything,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52but it's also nice to go back to Suffolk.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05I think it's about time we packed up, Lee.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13- Oh!- We'd better hurry up cos we've got about half an hour
0:47:13 > 0:47:15to pack up and get out of here.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17Looks all right.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20We usually only do one row a night anyway.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23But we've done all right, considering.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27Big cities are always going to be dirty and smoggy, ain't they, so...
0:47:32 > 0:47:35BANGING AND SHOUTING
0:47:35 > 0:47:38Marshall and his team are also under pressure
0:47:38 > 0:47:41to finish laying the new section of rail.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46I'd say we lost 20 minutes on setting up the lighting.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50But every second counts, every minute counts,
0:47:50 > 0:47:53but we're good at our job, so we'll make up time.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Get this bar out, please.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59Dropping down!
0:48:02 > 0:48:05Right, ease off, ease off, ease off!
0:48:06 > 0:48:09Steve, we're ten!
0:48:10 > 0:48:12I'm not happy with that.
0:48:12 > 0:48:13- Yeah?- No.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15Yeah, I'm happy now.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20Come on, gentlemen. One man put the shackle on,
0:48:20 > 0:48:21the rest of us keep this rail up.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25We've got ten minutes. I want this track put to bed.
0:48:25 > 0:48:26Ten minutes and no more.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30That trolley goes non-stop to the start of the job, ASAP.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33Let him through. Nobody stops the trolley.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37Mayo, you've got three minutes!
0:48:37 > 0:48:39Len, you should be clear!
0:48:40 > 0:48:43Les, have we finished with the power?
0:48:43 > 0:48:46Set the signals, yeah?
0:48:46 > 0:48:50Marshall and his gang have finished the work with half an hour to spare.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52The invisible people have done their job.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56And the public can be happy now.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58Les, darling, well done, babes.
0:48:58 > 0:48:59All good.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05WHISTLING
0:49:11 > 0:49:14Harry and his fluffers are calling it a night.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20It's a job, you know. It's not the greatest job in the world,
0:49:20 > 0:49:22I'd much rather win the Lottery.
0:49:22 > 0:49:27I'll have about ten houses, I think, then I'll just sit on my bum
0:49:27 > 0:49:30all day and do nothing.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33That's what I'd love to do, but, you know...
0:49:33 > 0:49:35no time for that, mate.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38We have to work hard for our money in this world.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42Another night down.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47How do you feel about getting up and doing it all again tomorrow?
0:49:47 > 0:49:49Love it! I'm looking forward to it.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53You know, I could be at a different station tomorrow.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55Got to be optimistic, ain't you?
0:49:55 > 0:49:59Always look on the bright side of life.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06As the night workers leave, the underground is returning to life.
0:50:06 > 0:50:11Line by line, the power to the tracks is being switched on.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13Hello, power control.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17Current will slowly come on, section by section as the train moves along
0:50:17 > 0:50:21at Old Street, Euston City on the northbound. Thank you.
0:50:23 > 0:50:29Eventually, all of them will meet in the middle until the whole line itself is recharged
0:50:29 > 0:50:31and the service will be back running as normal.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's that time of day again.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02Can we have everyone to their positions, please?
0:51:02 > 0:51:04We are about to open the station.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06Activity's starting again.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10When you open the station, you know you're nearer to going-home time.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12Morning.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Go home, cup of tea, sandwich, bed for a couple of hours, then up.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20This morning, driver Ann O'Grady is on the early shift.
0:51:22 > 0:51:23You run this out, Janet.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25INDISTINCT REPLY
0:51:25 > 0:51:27'It's my train.
0:51:27 > 0:51:32'It's not the line controller's train, it's not the supervisor's train, it's my train.'
0:51:32 > 0:51:36Just be careful where you walk and watch out for trip hazards.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40This one here has over 460 volts.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Isn't that right, Janet?
0:51:47 > 0:51:49Right...
0:51:49 > 0:51:51now...
0:51:51 > 0:51:54CLANKING AND HISSING
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Take the key out.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01Sorted.
0:52:07 > 0:52:08There...
0:52:08 > 0:52:12Now, that red should go off and the green should come on.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17There we go - brake test passed.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21The Victoria Line trains, carefully stabled overnight
0:52:21 > 0:52:25in the correct order for the morning timetable, are powered up.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30I think the train's still got to wake up.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35Good morning. Are we up for... ready for service?
0:52:35 > 0:52:41Good morning, Tower, this is train 211 on 31 South, cleared down to stop board 49, thank you.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43Yeah, 214 on 31 South,
0:52:43 > 0:52:47you're cleared down to stop board 49.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49Yeah, 211 out.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53WHISTLE BLOWS
0:52:53 > 0:52:56Right, had my pilot light, so we'll head off. And I have a green.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03I'll just give a little toot as I approach the platform
0:53:03 > 0:53:05to warn anybody that I don't see.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07TOOTING
0:53:07 > 0:53:09Yeah, that's it.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27Just put the pressure on.
0:53:27 > 0:53:33With trains on other lines starting to run, Michael and Fiona are almost out of time.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36Trains on this line, the Waterloo and City,
0:53:36 > 0:53:38enter service later than elsewhere.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42But there is still no sign of the faulty points being fixed.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46Er, what have you got on 1C and 2D?
0:53:46 > 0:53:51- Are we on the left?- No, we're on the right, aren't we?
0:53:51 > 0:53:53Oh, wait, we do want 1C and 2D.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55On the left hand.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58Because we're getting close to the time,
0:53:58 > 0:54:01probably going to have to book late surrender, which means
0:54:01 > 0:54:05call in the tech and delaying the time the juice comes on.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08We had it on the open switch, but not on the plugs.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11WOMAN: 1Bs are now reversed.
0:54:11 > 0:54:12Yeah, nothing.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14'A point failure, 9 times out of 10,'
0:54:14 > 0:54:19will show up as an open circuit, like a switch not working on your lighting.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22So you keep pushing the switch and the light's not working.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24So it's just an open circuit.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31Tracing the open circuit involves laboriously combing through
0:54:31 > 0:54:34miles of wiring in the signal relay room.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41'What about the condition of those relays?
0:54:41 > 0:54:44'Is the NWR up - D2, A11?'
0:54:44 > 0:54:46Pillar D1...
0:54:46 > 0:54:49and then...A11.
0:54:49 > 0:54:50Echo 7?
0:54:50 > 0:54:53All right, I'm getting nothing.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55Really?
0:54:55 > 0:55:00We're still narrowing things down, so we're getting closer all the time, but...
0:55:00 > 0:55:04now it's come to late surrender as well, so there's more pressure.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06Obviously speed things up.
0:55:06 > 0:55:07MAN: What's your plan?
0:55:07 > 0:55:10We'll keep having a go at the moment, and if the worst comes to the worst,
0:55:10 > 0:55:12we're still not holding up the first train yet.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16Certainly it's delay, but not a service catastrophe.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19Maybe the tappets need adjusting.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21At last, a breakthrough.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24Power is restored to the points.
0:55:24 > 0:55:25Got voltage.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28Whay! CHEERING
0:55:28 > 0:55:31WOMAN: What's happened? Has it started working?
0:55:31 > 0:55:34I don't know what happened. None of us do, really.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36- It just started working.- Yeah.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41I don't know...
0:55:41 > 0:55:42LAUGHS
0:55:42 > 0:55:446.21, first train.
0:55:44 > 0:55:48- 6.21, first train.- What sort of time is it now?
0:55:48 > 0:55:51- You don't want to know. - LAUGHS
0:55:51 > 0:55:53Er...
0:55:53 > 0:55:56- MAN: Six hours.- Yeah. So about 20 minutes.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02Yeah, that's it, lovely. Thanks.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05TANNOY: 'Ladies and gentlemen, there are currently
0:56:05 > 0:56:09'minor delays on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines
0:56:09 > 0:56:11'and the Waterloo & City line is suspended.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14'All other lines are operating a good service...'
0:56:14 > 0:56:17Waterloo & City line suspended.
0:56:21 > 0:56:26Good morning. My name's Mike, reference number W6185.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30All staff and equipment clear of the track, it's safe for trains to run.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33Thank you very much, have a good morning. Bye.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36Literally, literally, yeah. They've got six minutes.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40They've said, er...they've announced that it's suspended,
0:56:40 > 0:56:44but I think that's just a precaution to let people know, but...
0:56:44 > 0:56:46first train should be out on time now.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48Which is good.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52Just literally, what, six minutes until...
0:56:52 > 0:56:54until the trains.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56But, right, let's go, let's get out.
0:57:16 > 0:57:2099% of them have no idea. They think we arrive half an hour before them and open the doors.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24They don't realise you've been there since ten o'clock the night before.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26You don't want to run up the stairs,
0:57:26 > 0:57:30you want to walk up the stairs to open the gate up.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33- Bit worn out.- Bit worn out! Used it too much!- Yeah.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37I don't dislike passengers at all.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39If it wasn't for passengers, I wouldn't have a job!
0:57:39 > 0:57:41- There you go.- Thank you.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49All they worry about is the trains running on time. They only worry about us if we delay them.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52Which is a thankless task, but we don't mind.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55That's life. I'd be exactly the same as them.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd