District Drivers Logbook

Stressed!

2006-09-14T22:24:00.000Z

Hey everyone! Apologies for the lack of updates lately, but between my daughter crying and me working almost 24/7 I just don't seem to have time!

What a culture shock it's been to be back working on the buses! Instead of having 12 hours off between shifts, we only get 8.5 hours, which doesn't include travelling time etc, so I could be rostered to finish at midnight, wait for the staff bus home at 1am (I don't have a car at the moment), get home and unwind for an hour - that makes it now 2am and I could be due to book on again at 8.30am the following morning, meaning I'd have to get out of bed for 7am!

The shift lengths are quite long too. Some of them are over ten hours, which is a bloody long time to be driving for. We only get 35 minutes break out of that ten hours, so all those adverts telling drivers that "tiredness kills - take regular breaks" are obviously not aimed at poor bus drivers! There is very little time at termini, so you could be driving for 5.5 hours non-stop, dealing with traffic and passengers etc, have your 35 minute break then do another 4 hours solid driving.
I know it's my choice to drive buses, but I'm still quite shocked at how we're treated. The company I work for even charge us for using the depot car park!
We've just had a pay rise, but I'm still having to work an average 60 hour week to make ends meet. It's shocking that for such a responsible job, we're so badly paid! It's also shocking that in 2006, 95% of the drivers at my depot are so hard-up they're claiming various family tax credits etc to make up the pay.

There are actually a million whinges I've got to blog about, but I'll save them for another day! Taxi drivers: beware - you're the first to be whinged at when I have time!!

Please say hello to...

2006-08-09T12:59:00.000Z

My latest arrival!

May I present to the world Rihanna:

Born in the QE Hospital, Gateshead at 1010 this morning, 8lb 1oz.

Mother and baby doing well!

By the way, apologies for the delay in posting updates to my blog but I've been pretty much working 7 days a week lately. Further updates added soon!

Back up in the, erm, 'frozen' north!

2006-07-06T15:47:00.000Z

Well, I made it! It was a nightmare journey for my daughter and I as we drove from Newcastle to London to collect my belongings, then to Chadwell Heath in Essex to collect some stuff from my sister, then back home to Newcastle again!

In all it took us from 8am on Monday morning until 2am on Tuesday morning. The worst part of the journey was going to my sisters house, as there was an accident on the A12 and I didn't know of an alternative route. We sat in traffic around Gants Hill for about 2 hours!

Anyway, we have now sorted all of my stuff out and put it away. My wife, daughter, dog and cats are all pleased to see me home! My wife still has another four weeks or so to go before the baby arrives, but I think it will arrive earlier than planned. I'll keep you all informed.

Not sure why they call us the 'frozen north' as ever since I arrived back on Saturday afternoon, the temperatures have been in the 80s with bright sunshine. We've been forecast thunderstorms for the last 5 nights but they never arrive! The poor garden is looking parched, but at least up here I'm not subject to a hosepipe ban!

By the way, many thanks to all of you who left goodwill messages in my comments or sent me an email. All very much appreciated.

I start working back on the buses again on Monday so I'll let you know how it goes.

The Last Post!

2006-06-29T05:11:00.000Z

Yes, the time has arrived to pack up my PC and prepare for moving back north. I will update the blog once I'm back in my new job driving buses to keep you all informed how it's going and whether my wife has a boy or a girl!
Speaking of my wife, she got bit by a dog while out walking our dog yesterday. It took a chunk out of her hand so after a trip to hospital, she now has to wear a sling for a few days and take loads of anti-biotics.
I wish I knew whose dog it was, I'd go and have a 'quiet word'.

Anyway, at the time of writing (approx 6am) I only have two more days at LUL, and I'm spare both days. If I don't get any jobs to cover, that means that I'll have officially said goodbye to Upminster and the east end, to Richmond and Wimbledon and indeed to the entire District line.
It's a bit sad really. I will miss the job, despite my moanings. But even more, I will miss my colleagues. I've made so many friends from all grades of staff while I've been down here, and I know some of them read this blog, so to all of you THANK YOU!

AOL have switched off my broadband connection in readiness for my move, so I'm now on a very slow dial-up connection. I'm on packing my stuff... I didn't realise I had so much! Mainly clothes which are still in plastic bags from the last time I moved!! They'll need washing when I get them up north!

It seems that a couple who currently live in a downstairs room in this house are wanting to take over this room when I move out. That would bevery useful seeing as my landlord is insisting I continue paying rent until my contract expires if someone doesn't take over the room. I've already cancelled his direct debit, so I hope they do take the room!

So, on Saturday I will take the train back to Newcastle, then hire a van from a local company, come back down with my daughter on Monday, load up the van, pick some stuff up from my sisters in Essex then back home. Monday will be a busy day! People keep asking why I don't get a one-way van hire, but they were asking huge amounts of money! Hiring from my local company is only £35 a day, where a lot of the one-way hires were asking about £200! Even taking into account my train fare back to Newcastle and extra fuel, it's still cheaper!

Seeing as I won't be able to do my review of the year, I thought I'd do my six-month review of the year!

Overtime claimed due to late stabling because of signal failure:
74 minutes
(2005 = 723 minutes.)

Overtime claimed due to late stabling because of drunks:
18 minutes
(2005 = 165 minutes.)

Overtime due to incompetent signallers (this is where they put you into Ealing Broadway platform then simply forget about you, or leave you at a red signal for ages somewhere between Ealing Broadway and Ealing Common depot):
128 minutes
(2005 = 508 minutes.)

Trains with broken windows:
Zero!
(2005 = 4.)

Drunks unconscious on train at terminus requiring assistance either from BTP or other station staff:
6 (4 since the World Cup started!)
(2005 = 18.)

Incorrect routes set for me by signaller:
1
(2005 = 5.)

Number of near-misses (people trespassing or pretending to jump in front of me):
Zero!
(2005 = 4.)

So you can see that things have improved since last year! I know that last years figures are for a twelve month period, but even so, there are definite improvements, especially in the broken windows and near misses.
Sadly the signaller incompentence figure is still quite high. Every single night for the past few weeks I've been claiming overtime for that reason.
The other night I got 25 minutes of overtime because of it! Firstly he holds me in Acton Town platform (heading towards Ealing). I call the controller on the radio, he informs me to wait and the signal clears.
On leaving Acton Town, I get held at the next signal, although the adjacent line is cleared (usually used by the Picc line). It is after 1am so the last Picc has departed. I call up the controller, and again he tells me to wait. The signal on the Picc goes back to red, and mine clears.
He holds me in Ealing Common platform. Controller tells me to wait... Signal clears.
He holds me at Hanger Lane Junction. Controller (sounding sick as a chip) tells me to wait. Signal clears.
He holds me at the home signal to Ealing Broadway. Plats 7 & 8 are occupied but platform 9 is empty. I wait a few minutes before using the signal phone (I thought the controller would have a fit if I spoke to him again!). The signaller tells me to "wait for the signal" and hangs up on me before I have chance to ask why he hasn't cleared for platform 9.
Another few minutes pass, then the train in platform 7 departs. I sit for another minute then the signal clears... Into platform 9 which he could have cleared at the start!
Then we (myself and one of my colleagues in platform 8) are held in the platform for ten minutes before he lets me go. Then he held me at Hanger Lane Junction again.

By the time I stabled, I was 25 minutes later than booked, and was very lucky that the staff cab waited for me.

Something needs to be done about this. I mentioned I'll miss my colleagues, but I'll certainly not miss the Earl's Court signallers!!

Anyway, that's it for now, and that's it from London! My next post will be from the North East.

Take care of yourselves.

Been A While!

2006-05-30T03:16:00.000Z

Well, I had a great time up north although I never stopped working! I've laid laminate flooring in the living room, stripped the wallpaper and applied new to two bedrooms and painted the bathroom and laid new lino!! Dealing with drunks on a Friday night has nothing compared to dealing with a heavily pregnant wife who wants the house put right before the big day!!

Speaking of the big day, the baby is due on August 2nd. I have therefore put in my notice to London Underground, and will be leaving the job on June 30th. I will then have a week off and start my new job (in fact it's my old job back on the buses again!) on July 10th.
This will mean a substantial drop in wages and mean I have to work a lot more hours than at present, however at least I'll be with my family again, and I'm sure we'll cope financially with only having one lot of bills to pay instead of two.

I'll keep posting of anything exciting which happens between now and then, and afterwards I'll have to decide on whether to keep the blog going under a new name or just scrap it.

Expect Severe Delays!

2006-05-06T00:45:00.000Z

Just a warning for those of you who usually use the east-end of the District... Metronet have taken an emergency engineering possession to deal with the problem of the overheating rails. Unfortunately, because it's an emergency possession, there is no specific timetable in place, so it will be a very hit and miss service up towards Barking today and Sunday I think.

Friday was a bloody nightmare for me! I managed to stable almost an hour late thanks to some drunken prat at Earl's Court managing to break one of the train doors.
I always get annoyed when people hold the train doors open for their friends, but this dickhead tonight managed to cause a long shutdown in platform 2 while we tried to repair the door. We had trains stuck out in the tunnel coming from Wimbledon and a train in platform one who couldn't go because I had been given the route, but couldn't move because of this door!

Eventually the train technician came over and got it closed and I set off (with the technician in case it happened again). Luckily it didn't, but by the time I got to Mansion House and back to Ealing Broadway then into the depot, I was very late and very stressed!

However, the perfect cure for stress is a holiday which leads me nicely to my next topic: It's holiday time again!
I'm away from today (Sat 6th May) for approximately two weeks, so this will probably be the last entry until my return.

Take care of yourselves and see you all in fortnight!

Metronet Disgrace

2006-05-04T23:56:00.000Z

Well, what a cock-up today was! It wasn't just a few temporary restrictions in place... ALL parts of the District line above ground were subject to a blanket 20MPH restriction.
This was due to the fact that Metronet had failed to treat the tracks in preparation for the hot weather. According to the BBC London News, All LUL senior managers are absolutely furious about it, and I'm not surprised. As usual though, it was us in the front line who got the flack for it.

Can you imagine having to travel all the way from Upminster down to Bow Road (where we enter the tunnel) at 20MPH? The average speed is usually 45MPH so it was taking almost an hour to do this journey.

To make matters worse, the controllers were still sending loads of trains all the way to Upminster. Bearing in mind that trains were opnly travelling at 20MPH, it took a long time for the train in front to clear the signal sections, so we spent more time sitting at red signals than actually moving!
It would have made a lot more sense to reverse more trains back west from Barking rather than trying to keep up their 'mileage quotas'.

It wasn't just the east end of the line... As I said earlier, ALL external sections were subject to this restriction!

I hope someone gets a damn good bollocking for this, but (call me cynical if you wish) but I suspect nothing will happen to anyone at the top of the Metronet tree.

Goodness knows what's going to happen if we have any more hot weather before Metroshite have had a chance to treat all of these rails.

By the way, PLEASE don't blame train drivers or station staff! We can't do anything about it! We don't like running late, we don't like running slow and we don't like being diverted at the last minute but we only do as we're told.

A Bit Of Hot Weather..

2006-05-04T13:54:00.000Z

As I type, the outside temperature is apparently 26 degrees Celsius (which is almost 79 in Fahrenheit for those of us old enough to remember that scale). I'm just getting ready to go to work, but I know I'm going to be running late all day before I even start! How do I know this? According to the TfL disruption info, we have severe delays occurring due to temporary speed restrictions.

These restrictions were also imposed yesterday, which wasn't nearly as hot as today and are caused by the tracks apparently not being able to cope with the heat! This happens every year as soon as we get a bit of sunshine, as it's apparently to do with sections of long welded rail expanding (I'm no scientist!) but surely there must be a solution?

In the winter we get frozen points and the 'wrong type of snow', during wet weather we get track circuit and signal failures due to the damp, and in the summer we get buckling rails! This doesn't just affect LUL, I remember hearing similar tales of woe from the mainline too.

How do they cope in other countries which have extreme temperatures?

Anyway, I'll let you know what happened when I get in from work tonight!

Later Weekends

2006-04-29T00:07:00.000Z

I see TfL have now announced that they will be running later weekend services to cater for the pissheads at the expense of people who need to be out and about early on Saturday or Sunday mornings.
From June next year, the Tube will operate approximately half an hour later than they currently do, whilst starting about an hour later to allow for engineering works to continue.

This all follows a long consultation, although I suspect even if the results had been 99% against later trains, Ken Livingston would have introduced it anyway.

It's the poor early-morning commuters and travellers I feel sorry for. The extra time on a Friday and Saturday night will lose a lot of money for LUL (after all, would you insist on checking a drunks ticket at 1am? I certainly wouldn't. Many of them are incapable of buying a ticket anyway.

I've seen people queueing outside of Acton Town station to catch the first Picc train of the day to Heathrow on a Sunday morning. The train is usually quite busy, leaving Acton at approx 0645. The first train will in future be at 0745, which I'm sure the taxi firms will be quite happy about, but not the punters!

Back to Normal!

2006-04-26T02:48:00.000Z

Well, we've now been booking on and off at Earl's Court again for about a fortnight now, and I don't like it one bit! It's not so much the extra travelling time, it's the fact I have to make sure I read my duty book correctly to see if I'm supposed to be at Acton or Earl's Court to book on!
I still have to go to Acton every day first anyway, as this is where I book off on a late duty (after stabling the train in Ealing Common Depot) and I leave my equipment bag (which is quite heavy) in my locker. So I need to pick this up before I then go to Earl's Court to book on.

One thing I've noticed more lately though is the crap service offered by the Piccadilly line on the Rayners Lane branch where I live! A wait of 15 minutes is not uncommon. As soon as there's a sniff of a problem on the Piccadilly, which is quite regular lately, the Picc controllers divert loads more trains towards Heathrow and seem to forget they have a Rayners branch.
During the signal failures at Arnos Grove last week, I waited almost 25 minutes for a train into work. It's incredible how a failure at the other end of the Picc line can have such a knock-on effect. Obviously I understand how it happens being in the business and having seen it first hand, but it should be the job of the line controller to ensure that there's still a decent service being offered to us Rayners branch punters as well as the Heathrow ones!

Not a lot been happening at work to blog about lately really! I had to run a train out of service on Monday night from Barking to Ealing depot due to some drunk puking all over one of the carriages.
I suspected something was wrong when I was heading towards Barking and people were getting off the front carriage and getting on the one behind, or looking into the car then changing their minds and running for the car behind. This immediately made me think that something was up in the first car, but as I was close to Barking (where I was due to terminate anyway) I just continued allowing for extra time for people to change carriages if they so wished.
Anyway, on arriving at Barking, I went into the first car and was almost sick myself... The overpowering stench of alcoholic vomit literally covering the floor of the entire car!
If the person who did that amount of puking is reading, I'd suggest you go to your doctor: there must have been about 20 pints, mixed with the obligatory 'chunks'!
There's no way I could risk running that back in service due to Health & Safety considerations (passengers slipping or possibly catching some disease from the fluids) so I had to run empty back to Ealing.
On the mainline when I used to run empty, the signaller would give you priority a lot of the time as he knew you weren't going to be stopping anywhere, so I'd go non-stop down the fast line to wherever I was going. Unfortunately on LUL, running down the fast track overtaking stopping trains isn't an option! Therefore I was following directly behind a service train which was stopping at every station as normal, so my average speed running empty was probably about 15mph!
It's nice not having to worry about passengers on the train, but it's a lot of stress having to follow another train and go from one red signal to the next, especially late at night!

By the way, my wife has had her first scan at last! The baby (and my wife) seem to be absolutely fine and officially due on August 2nd. My birthday is on 31st July, and my mums 60th (she'll love me for saying that!) is on August 9th, so it will be a great birthday present for us!
I'm up north in May for a fortnight to sort out various things, including seeing my old boss on the buses to see if I can get my old job back. Shouldn't be a problem, although it'll be a hell-of-a shock going from driving trains and getting reasonably well paid for it to going back to driving buses (which I hated) and getting reasonably well UNDERpaid for it. However I don't have any other vocation behind me, so I don't have much choice and I can't stay down in London leaving my wife and my baby up north!
I'm sure everything will work out nicely, and of course I'll save a fortune in only having one set of bills each month instead of two like at present.

Anyhow, enough ramblings! I'll keep you posted if there are any more developments on my moving back up north or of course if there's anything worth blogging about at work!!

Stitched Up By Our Own Union.

2006-04-14T13:33:00.000Z

Thanks ASLEF.
This month marks the 16th month of the longest-running dispute ever on LUL, namely the Acton Town remote booking on and off dispute.
I'm not going to get bogged down with the details, but as of this Sunday, Acton Town is back to the position we were in before the dispute started! We're back to remotely booking on and off at Earl's Court with no extra pay for doing so. However this is only until June when the new timetable is introduced, then the remote stuff will be abolished, however at the cost of upto 25 drivers being displaced from Acton Town to Earl's Court, losing the middle duties and nightshift duties to Earl's Court and possibly losing the rest of our so-called 'family friendly' rosters at Acton.

We were all invited to a meeting to discuss the latest position, and we duly attended only to be lectured to by president of the ASLEF EC (Executive Committee) that they'd secured a deal already and we weren't going to have a say! HOW THE HELL can they agree to a deal without asking the people it involves for their opinion first?

I could probably write a 10,000 word essay on this subject because I feel so strongly about it, but I'll not, as this is a public blog and you never know who's reading. However let me say that ASLEF have certainly gone down in my estimation and they are very lucky that the vast majority of ASLEF members at Acton Town aren't leaving the union in disgust as we were originally thinking about doing... Instead we are going to attend the branch meetings and actually try and make a difference to our depot's future as well as kicking our current reps out.

The RMT missed a trick as well! At the time of the meeting, they hadn't accepted the deal. After a show of hands, we overwhelmingly voted against what was on offer (a waste of time having the vote seeing as it was a done deal, but we did so anyway to show our disgust at the ASLEF committee). The RMT saw that vote and they could have rejected the offer. As much as I hate Bob Crow, I would have considered switching to the RMT if they had rejected the offer, but no... They followed like meek little kittens and accepted the deal after the meeting despite the result of our vote and hearing how angry we were.

Yes I know I'll be leaving LU in a few months, but it still annoys the hell out of me that we've been stitched up by the union we trusted.

Deal Or No Deal?!

2006-04-08T12:14:00.000Z

During the time I was on the sick, I had the 'pleasure' of watching a lot of evening TV which I normally miss because I'm at work. One such show is Deal or No Deal on Channel 4.
This is a really simple format but is nerve-wrecking for those people sat in the chair! After each round, Noel Edmonds asks the question "Deal or no deal?".

What's all this got to do with the District line? Well, it's all in relation to the managements offer of a long-term deal for our pay and conditions. NO DEAL say I.
The thing which annoys me is the management want to give us a type of performance-related pay which will depend on certain criteria being met, such as cleanliness, reliability and overcrowding.
Now call me thick if you wish, but how on earth can someone driving a train have any effect whatsoever on those three things?
If the company wish me to clean my train after every trip, then I shall stick a broom up my backside and sweep the train as I'm walking through looking for lost property. Otherwise, how do they expect us to contribute to cleanliness standards? We employ cleaners at all the termini to clean the trains, and if certain punters want to fill the train with crap in between stations, there's nothing I can do about it, so there's one part of my PRP gone.

Then there's reliability. How on earth can we do anything about this either? If a signal fails in front of us, we drivers know how to get around it following the relevant rules and regs. However we aren't qualified to go down on the track and fix it! Similarly, if it's a signal protecting a junction, the points need to be secured. This needs to be done by a station supervisor or similar rank. This all takes time, but is neccesary for the safety of the train and the passengers. There's no way to speed up the process. So there's another part of the PRP gone.

So we have overcrowding left. How do I deal with this? Maybe the company want me to close the doors on people to stop them getting on to my train? Or perhaps I should wander down my train at every station to count the amount of passengers in each carriage and throw off the excess?
OK, so maybe it should be our station colleagues who have to control the overcrowding? How do they achieve this? Obviously they have to stop selling tickets and opening the stations. We'll just run empty trains all day! That should solve the problem.

In all seriousness, how do the management expect us to have any control over any of these issues? I hope the unions will also say NO DEAL. I know I'm leaving in a few months, so it doesn't really affect me, but I'll be leaving behind a lot of very good friends who I know work damn hard (despite what the Evening Standard may say) and I don't want to see them stitched up in a long-term deal by a very cunning management.

By the way, my missus has her first scan later this month. Sadly I'll not be there to see it, but she's promised to get me a photo if she can! Oh no, I'm turning into a baby bore!!

Nearing The End Of An Era!

2006-04-03T12:20:00.000Z

Well it looks like I'll be leaving London Underground in the next few months.

Allow me to explain! My wife and daughter are still living up north while I'm down here earning the money. My daughter is now 18, and after she was born, we were told that the chances of having any more kids was virtually nil. This has remained for 18 years... until now!
My wife has been putting on weight lately, and her mother 'bullied' her into taking a pregnancy test which came back positive! The doctor has this morning confirmed that she is approx 24 weeks pregnant, so I'll be a daddy again in only four months!

Sadly, this means having to leave my job and move back up north to be with them, but that's completely outweighed by becoming a dad again!

Obviously I'll keep on blogging until I leave (probably in a couple of months) and after that I'll have to change my name from DistrictDriver to Bus Driver until I can find something better in the area!

Back to work next week

2006-03-31T00:00:00.000Z

Well, my short time at work this morning to assess if I could climb on and off a train and drive without any further stress to my shoulder went OK. My sick note expires on Monday, so I'll go and see my doctor then and ask him if I'm doing the right thing by returning to work. I'm sure he'll say it's fine.

So by Tuesday I should be back at the pointy end of a train! (I know our trains don't have pointy ends, but that's just traditional train driver speak for being at the front!) LUL are still going to release me for a few hours to allow me to continue my physiotherapy until the problem is completely sorted.

By the way, the more observant of you may have noticed I've now added a clock to the blog! Also the picture showing in lieu of a photograph is the official District line logo.

It's Not Just Us Train Drivers Going The Wrong Way!

2006-03-30T00:57:00.000Z

Lovely story on the BBC Website, although I'm not sure those involved would think it was lovely!

Basically, it's a story about a pilot who landed at a military airfield instead of the City of Derry airport. Train drivers often take 'wrong signals' (for example at Hanger Lane Junction where the Piccadilly heads towards North Ealing and Rayners Lane, and the District goes to Ealing Broadway), but I thought aircraft were fitted out with computers which direct the pilots? And surely the Air Traffic Controller should have seen the plane landing at the wrong airfield?

Anyway, it makes a District line train up at South Harrow seem quite insignificant in comparison, and at least we can blame the signaller for setting the wrong route in the first place! (You know how much I love my signaller colleagues!!)

Just so you know, I'm feeling a LOT better now, and have not needed the painkillers since Tuesday! I am in at work later today (Thursday) for a 'disability test' (at my own request) just to make sure I can still climb in and out of the train cab (it's a long drop down to the ballast if we need to use a signal phone!). Also to make sure that I can drive the train comfortably. The controller on a D stock is on the right hand side, and obviously if it's going to put my right shoulder under too much stress by returning to work, then I'll have to have more time off until it's completely healed. I'll let you know later!

Update.

2006-03-28T22:35:00.000Z

Well, had my next physio session at Richmond Physiotherapy this morning, and I have to say the young lady who is sorting me out, Pippa, is doing a marvellous job!
She's really 'hit the nerve' if you pardon the pun and seems to have almost sorted me out already! I'm now trying to go without taking the painkillers (I hate taking tablets anyway!) and although I still have some discomfort, I feel about 80% better than I did!

I now have feelings in my middle finger which has been virtually numb for four weeks!
Hopefully I'll be back to work before long.

By the way, can I just say it's great to see the Station Master has reconsidered his decision to end his blog! It was he, along with Tube Dude and Great Orme who got me blogging in the first place!

Still sick!

2006-03-22T00:30:00.000Z

Well it's been 3 weeks now. I hate being sick, and the last time I had this problem a few years ago, I was off for almost 3 months. Hopefully it won't take quite as long this time, as LUL are paying to get me private physiotherapy to get me back to work quicker.
My first session is tomorrow. I've also been referred to an NHS physio by my GP, however the waiting lists for that are huge, so I'm grateful to my employers for arranging the private physio.

Apart from anything else, I'm bored rigid staying at home all the time, and it's bloody painful to sit or lie in certain positions.
Let's hope the physio has some effect and gets me back to work soon!

Sick

2006-03-01T02:15:00.000Z

Unfortunately, an old ailment of mine seems to be cropping up again, so there will be no blog updates for a while until I feel a bit better. Sorry!

Hopefully I was right!

2006-02-28T02:15:00.000Z

According to the BBC London News, it looks like ASLEF will be calling off the strike planned for Thursday. Although it's not certain yet, it is looking hopeful. If ASLEF calls off the strike, then the RMT are bound to follow!

I'm still here!

2006-02-27T00:05:00.000Z

I noticed my colleague Tube Dude mentioning the fact that none of us other LU bloggers seem to be making any updates! So just to prove I'm still alive I thought I'd make a new blog entry!

I apologise for the lack of updates, but there has really been nothing of any interest to blog about! In fact, I did make a quite long post about my recent block training experiences just a few minutes ago, but the electricity went off (as per usual in this shit hole) and I really can't be bothered to write all of that again.

Briefly, the training has now changed to include training for the new Connect radio project (I believe originally planned for 2001 so they're running slightly over...). Anyway, the training was a waste of time! The instructor did his best to tell us about the system, but sadly the powerpoint presentation didn't work, nor did the radio sets which were installed in the Hammersmith training room, so I'm still none the wiser as to how the radio system works, although it does promise to be a huge improvement on the current one (which isn't difficult on the District - I can receive German radio stations on a Long Wave wireless more clearly than the District Controller can be heard on the current train radio!)

The strike scheduled to take place this Thursday 2nd March is still on at the moment, but I am fully expecting both unions to call it off again. This particular strike is about the new policies LU are apparently trying to impose without union consultation, but I believe the company and unions are 'actively talking' now, so hopefully Thursday's strike will be called off. Then the pay discussions begin...

Apparently the company are looking for a five year deal, including a no-strike agreement. This will take us up to 2011. Surely they should be looking at a six year deal to cover the Olympics in 2012? Anyway, the unions are certainly going to be tied up with those negotiations, and no doubt there'll be the usual threats of action from the RMT and possibly ASLEF.
I don't think these discussions have been started yet, and therefore I'm not positive on the long-term deal thing, but that's what the rumour mills are spreading, and they're usually pretty accurate!

Anyway, that's it for now. I'd better publish this before the electricity trips out again...

Ghost-Busters Needed!

2006-02-11T02:20:00.000Z

Maybe a case for my colleague Tube Dude who is fascinated by such things:

Last night on arrival in Barking sidings, I shut down my train to change to the west end as usual. As I walk through the train, I slam the inter-connecting doors behind me as I walk through.
Anyway, all inter-connecting doors are closed and I'm sitting just behind the west-end drivers cab reading a newspaper waiting for my departure time and I clearly hear the unmistakeable sound of inter-connecting doors slamming!

Now, those of you who know me (or read my comments on Tube Dude's blog about his ghost hunting) will know ghostly-type things completely freak me out! Here I am in Barking sidings alone on my train, which I've just walked through so I know is empty and I can hear the doors slamming!
I stick my head out the cab door to see if there's another train alongside me, which there isn't. There are a few C stock trains stabled over the other side of the sidings, but I wouldn't have heard their doors slamming.

I wasn't brave enough to have a stroll back down the train to check, I just locked myself in my cab!
It could have been anything I suppose, but the sound of the inter-connecting doors slamming is quite distinctive as I've heard it before when a fitter has been walking through my train. This time there was no-one. There may well be a logical explanation, and I've been desperately trying to think of one!

I'm dreading going back into Barking sidings again now! So Tube Dude, I suggest the next time you pass Barking sidings, see if you feel anything!

Strikes Announced

2006-02-10T01:29:00.000Z

Well, the results of the combined RMT & ASLEF ballot have been announced, and they are in favour of strike action.
This dispute WILL have an effect on the service, unlike the previous RMT station staff strikes as this time the drivers are involved. The LUL management may be able to sneak their own people into stations to keep them open, however they certainly can't get a non-qualified person to drive a train.

The dates of the two strikes announced so far are Tuesday 21st February and Thursday 2nd March.
I'm not sure of the exact details of the strikes yet, however it will probably be a case of the action being from 9pm to 9pm, therefore services will start winding down at 9pm on Monday 20th. I'll update you as soon as I know.

Before anyone posts comments slating me, I've mentioned before both here (and on Annie Mole's Blog comments) that I hate striking for anything other than safety issues, and I don't believe that the current dispute is about safety. Believe me, I'm as sick of strikes as anyone else.

Back From The Grindstone!

2006-02-08T02:34:00.000Z

Back to normal! Had a nice week away although it could hardly be classed as a holiday! In fact, every period of time off work I have is never called a holiday really because there's always something my wife finds for me to do!

Last week I've replaced all of the curtain rails in the house, painted the hallway and measured for the wood flooring my wife has decided she now wants. I'll have the pleasure of laying that during my next 'holiday' in May!

So, it's nice to be back at work for a rest! Very quiet first shift back, although I've managed to get ten minutes overtime because the signallers are still being total idiots. Apparently they're still 'working to rule' which surely should mean they actually do their job properly instead of holding us everywhere for no reason?
Still, if they want to keep giving me overtime I'll not complain! It all helps at pay day.

Irony

2006-01-29T07:00:00.000Z

When I rang my wife during my meal break, she informed me that if we'd put the lottery on, we'd have had 5 numbers and the bonus ball, which would have been about a quarter of a million quid. How bloody ironic that the week we don't put our usual numbers on because we're struggling for money, the damn things come up.
I couldn't afford to enter the works syndicate for the Euro millions rollover either, so I half expected them to win the full hundred million! In actual fact, out of almost 100 lines, they won about £7 total!

I've told my missus a million times not to check the numbers when we can't afford to put it on, but does she listen?!
Ah well, I suppose I'll have to go back to driving trains again in a weeks time!

Yes I say a weeks time, because I'm away for the next week. Will Acton Town still be my home depot when I return? Who knows. There's a lot of politics and arguments going on at Acton at the moment, and morale seems to have reached a record low now. I dread to think what I'm going to come back to.

Anyway, have a good week everyone. Stay safe!

Have To Be Careful!

2006-01-25T03:00:00.000Z

One of my colleagues today entered the smoking room at Earl's Court where I was sitting and said "It's you, isn't it?"
A bit of a strange "hello" I thought, of course it's me!
My colleague then went on to say "I was on the internet the other night, and you're DistrictDriver aren't you?".

Hmmm. I suspect my identity is probably so easy to work out by the posts I've made in the past, but now I know my colleagues are reading, I'll have to be careful about what I say!!!

LASERS
Remember a few years ago, laser pens were the 'must-have' item for yoofs. These devices were designed for teachers or lecturers for pointing out things on whiteboards without needing a wooden pointer, however because they produce a tiny dot of red laser beam, the chavs all decided what fun it would be to have them to shine into peoples eyes. Particularly drivers.
I thought I'd seen the last of those things, but tonight while sitting in my driving cab at Wimbledon waiting for my departure time, I suddenly get a red light in my eye, then flying around my cab.
Obviously I didn't know what it was at first; it could have been a laser-sight for a rifle or anything! Anyway, I worked out it was bouncing from the mirror, and it was being shone by a yoof in the front carriage.
I told him in no uncertain terms if he did it again it would take a bloody good surgeon to remove it from his backside.
He sat down, and off I went thinking no more of it. Then I see the red dot again! This time the train is in motion. The last thing you want to see while driving a train is a red light in front of you!
Anyway, on arrival at the next station, I stepped onto the platform and looked through into the saloon, and he's shining this laser thing through the spyhole on the cab door (the spyhole is simply for security reasons so we can see who is behind the door before we open it!).
As I'd already told this guy off once, I removed him from my train. I told the line controller what he'd done and what I'd done, and he passed the message to the station supervisor, so hopefully he was also thrown out of the station.

This may sound a bit extreme, but a driver is perfectly within his rights to refuse travel to anyone he/she believes could pose a danger to the train or the railway. In my opinion, this guy had been given one chance, and how stupid was he to then shine his toy through the spyhole?!

Hopefully this doesn't mean these laser thingies are coming back into vogue for the chavs.