S Stock: Station Staff Stand In For Technical Shortcomings (Again)

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

You'd think that the idea of bringing in new train stock would be to help the service run more smoothly. And you'd think that at the design stage, there would be some kind of of measuring or modelling exercise to check that the new stock will, erm, fit the existing infrastructure properly.

It was something of an oversight, then, to only find out after the event that on several stations, drivers of the new S Stock trains can't see the PTI properly when there are more than a few passengers on the platform (damn those passengers, blocking our view of the trains!); and that there are some gaps between the train and the platform that are so gaping they can't be left unattended. So at a dozen-and-a-half stations, extra station staff have had to be placed on the platform to tell the driver when it is safe to depart to keep an eye on the gaps. Some stations need three staff on the platform for most of the traffic day!

The work is currently being carried out by SRT and on overtime, while we await an elusive 'technical fix'. Here at Tubeworker, we are all in favour of creating jobs - it is deeply ironic that while LUL is trying to cut 900 or so station jobs, it is having to create more duties for its existing staff to do.

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