T/Op arrested.... alleged drink driving.

[GentlemanJim]

Below is the article as printed by the Evening NoStandards.

A Tube driver has been arrested after allegedly being drunk in charge of a train.



The 50-year-old man was at the controls of a northbound Jubilee Line train on Saturday.



Sources said he had had been due to take a break and be replaced by a new driver at Wembley Park partway through his shift.



But he did not get out of the train until several stations later.



At that point a colleague smelled alcohol on his breath and the police were called.



He was arrested after failing to provide a breath sample and is currently suspended from duty.



A British Transport Police (BTP) spokeswoman said: “I can confirm that officers were called to Queensbury London Underground station shortly after 3pm on Saturday.



“A 50-year-old man has been arrested under the Transport and Works Act and has been released on police bail until Wednesday, 2 April pending further enquiries.”



The Jubilee line runs automatically meaning the trains effectively drive themselves, with the driver only operating the doors.



But being drunk in charge of a Tube train could result in criminal charges and instant dismissal from the job.



Finn Brennan, district organiser for London for the train drivers’ union Aslef, said: “We are aware that a member of staff has been arrested and an investigation is taking place.”



A TfL spokesman said: “On Saturday afternoon a train operator was relieved from duty after concerns were raised about his conduct.



“The train operator was subsequently taken into custody by British Transport Police. The member of staff is suspended while investigations by ourselves and the BTP are continuing.”

[mrhappy]

My how things change. When I started on the Central Line there was a club at White City. Most of the drivers popped in there for a drink on their meal relief. Several were better drivers drunk than when sober!

[Nortube]

Ditto Morden and Camden Town

[hellocontrol]

Don't forget Wood Green and the Albert Stanley at Hammersmith. I remember running empty to Hammersmith siding they were going to put us right time on the WB, me and my guard secured the train and went to the Albert Stanley only to be told they would not serve us someone had seen us leave the train.

[drico]

The train operator who was involved in this incident was found dead in his home in south London.
Report in today's Evening Standard.

[GentlemanJim]

Apr 29, 2014 11:02:05 GMT drico said:

The train operator who was involved in this incident was found dead in his home in south London.
Report in today's Evening Standard.

It's a tragedy for all concerned and probably made worse by being named by that scumbag newspaper.....

[salaam99]

I know I am quite late to post and have sympathy with driver. However, this should have never happened at first place. My uncle has worked for a DUI lawyer and we have seen how disastrous things can be for everyone involved.

[dave1]

From what I understand on TfL there has for many years been a culture of drinking before coming to work, drinking on duty and drinking at any time due to having issues. I think now that they have a D&A policy which works better the number of people has dropped dramatically. There may still be people who don't follow the rules but if they identify themselves they can hopefully get help.

[railtechnician]

LT/LU like all the utility companies had a drinking culture. As a PO Apprentice I learnt to drink alcohol, any event was an excuse for a long liquid lunch at the nearest pub although several of the telephone exchanges I worked in had bars. When I joined LT in the late 1970s it was similar and in some ways worse because we used to drink while at work. On nights I'd go to the pub for half an hour before booking on and bring back beers for 'ron especially when I knew I'd be working in the dry and very dusty inverts of the Northern line. Camden Town was good for a beer and for a very very late breakfast in the afternoon and the bar at Acton Sports Club was a nice place for a drink after lunch. That said I used to frequent the bars at 55 Broadway and Telstar House too. Other than that the station bars were handy at Kings Cross H&C, Liverpool Street, Paddington BR, South Kensington, Sloane Square etc.

There were nice watering holes near but off the job everywhere such as the Kings Cross BR club and the Kings Cross Northern Hotel bar. Lovely pubs at the north end of the Met and the Huntsman bar at Chorleywood, on the Picc apart from the Wood Green club there were the nearby Anglers and Jolly Butchers pubs which I had also used in my days as a telephone engineer. indeed one of the joys as a PO apprentice was working in the cellar of the Jolly Butchers on weekend overtime pulling in telephone cables from the underground car park telephone equipment room to the PO RSC in the external drawing office building above the pub.
 
I only visited the Morden club once and although I was a member of the Albert Stanley for years I never did have a drink there. When I joined LT every Tom, Dick and Harry would come round and sign you up for this, that and the other, I belonged to many engineering, model railway and other clubs through something I joined on the District line and never went to any of them! I drunk a lot of nice ales in the 1980s whatever shift I was on as did so many of my colleagues.

Once D&A policy was introduced we all had a choice i.e. Keep our jobs by obeying the new rules or risking it by disregarding them. I knew several colleagues who lost their jobs because they were unable or unwilling to stop drinking. I found it impossible to drink when working 6 nights a week unless I wanted to drink for breakfast. As a young wireman in the days when we all travelled to the job and back by train it was habit to stop off at Farringdon around 0530 to get a couple of jars in the pub opposite Smithfield market before heading back to Whitechapel to book off after a night shift but I was never able to drink beer for breakfast in later years.  

I have to say that I have no sympathy for those who fall foul of LUL D&A policy, everyone knows the penalties for non-compliance. Anyone valuing their career will abide by the rules, if they can't do that they should seek employment elsewhere.
  

[Nortube]

Prior to the Kings Cross fire, discipline was often very lax in most grades. The rules were there and could be used as required as a means of disciplining / sacking somebody, but this was usually only after something had happened. On duty managers would drink in the club with on duty crews and station staff. A Station Manager may have a pint hidden away under his desk. Some crews at relief points where there was a club would come of the train for their meal break and go straight to the club for a drink, leaving the club straight to pick up their next train.

As a Guard, I ran with a driver at times who was well tanked up by the second half of the duty, but still managed to drive the train perfectly well (but there again, whether sober or drunk, driving a train was so boring that a driver would be on auto pilot a lot of the time anyway!). 
Of course, if managers set a bad example, nobody could blame the staff for following.

One problem in the early 70's was the lack of staff. Nobody wanted jobs on the Underground and staff could mostly get away with anything. Generally, it was preferred to have a member of staff, however bad, than yet another vacancy.

The KX fire and the damning Fennell report on so many things that were wrong at the time changed a lot of things, most of them for the better and were a big improvement. I can't remember when the D&A policy officially came in, but I know that before the KX fire, there didn't appear to be any particular restrictions regarding alcohol on the premises. E.g. a circular was issued at the run-up to the Christmas following the fire stating that it wasn't deemed appropriate to hold any office parties etc. and this effectively banned alcohol at the time . Therefore, I suspect that the D&A introduction was one of the many actions that followed the report. Either way, there was certainly a crackdown on drinking after that time. The D&A clean up and enforcement over the years was one of the better things that happened.

[ KX report here ]

[railtechnician]

Jul 20, 2017 9:37:23 GMT Nortube said:

Prior to the Kings Cross fire, discipline was often very lax in most grades. The rules were there and could be used as required as a means of disciplining / sacking somebody, but this was usually only after something had happened. On duty managers would drink in the club with on duty crews and station staff. A Station Manager may have a pint hidden away under his desk. Some crews at relief points where there was a club would come of the train for their meal break and go straight to the club for a drink, leaving the club straight to pick up their next train.

As a Guard, I ran with a driver at times who was well tanked up by the second half of the duty, but still managed to drive the train perfectly well (but there again, whether sober or drunk, driving a train was so boring that a driver would be on auto pilot a lot of the time anyway!). 
Of course, if managers set a bad example, nobody could blame the staff for following.

One problem in the early 70's was the lack of staff. Nobody wanted jobs on the Underground and staff could mostly get away with anything. Generally, it was preferred to have a member of staff, however bad, than yet another vacancy.

The KX fire and the damning Fennell report on so many things that were wrong at the time changed a lot of things, most of them for the better and were a big improvement. I can't remember when the D&A policy officially came in, but I know that before the KX fire, there didn't appear to be any particular restrictions regarding alcohol on the premises. E.g. a circular was issued at the run-up to the Christmas following the fire stating that it wasn't deemed appropriate to hold any office parties etc. and this effectively banned alcohol at the time . Therefore, I suspect that the D&A introduction was one of the many actions that followed the report. Either way, there was certainly a crackdown on drinking after that time. The D&A clean up and enforcement over the years was one of the better things that happened.

[ KX report here ]

[railtechnician]

Jul 20, 2017 15:57:56 GMT railtechnician said:

Jul 20, 2017 9:37:23 GMT Nortube said:

Prior to the Kings Cross fire, discipline was often very lax in most grades. The rules were there and could be used as required as a means of disciplining / sacking somebody, but this was usually only after something had happened. On duty managers would drink in the club with on duty crews and station staff. A Station Manager may have a pint hidden away under his desk. Some crews at relief points where there was a club would come of the train for their meal break and go straight to the club for a drink, leaving the club straight to pick up their next train.

As a Guard, I ran with a driver at times who was well tanked up by the second half of the duty, but still managed to drive the train perfectly well (but there again, whether sober or drunk, driving a train was so boring that a driver would be on auto pilot a lot of the time anyway!). 
Of course, if managers set a bad example, nobody could blame the staff for following.

One problem in the early 70's was the lack of staff. Nobody wanted jobs on the Underground and staff could mostly get away with anything. Generally, it was preferred to have a member of staff, however bad, than yet another vacancy.

The KX fire and the damning Fennell report on so many things that were wrong at the time changed a lot of things, most of them for the better and were a big improvement. I can't remember when the D&A policy officially came in, but I know that before the KX fire, there didn't appear to be any particular restrictions regarding alcohol on the premises. E.g. a circular was issued at the run-up to the Christmas following the fire stating that it wasn't deemed appropriate to hold any office parties etc. and this effectively banned alcohol at the time . Therefore, I suspect that the D&A introduction was one of the many actions that followed the report. Either way, there was certainly a crackdown on drinking after that time. The D&A clean up and enforcement over the years was one of the better things that happened.

[ KX report here ]

Even in the late 1970s I knew more than one person in the Signal department lose their jobs over drinking. Of course there was an element of discrimination about it, if you could handle your drink and do your job you were not bothered but if you upset a supervisor by being a barrack room lawyer or being lazy your job was in jeopardy, more so if you were also known as a drinker. We had one cable jointer who always had a bottle in his pocket and was often well gone but point him at a cable to be jointed and put a lit blowlamp in his hand and he was good to go. We had a technician who used to man the lamp stores at night. Rumour had it that he was hooked on meths so the guvnor decided he had to go to site and work like everyone else, he always had a bottle in his pocket and I witnessed him being put off the station in the wee small hours for being drunk, he was subsequently sacked because he wouldn't 'play the game'. Even the signal supervisors could be found in the pub before they booked on for night shift, it was just the way things were in those days when rules were broken by custom and practice every shift e.g. most of us gambled in the depots, canteens and on site while waiting for the first train every morning.

Early on in my LT career in the first year I had been out and about for the day and didn't have time to go home and then proceed to work so I went straight to the depot arriving more than two hours before it was open. To kill the time I nipped across the road to a busy pub and had four or five pints. I was fine and booked on as usual, got my orders and took a train to site. After working in the tunnel for an hour or so the messman arrived with the tea, I had two cups and woke up on the platform. I had dropped off and the supervisor had me put on a trolley and transported back to the station. When I awoke the supervisor was standing next to me and told me to report to his window when I got back to the depot that morning. I got a very stiff lecture which I never forgot, it was perhaps one of the best things that ever happened because I knew instantly what the goalposts were! It stood me in good stead for the next 25+ years.

I was one of the first comms workers at Kings Cross following the fire, two days after the event. Once the station was open again after we had spent 30 hours on Saturday and Sunday installing emergency comms equipment and cabling I was there for several weeks on 0700-1900 shifts installing the operations room comms. The station supervisor on the late turn would always have a bottle on him and I would be invited join him for a couple of shots of Cockspur or Wray & Nephew before I left to go home. At lunchtimes all the comms and electrical supervisors and chargehands including me would congregate for liquid lunch in the Great Northern Hotel bar. My recollection is that D&A was not introduced until quite some time after the Kings Cross Enquiry. After Kings X I returned to my SPT installation work between Farringdon and Aldgate for the Aldgate area resignalling and after that I was working on temporary ticket hall 'X' at Liverpool St during the Broadgate development. At that time the station supervisor always carries a half bottle of scotch in his briefcase. He used to say it was for his journey home to Peterborough but he used to have a swig or two before the end of traffic. D&A was not in force then, I don't recall it happening before the 1990s, indeed I can recall a colleague's last night before retirement, circa 1990, and we had a drink in the depot, supervisor included, before going off to site.

Drinking by some continued years after the D&A policy was introduced, I had a signal supervisor who would always have had a drink before coming to work on nights. As a supervisor he was privy to the dates of random drink and drug tests conducted by the visiting OH nurse. When his own name was on the list of 'randomly' selected candidates he would substitute the name of one of the maintenance staff and on the odd occasion when he was unable to do that he simply vanished and then claimed sickness. He got away with that but some of the staff were not so lucky, one of my colleagues got dismissed for being found high on weed. However, like others I have known who were sacked he found his way back onto the job as a contractor.

I agree that D&A and many other things that came as a result of the KGX fire were good but H&S, Licensing and other initiatives had not stamped out all the bad habits when I retired. Discipline improved in some areas but not necessarily in others. Managers were quite happy to turn a blind eye for an easy life as long as they were able to lay blame on someone should the need arise. As in all walks of life there were good and bad individuals at all levels from the sharp end upward and I doubt that will ever change although one would hope and expect that it would.