39-tonne train out of control dangerously through central London

• Report rights infringement
• published: 01 Mar 2013
• views: 72980

This is the dramatic moment a Tube worker jumped to safety from an out of control 39-tonne train as it careered dangerously through central London. The maintenance worker can be seen jumping off the 66ft-long maintenance unit at Highgate tube station after its brakes failed during one of the busiest times of the day. As the train hurtles at speed along the Northern Line, the worker runs along the track beside it. Realising he has little chance of being able to stop the train, he places his hands on his head in panic. Bemused commuters can be seen waiting on a packed platform at Archway station as the train hurtles past them at speed. A court heard yesterday how the runaway train came within 600 metres of causing a 'terrible tragedy' as it headed towards a passenger train. London Underground and its contractors were yesterday fined £300,000 at the Old Bailey over the incident in August 2011. It was being towed past Highgate station in north London but broke free from the other train, passing through seven stations as it raced along the line for 16 minutes, causing a 'substantial risk of harm'. At one point, a busy commuter train in front of the runaway was collecting passengers at Archway in north London and control room staff told the driver to close his doors and urgently accelerate away. The driver was told not to stop and told passengers over the tannoy to move towards the front of the train. The control panel showed the runaway gaining on the passenger train at one stage. One worker described them as 'bloody close'. The two trains came within 2,000ft of each another and Underground staff could not derail the unit between Camden Town and Mornington Crescent. But they managed to reduce its speed and with bemused commuters watching from the platform as the unit rolled passed them, it slowly ground to a halt on a slight incline towards Warren Street. It then began rolling backwards stopping at the entrance to the tunnel, the court was told. Prosecutor Jonathan Ashley-Norman for the Office of Rail Regulation said: 'It's a case that concerns a runaway of a train on the Northern Tube line. It could have been a terrible tragedy. 'Thanks to the skilled actions of London Underground staff in the immediate aftermath of the incident no-one was hurt. However operatives and passengers were exposed to a substantial risk of harm.' He told the Old Bailey that the broken down unit came loose as it was being towed uphill past Highgate station at 6.35am on August 13, 2011. A defective coupling on the unit came loose and because the unit had no power it couldn't brake. Two members of staff from a German contractor on board the unit had to jump to safety onto a platform as the unit rolled backwards downhill through Highgate station picking up speeds of up to 30mph. London Underground, maintenance provider Tube Lines and the German operator of the unit Schweerbau admitted health and safety breaches. The three firms were each fined £100,000. Judge Richard Hone QC said: 'The rail grinding unit was out of control for a total of 16 minutes over a distance of four miles. But to those involved it must have seemed like an extremely frightening eternity. 'Each of the three corporate defendants who have pleaded guilty played relevant roles in causing this full scale emergency. Staff and passengers were put at high risk of injury or death.' He added: 'In short, that risk had not been properly assessed.' The judge said he had reduced the fines from £150,000 to take account of the firms' co-operation with investigators from the Office of Rail Regulation. They had also put in place measures to ensure the incident would never be repeated. Each company was also ordered to pay £14,691 costs to the Office of Rail Regulation. Blog : http://patrynworldlatestnews.blogspot.com/ Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/patryn.worldlatestnews