TfL Tube strike 2018: Fury as District line staff walk out in support of driver ‘who went through three red lights’

Dick Murray12 April 2018

Passengers are to be hit tomorrow by a District line walk-out over a Tube driver alleged to have passed three red signals in his 11 weeks driving.

He had been qualified for 18 weeks but due to sickness, retraining and a compulsory removal from duty only drove for 11, London Underground claims. Two of the signals passed at danger (spads) were within a four-week period.

Nigel Holness, director of network operations at London Underground (LU), said it was “simply not safe for this employee to continue in a role as a driver”. LU refused to identify the severity of the spads — which could derail a train — or where they took place.

After the first incident he spent three days retraining with a driver/instructor in the cab. After the second he spent five days retraining and another five on stand-down. After the third spad he was removed from driving duty.

The District line is the busiest on the network and used by more than 800,000 passengers a day.

Passengers are braced for disruption on the District line

Services will not come to a halt but severe disruption is forecast — particularly in outer London areas. Aslef is the main drivers’ union but driver members of the RMT, not involved in the dispute, could refuse to cross picket lines, adding to the disruption.

Other Tube lines will operate as normal though the Circle line, which doubles-up for parts of the District line, will be much more crowded than usual.

Faces of frustration: Battling the Tube strike

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Passengers were warned of “delays to all journeys throughout the day.”

The driver has been transferred to station duties by “mutual” decision, said LU — a claim robustly denied by union bosses. Finn Brennan, Aslef organiser on the Underground, said the only reason the driver had accepted a transfer of duty was because LU had threatened disciplinary proceedings if he did not. LU denies taking disciplinary action.

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