Could You Pass The London Underground Train Driving Test? | The Tube — Transcript

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1. 0:21On the tube, Miranda drives her train
2. 0:24through a red light.
3. 0:25If I caused a delay, well, it's better
4. 0:27than killing people.
5. 0:28And it's crunch time for trainee driver
6. 0:30Joe.
7. 0:31Feel like lambs to the slaughter.
8. 0:36At the beginning of last year, London
9. 0:38Underground ran an ad campaign in
10. 0:40Cosmopolitan magazine in a bid to
11. 0:42attract more women drivers.
12. 0:456,500 women applied. 116 got jobs. Joe
13. 0:50Drummond is one of them.
14. 0:53Um, I've got about 2 weeks left. I've
15. 0:55got my road test, which is very similar
16. 0:57to a sort of car test, on the 12th of
17. 1:00August. It's like any test. You're
18. 1:02really nervous, aren't you? And you can
19. 1:03sort of like mess up on the day, but
20. 1:05hopefully, fingers crossed, I won't mess
21. 1:07up on the day and then I can get rid of
22. 1:09them annoying IOs that keep coming in
23. 1:10the cab with me and drive the train on
24. 1:12my own.
25. 1:14For the last 5 months, Joe has been
26. 1:16learning to drive a 160-ton Northern
27. 1:19Line train.
28. 1:20If she passes her test, she'll be left
29. 1:22in charge of a train of up to 1,000
30. 1:24passengers.
31. 1:26I'll tell you when we're going to be
32. 1:28there. It's 53.
33. 1:2953, yeah, that's it.
34. 1:30Yeah, it's 53.
35. 1:35Today, Joe's having one of her final
36. 1:37lessons before her test, and she's being
37. 1:39taken out by operator instructor Dan
38. 1:42East. He's helping her brush up on any
39. 1:44last-minute faults.
40. 1:49On test day, Joe will have to drive a
41. 1:51full 8-hour shift plus breaks. But
42. 1:54today, she's just doing the run from
43. 1:56Golders Green to Kennington.
44. 1:59Smooth braking is one of the more
45. 2:01difficult techniques to master.
46. 2:04All right, in a moment we're coming into
47. 2:06Leicester Square now. Don't forget it's
48. 2:08quite bendy short platform, so
49. 2:10get on the brakes reasonably early
50. 2:12again. That's it.
51. 2:13All right, start braking it down a
52. 2:14little bit. That's it.
53. 2:18The bend will scrub your speed off
54. 2:19anyway, so
55. 2:28How smooth is that then?
56. 2:30That's pretty good.
57. 2:32The only tiniest area we really need to
58. 2:34brush up on a bit is the actual location
59. 2:36certain speed limits on the line.
60. 2:38Which Joe's definitely sussing out now,
61. 2:41but it's been a long time.
62. 2:43And it takes a long time to learn them
63. 2:44all.
64. 2:45You tend to, you know, forget.
65. 2:48And then
66. 2:49they just jump out at you.
67. 2:51Before you know it you're going to be
68. 2:52doing 15 or something.
69. 2:54Speed limit.
70. 2:56The Northern Line speed limit.
71. 2:57No,
72. 2:58speed limit for it.
73. 3:00You're nearly doing it now.
74. 3:03Yeah.
75. 3:06Once I get a bit of experience with the
76. 3:07line, I'll know where to slow down and
77. 3:09where certain signals are and what know
78. 3:11what signals to sort of watch out for
79. 3:12and um
80. 3:13Yeah, but it will come with experience.
81. 3:16The Northern Line has got six different
82. 3:18speed limits and more than 1,200
83. 3:20signals.
84. 3:22Joe's covered most areas of training
85. 3:24needed for her test, but she's never
86. 3:26made a PA announcement, and she may have
87. 3:28to on exam day.
88. 3:31Do a bit of PA training here. If you
89. 3:33want to do a bit of minor doors when
90. 3:34you're ready to go, yeah?
91. 3:36Try and be polite, now.
92. 3:37Right.
93. 3:39I used to get the trains to do that.
94. 3:41I used to use the broadcast.
95. 3:44I've never once made a PA.
96. 3:45Part of job, get on front.
97. 3:47yeah, but it's on the the thing. As long
98. 3:49as I can
99. 3:50use the broadcast when it's busy, then
100. 3:52I'm covering myself.
101. 3:53Yeah, but the walkie is broken.
102. 3:54Well, if it's broken, then fair enough,
103. 3:56but is it broken?
104. 3:58Well, yeah, it does pick out the same
105. 3:59one of doors.
106. 4:02There's so much to take in and learn,
107. 4:03because people just think you see a red
108. 4:04or a green light, and you're pushing a
109. 4:06little red handle and opening doors, and
110. 4:08that's all your job is, but it's far
111. 4:10from it.
112. 4:12Jo's got to learn a a hell of a lot,
113. 4:14even before she actually touched the
114. 4:16controls of the train.
115. 4:19Jo spent 10 weeks in the classroom and
116. 4:21the train depot, familiarizing herself
117. 4:24with Northern Line stock and how to
118. 4:25drive it, before she was allowed onto
119. 4:27the line under supervision.
120. 4:31All right, Jo. Jo, we're coming up to
121. 4:32Kennington. Just tell them we're
122. 4:33terminating at Kennington.
123. 4:35Take all your belongings with you. Next
124. 4:37train south at 5:55.
125. 4:39this is to remind you that this train
126. 4:40doesn't terminate at the next station,
127. 4:42which is Kennington. Please make sure
128. 4:44that you take all your belongings with
129. 4:45you when you leave the train. Once
130. 4:46again, this train train terminates here
131. 4:48at Kennington. Thank you.
132. 4:51Bravo.
133. 4:52That's all right.
134. 4:53What's the matter with that?
135. 4:56Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.
136. 4:59Watch the step.
137. 5:00Mind the gap.
138. 5:00I think well, with day by day, she's
139. 5:02improving quite immensely, actually.
140. 5:04She's doing very well.
141. 5:05Jo's had a good lesson,
142. 5:07but will she remember it all on test
143. 5:09day?
144. 5:10Take it a bit easy.
145. 5:11All right, darling. Catch you. I
146. 5:12probably see you around in the new year.
147. 5:14All right.
148. 5:15Yeah.
149. 5:15Be good.
150. 5:16Will do.
151. 5:17And and for once, remember everything I
152. 5:19told you.
153. 5:20She's not a lot, so that shouldn't be
154. 5:22hard to remember.
155. 5:22All right. Easy, tiger.
156. 5:24loads. Bye-bye.
157. 5:24Ta-ta.
158. 5:25Ta-ta.
159. 5:31Another Jo, Jo Brown, manages the train
160. 5:34operators on the District Line.
161. 5:36It's one of the busiest lines on the
162. 5:38network, carrying over 180 million
163. 5:41passengers a year.
164. 5:44Today, Jo suspects one of his female
165. 5:46drivers has been involved in a signal
166. 5:49incident.
167. 5:52There's no service between here and
168. 5:54Edgware Road due to a signal failure at
169. 5:56High Street Kensington.
170. 5:57I've just heard that we've got um
171. 5:59signaling problems up at High Street
172. 6:00Kensington. Um
173. 6:02I'm not 100% sure as to what the cause
174. 6:04is behind it are um I mean what I do
175. 6:06know is it's going to cause hold ups to
176. 6:08the customers.
177. 6:09Um at present I've got a feeling it's a
178. 6:12driver error but I need to have that
179. 6:14confirmed by speaking to the line
180. 6:15controller.
181. 6:16You get the Circle Line round
182. 6:18but there are delays on that as well.
183. 6:22Cuz they were saying signal failure over
184. 6:24the PA at the station which
185. 6:26was a half truth.
186. 6:28Driver failure.
187. 6:30I've just established that it was a
188. 6:32signal passed at danger passed at red up
189. 6:34at High Street Kensington. Um the
190. 6:35driver's waiting for me up in the
191. 6:36canteen so I need to set the wheels in
192. 6:38motion and go through the process with
193. 6:39her ASAP.
194. 6:42Miranda Sadgrove passed her test 2 years
195. 6:45ago and she's been driving District Line
196. 6:47trains ever since.
197. 6:49This is the second time she's passed a
198. 6:50signal at danger.
199. 6:52The points when
200. 6:55I was just looking saw the doors went
201. 7:00Where is your Where is your
202. 7:01High Street West?
203. 7:04Yeah.
204. 7:05So you were out the way and you managed
205. 7:06to cause all that grief so it was a bit
206. 7:07of a nightmare.
207. 7:11Usually the points change and the signal
208. 7:13goes green and you can pull out. The
209. 7:15points changed.
210. 7:17I was looking at the platform what
211. 7:19mirrors and monitors.
212. 7:21So I didn't I didn't really check
213. 7:23signal. Shut the doors pulled out and
214. 7:27passed the signal it showed a red
215. 7:28aspect.
216. 7:30It's part of the job.
217. 7:32Do you literally part of the job? I used
218. 7:33to be a bus driver. You hit cars that's
219. 7:35part of the job. It's another downfall
220. 7:37of the job. Every job has a positive and
221. 7:38a negative side. Positive in this job is
222. 7:41the salary. Negative is now and again
223. 7:43you have problems.
224. 7:46A signal passed at danger, or SPAD as
225. 7:49it's known, occurs when a train
226. 7:50accidentally passes a red signal.
227. 7:54Unlike the main line, London Underground
228. 7:56have automatic train protection, which
229. 7:58means that a train will be automatically
230. 8:00forced to stop if it passes a red
231. 8:02signal.
232. 8:06Each SPAD is taken seriously, and Joe
233. 8:08has to investigate the reasons behind
234. 8:10Miranda's incident.
235. 8:13We're just a quick fact-finding, um,
236. 8:15find out what she perceives as being the
237. 8:18reasons behind her passing a signal at
238. 8:19danger. And, um,
239. 8:22you know, we need to devise an action
240. 8:24plan for us, so hopefully it won't
241. 8:26happen in the future.
242. 8:27Yeah.
243. 8:28I thought that was all right.
244. 8:31Sorry, Joe. I've been a bit of a trouble
245. 8:32all morning.
246. 8:33It's just fine, I mean, just trying to
247. 8:35establish, um,
248. 8:36I was I was to see the stop light.
249. 8:38precisely?
250. 8:40Um, okay. So,
251. 8:41Sorry.
252. 8:43So, what was it It was the points right
253. 8:44in front of you?
254. 8:45The points right in front of me changed.
255. 8:46I heard the looked.
256. 8:48Right.
257. 8:48And then I didn't really I was just
258. 8:50wanting to autopilot.
259. 8:52Shut the doors, check the mirrors, and
260. 8:54went.
261. 8:55As you just said, it wasn't a case of
262. 8:57you going, "I'm just going to wind up
263. 8:58against a red signal because I feel like
264. 9:00it." It was a case of the points
265. 9:02through, and you assumed that that also
266. 9:04meant the signal had gone green.
267. 9:07I was just in little planet Miranda.
268. 9:15After 20 long weeks of hard slog, it's
269. 9:18crunch time.
270. 9:19Today, Joe will find out if she'll join
271. 9:21the ranks of the 185 Northern Line train
272. 9:24drivers based at Golders Green.
273. 9:30At the moment, I'm feeling very nervous
274. 9:32about today because it's my test.
275. 9:35And
276. 9:37I'm a bit all over the place. I'll
277. 9:38probably lose my head if it wasn't
278. 9:40screwed on today, to be quite honest.
279. 9:45Yesterday, Jo sat her written test on
280. 9:47railway regulations. She passed. Now,
281. 9:51she has to pass her practical.
282. 9:53I feel like a lamb to the slaughter.
283. 9:59All right, yeah.
284. 10:00All right, Jo.
285. 10:00Yeah, I'm coming.
286. 10:03Quick reminder, start what time?
287. 10:11Jo's examiner today is Jerome Doyle.
288. 10:16There's a briefing, and basically she
289. 10:18gets on the train,
290. 10:20drives the train, and is assessed on all
291. 10:22aspects of it, taking the train into
292. 10:23service,
293. 10:24platform training in the face, issues,
294. 10:26dealing with customers, handing over the
295. 10:28train to another driver, stabling the
296. 10:30train. Basically, everything a driver
297. 10:32will do.
298. 10:38Oh, I'm nervous, really. I don't
299. 10:41I can't eat or drink. I feel really
300. 10:43sick. No, I feel sick.
301. 10:46First, Jerome has to establish that Jo
302. 10:49feels fit and happy to take the test.
303. 10:51She's had time off for ill health, so
304. 10:53there have been gaps in her training.
305. 10:57I'm going.
306. 11:00I'm wanted in the back.
307. 11:03Got me orders.
308. 11:06Are you happy enough to actually
309. 11:08do the road test?
310. 11:10Yeah.
311. 11:11You okay? You know, bearing in mind, you
312. 11:12know, you missed You've just had the
313. 11:14fair amount.
314. 11:14I'm all right with my driving. I'm just
315. 11:15a bit nervous with the road and that.
316. 11:17Okay.
317. 11:19Run with that.
318. 11:22Obviously, if I pass, it's a big boost,
319. 11:24and
320. 11:26cuz it means that, um, I'm going to be
321. 11:27earning loads of money
322. 11:29every month, and also, because it's
323. 11:32something I wanted to do, and I've
324. 11:34worked so hard at it, and I've had quite
325. 11:35a lot of setbacks,
326. 11:36and that it'll be good to get through
327. 11:38it.
328. 11:39She's got to take a train out and
329. 11:41drive it properly with
330. 11:43hundreds upon hundreds of people on it.
331. 11:44It's not something you just
332. 11:46stroll in and
333. 11:48take up lightly. We want to make sure
334. 11:50everything's right.
335. 11:54The test involves two 4-hour blocks of
336. 11:57driving. The first in daylight, the
337. 11:59second from dusk to dark to test her in
338. 12:01various conditions.
339. 12:04First of all, she'll be taking a train
340. 12:06out of the depot.
341. 12:09That's a good start, wasn't it, eh?
342. 12:12Dropped me key light.
343. 12:17We don't ask any questions while she's
344. 12:19actually driving.
345. 12:21Um but she's being assessed on all
346. 12:23aspects of her driving.
347. 12:26So,
348. 12:27more complicated, it's more in-depth.
349. 12:29It's got majority of the line. There's a
350. 12:31lot of pressure on them. Because
351. 12:32ultimately, if they don't pass this,
352. 12:34they don't drive train in service on
353. 12:35their own tomorrow.
354. 12:37Um they don't have a license.
355. 12:44If Jo doesn't pass today, she'll be sent
356. 12:46back out with instructors until she's
357. 12:48ready to have another go.
358. 12:51But before she finds out, she's got a
359. 12:53lot of driving to do.
360. 12:5536 miles on the Northern Line.
361. 13:08London Underground have been recruiting
362. 13:10more female drivers, and Jo Drummond has
363. 13:12just completed her driving test on a
364. 13:14Northern Line train.
365. 13:16Now, she's got to wait to find out
366. 13:18whether she's passed.
367. 13:20She could be failed for a number of
368. 13:22different reasons. Too much hesitation,
369. 13:24taking too long to do platform duties,
370. 13:27Or she could be failed for a signal
371. 13:29passed at danger.
372. 13:35When did he tell you that you had
373. 13:36passed?
374. 13:37I can't remember. It wasn't too much too
375. 13:39long after the finish.
376. 13:40Is it when you went in feedback and
377. 13:42that? Was it when you got off the train?
378. 13:45I think when we got back to the office,
379. 13:46but couldn't have been too long.
380. 13:48Just made me feel better, didn't you?
381. 13:51How did it go?
382. 13:52All right, yeah, not bad.
383. 13:54I know though.
384. 13:58I'm not going to say anything.
385. 14:01In case I curse myself.
386. 14:04I'll wait until he says you passed or
387. 14:06you didn't pass.
388. 14:18Satisfies requirements. You passed.
389. 14:20I really? Oh,
390. 14:21god.
391. 14:22Okay?
392. 14:22Yeah.
393. 14:23Kept me waiting so long.
394. 14:25Woah.
395. 14:25There's things we need to talk about.
396. 14:27Okay?
397. 14:27Okay.
398. 14:28You're not
399. 14:29you know, super driver yet.
400. 14:31Yeah.
401. 14:32And you're a little bit nervy.
402. 14:33Mhm.
403. 14:34And it's to be expected, okay? But that
404. 14:37what I saw was good.
405. 14:39Okay? So outside with a bit of time
406. 14:41under your belt you'll be fine.
407. 14:43Mhm.
408. 14:46Have you done?
409. 14:47Okay.
410. 14:48Welcome to Golders Green.
411. 14:49Yeah.
412. 14:50You're a driver now.
413. 14:50Yeah.
414. 14:52You've just spent 5 months getting your
415. 14:54job.
416. 14:55Look after it.
417. 14:57Yeah, you know all the pitfalls. You
418. 14:59know what can go wrong.
419. 15:00Yeah.
420. 15:04You made it?
421. 15:05Yeah. Just about. By the skin of my
422. 15:07teeth.
423. 15:08Are you here? How are you?
424. 15:09I am here. I am
425. 15:11When I found out you were here, I just
426. 15:13knew I had to come here.
427. 15:18Hello.
428. 15:20I passed.
429. 15:28He's singing.
430. 15:30My brother is singing to me on the
431. 15:31phone.
432. 15:33All right, bye.
433. 15:36Jo's qualified, but she's still got one
434. 15:38major hurdle left.
435. 15:40Her first day out on her own with a
436. 15:42train full of passengers.
437. 15:52Train operators with less than 12 months
438. 15:54on the job are twice as likely to be
439. 15:56involved in a SPAD than those with more
440. 15:59experience.
441. 16:04Joe Brown wants to make sure that
442. 16:06Miranda doesn't have another SPAD.
443. 16:09Um yeah, all drivers that have had a
444. 16:11signal passed at danger must watch this
445. 16:13video and basically sign to say that
446. 16:15they've seen it. Um
447. 16:17a lot of the operators have now seen it
448. 16:20half a dozen times, at least.
449. 16:22All right.
450. 16:50That's pretty much what I did.
451. 16:53Unfortunately.
452. 17:00Well, I've got to take you up to High
453. 17:01Street Kensington just to make sure you
454. 17:03uh
455. 17:03understand totally all the factors that
456. 17:05led up to your signal passed at danger.
457. 17:09Although there was little immediate
458. 17:10danger from Miranda's SPAD, it did cause
459. 17:13delays on the District Line and a train
460. 17:15jam at High Street Kensington.
461. 17:18Miranda, I heard the points throw.
462. 17:21Checked the mirror behind me, it's
463. 17:22obviously to make sure it was safe to
464. 17:23shut the train doors, and then just left
465. 17:25the platform.
466. 17:26Um the signal was still red. The train
467. 17:29stop, the little white lever down there
468. 17:30was still raised.
469. 17:32As uh Miranda's train passed over it,
470. 17:34the little lever on the front of the
471. 17:36train called the trip
472. 17:38hit the little lever called the train
473. 17:39stop, and the train stops.
474. 17:41It makes all the air escape from the
475. 17:42brakes and brings on the emergency
476. 17:44brakes.
477. 17:46So basically, if a train ever does pass
478. 17:48a signal
479. 17:48I stopped level with train there on
480. 17:50platform three, so it doesn't get very
481. 17:51far.
482. 17:53I mean, if a if a train does pass a
483. 17:54signal at danger, the emergency brake
484. 17:56will apply straight away.
485. 17:58Um and that's essentially what what
486. 18:00happens. She made it a very short
487. 18:02distance out out of platform, because
488. 18:04obviously she hadn't got up much speed
489. 18:06by the time she got to trips. If you
490. 18:07pass a signal in a complicated area like
491. 18:09this but with a lot of points, it locks
492. 18:11up everything, so nothing can move at
493. 18:13all.
494. 18:14So the effects on on the service was we
495. 18:16had a District in platform one that
496. 18:18couldn't move, probably a Circle out on
497. 18:20the Gloucester Road that couldn't move,
498. 18:22and nothing could move until your train
499. 18:23was set back into the platform by by the
500. 18:25supervisor. So obviously,
501. 18:27it's not just held up your train by 10
502. 18:28minutes, but probably two or three
503. 18:30trains in total.
504. 18:31Everyone makes mistakes, we're not
505. 18:33robots.
506. 18:34And if if I caused a delay, well, it's
507. 18:37better than killing people.
508. 18:41Well, be suitably advised if you hear
509. 18:42those points throw, it doesn't
510. 18:43necessarily mean that signal's cleared.
511. 18:46Fair enough.
512. 18:47Yeah.
513. 18:48Not only have the points thrown, train
514. 18:51stops dropped, and the signal's gone
515. 18:52green.
516. 18:55You won't do that again, will you,
517. 18:56Miranda?
518. 19:05Two days ago, Joe Drummond passed her
519. 19:07driving test.
520. 19:09Today, she'll be allowed to drive a
521. 19:11train on her own.
522. 19:14She's had her road road test the other
523. 19:16day. So, she'll now be coming into what
524. 19:18we call her sweat day.
525. 19:20It's a historic term that we've used.
526. 19:23Basically, it's your first day out
527. 19:24driving on your own.
528. 19:26And there's a tendency to sweat.
529. 19:29Although, I believe ladies perspire.
530. 19:31So, maybe it should be a perspiration
531. 19:33day.
532. 19:44Right, what I'm going to do now
533. 19:46is I'm going to sort you out a train.
534. 19:49A train.
535. 19:53We'll have a look see what we can find.
536. 19:56There's a nice little train out here
537. 19:57waiting for you.
538. 20:00Nervous.
539. 20:04Toilet requirement nervous.
540. 20:07Jo's hoping she won't be given a long
541. 20:09run like Morden via the bank with its 17
542. 20:13miles of tunnels.
543. 20:15I don't know what they're going to give
544. 20:16me though. What journey they're going to
545. 20:18give me.
546. 20:20Hi.
547. 20:20I hope it's nothing long.
548. 20:28It's got to be
549. 20:29out of sight out of mind.
550. 20:31Jo.
551. 20:32You're now qualified I understand.
552. 20:34Yeah.
553. 20:34Good.
554. 20:38Welcome to hell. Do you mind saying
555. 20:40that?
556. 20:41Hey, by the way, don't tweet in 2049 the
557. 20:43exterior.
558. 20:44So,
559. 20:44Okay. 10 minutes to go.
560. 20:53The skies have opened again.
561. 20:58Just to make things tougher, it's
562. 21:00starting to rain.
563. 21:01Nice rain, nice slippery rails.
564. 21:05Nice total misjudgment of braking
565. 21:06capacity. Ice skating.
566. 21:09Red color.
567. 21:10Stop.
568. 21:11Hello red color.
569. 21:12I misjudged the braking.
570. 21:15You're getting nervous. You're twitching
571. 21:16and everything now.
572. 21:17Shut up. Yeah, I'm getting I've just
573. 21:18been informed that kids will be riding
574. 21:20in the carriage behind me. I'm really
575. 21:22nervous. I'm sweating, baby. I'm
576. 21:23sweating.
577. 21:25Behind.
578. 21:29Next one in.
579. 21:31Are you getting nervous pacing up and
580. 21:33down as well now?
581. 21:34Yeah.
582. 21:34All right.
583. 21:35Still is it?
584. 21:36It is indeed.
585. 21:37We can get rid of the L L plates off the
586. 21:39front.
587. 21:42To add to the pressure, Joe's train
588. 21:44manager, Ken Gibbard, is hitching a ride
589. 21:46home on her train.
590. 21:52This train is about to depart.
591. 21:55Please mind the doors.
592. 22:02Control calling train uh
593. 22:04727.
594. 22:04727.
595. 22:05Pulling away from the station.
596. 22:10She obviously checked the signal.
597. 22:15They're giving you a nice smooth ride.
598. 22:17You can complete the crossword or
599. 22:19whatever it is you're writing.
600. 22:21If they're not, your pen's all over the
601. 22:22place. It's a
602. 22:24it's an old acid test.
603. 22:36Nice smooth stop.
604. 22:38The finer style, if you like, will come
605. 22:40with experience. There's nothing wrong
606. 22:42with that at the moment, though.
607. 22:43Nothing wrong at all.
608. 22:45If Joe drives like that again for the
609. 22:47rest of her career as a train operator,
610. 22:49I don't think we'll have too many
611. 22:50problems.
612. 22:54Next time, London Underground is gripped
613. 22:57by a heat wave.
614. 22:58Up train, get the ambulance, please.
615. 23:02And at Victoria, Simon is at the end of
616. 23:04his tether.
617. 23:06I think he wants to be famous for the
618. 23:07aerial assault on the tree.