Still raining, lost count of the number of times Auto failed part-way into the platform, in the end I just gave up and went Coded whenever I was in open section. The second half started badly, I made my way down to WHC EB when my train reached NOA, there was a train sat on the platform with a TOp waiting to be relieved. When no one appeared he called the DMT on the desk who said that a spare should be on their way and while one did eventually appear the train was over five minutes down which left a considerable gap between it and the train ahead.

This was just before 5pm so those Zone 1 platforms must have been packed solid by the time it came through and packed platforms means further delays. Don’t know if it was the TOp or the DMT who messed things up but that is how easy it is to disrupt the smooth running of the Tube. My train was third in after the late one, all right up behind each other so I had a view of the taillights of the train in front m of me all the way through the pipe.

Things didn’t get better but that was in no way down the Tube of the passengers, it was entirely down to my digestive system. I been feeling slightly unwell all day though not enough to warrant calling in sick but between WHC and HAI the need to use the toilet became ever more urgent. When I reached HAI I was relieved to be directed to Platform 1 as there is a staff toilet halfway down.

The only snag was that because of all the delays I only had the minimum four minutes to change ends. In theory I should have told Wood Lane or the DMT on the desk at HAI that I would be late leaving but Wood Lane were busy and weren’t answering my call while to contact the DMT I would have had to walk all the way to the front of the train to use the phone by the signal and at that point I wasn’t sure I’d make it there and back to the toilet without needing a change of underpants.

So I was late going WB and despite my visit to the toilet I was still feeling unwell. I got up to WER with only enough time to change ends but halfway back through the Pipe I wasn’t sure I’d make it to HAI. I called up the desk at LES to see if I could get a PNR, basically a spare relieves the TOp in need, drives the train while the TOp rushes to the toilet and then they swap back again on the return. Sadly there were no spares available, when I’d booked on the DMT was on the phone telling someone that he couldn’t cover any more duties as all his spares were out running for LOU and HAI and the situation hadn’t improved six hours later.

The best the DMT could suggest was to send my train onto Plat 2 at LES which has a public toilet so they could then trains around mine while I did the necessary. The only problem with that is from Plat 2 you cannot go to HAI via NEP, you can only do that from Plat 3 and I had a trainload of passengers who were under the impression that was where they were going. I decided to brave it out to HAI though the bumpy ride between MIE and STR makes it very hard to concentrate on keeping the sphincter clenched.

I managed to get there but on the approach to HAI I was gutted (ho ho) to see that all three platforms were occupied. After what seemed an eternity a train went into the depot off Plat 3 and I was able to pull in, shut down, scurry over the footbridge and into the sanctuary of the toilets in the Train Crew Accommodation building.

This job is just all glamour........

Very rainy but despite lots of “low adhesion” warnings from the DTS there was only one ATO failure that left me switching into Manual half way into a platform. I was meant to finish my first half by tipping out at RUG and going into the depot but due to a shortage of trains I was told to take it onto WER where someone would take it off me.

On the subject of lack of trains we will be getting a new timetable in March with two trains less in the peak as they will all be refurbished for the Olympics. For some reason it has been decided to take 7 roster positions from HAI and 4 from LOU (or it could be the other way round) and transfer them to LES so having dropped into The Pool when the last timetable came in I will now be back on the roster. This means that I will know what I’m doing every day from now until the next timetable change which probably won’t be until they bring in the Olympic one.

My second half finished in HAI depot, two stablers on one duty, that’s a lot of walking. There was a notice on the 7-minute board when I booked on about the shed roads at HAI, each one now has a specific stopping mark and these were listed. Sadly when I noticed it I didn’t have enough time to make a note of them all and typically when the shunter called me up he directed me to a shed road, 61. I asked where he wanted me to stop and helpfully he told me to just draw up level with the train that was already on 60.

As I made my way into the yard I was trying to remember whether the shunter had instructed me to shut down the train or not and was about to call him up when I realised that the points had sent me onto 62. I thought I must have misheard his initial instruction but then he called me up to say that someone had set the points wrong and that I should leave the train just outside the shed while he sent someone to take it back over the points and put in onto the right road. Not a good way to end the night.

Something else I noticed today is that the siding at MAA is still “under possession”. We were closed between WHC and HOL at the weekend for engineering works at MAA and will be again this weekend and it would appear that whatever work they are doing it means that we can’t use that siding until they finish. I wonder if anyone realises that if we have a shutdown at HOL itself then we will have nothing between WHC and LIS. Fingers crossed……

A rather annoying Saturday night. There were engineering works at MAA which shut the line down between WHC and HOL. As I was overnight at WHC this meant that I was booked to get a taxi over to WHC with the TOp doing the WER night duty but he’d decided to make his own way over so I had the taxi to myself. For a start it turned up ten minutes late as it had been waiting round the wrong side of the station but as it was still booked for two people we had to wait even longer while the driver confirmed that is was to leave one person short.

After making our way across town we got to WHC with just enough time for me to pick up my train, not that there was much to do, EAB – WHC – EAB then back to WHC empty and into the sidings. There was a short delay caused by an ATP failure two cars short of being fully into the platform and then after stabling the train I had to walk back along Wood Lane to the station and take another into the sidings. Glad it wasn’t raining.

In the morning I got the first train out, up to EAB and back and then a taxi back to LES. Ten minutes after it was due to pick me up I was still waiting so I went back to the desk to ask the DMT to chase it up. Someone had decided to cancel it for some reason so it had to be rebooked and I was told it would pick me up in five minutes. I waited, went out again, waited another ten minutes and then went back to the DMT.

This time I was told that the taxi was outside waiting but when I went back out the street was still noticeably taxi free. The DMT got on the phone again and was assured that the taxi was definitely there. This time he came out to see for himself, agreed there was no taxi but he thought he could see one waiting up the road at Wood Lane station. Sure enough when I walked up there I found that my taxi had been waiting at the wrong station, the driver hadn’t realised there were two stations on the same road.

I ended up being forty minutes late, not the sort of thing you want on a Sunday morning. I heard on the radio that EPP and SNA were unstaffed again and I would hazard a guess that they will be unstaffed until the shifts change on Tuesday, seven days with no one there at close of traffic, not an encouraging sign for the future. Off till Wednesday.

Well so much for a quiet Friday night sitting spare, a LOU duty was uncovered so I had to ride to WHC, pick up the train on the EB, go up to EPP, stable at WOO and then get a taxi back to LES just after 01:00. While I was on making my way EB I kept losing the “door closed visual” as I was pulling out of the stations, not long enough for DTS, the on board computer, to identify where the problem was but enough to jerk the train about. Eventually I announced that there seemed to be a reoccurring problem with the doors and if it persisted I’d have to take the train out of service. Strangely the loss of visual stopped after that……

It seems that both EPP and SNA have been unstaffed since Tuesday, the TOp who did the last EPP confirmed there was no one there Thursday night and EPP was locked up and dark when I got there. There was no station staff at WOO to help me close up the train and I had to tell a passenger who had wandered over to the WB platform that the last train had gone. As I crossed over the bridge I had to break the bad news to another passenger who’d got off the last EPP and was trying to get back to MIE. As I made my way out of the station a group of PWay workers waiting to book on outside the Super’s office which was ominously dark.

If this is the future for stations then I don’t see how we can keep up the level of customer service our passengers are used to. I’m certainly convinced that getting myself onto the train side of the business was the best career move I ever made in my life.

Wednesday started pretty much the same as Tuesday except this time I was put into Plat 2 at EPP and could see that the ticket gates were open, the ticket office and the Super’s office were dark, even the public toilets and the waiting room were locked; EPP was unstaffed again. I called Wood Lane who confirmed that both EPP and SNA were devoid of staff. All slightly ironic since yesterday the Evening Standard reported Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy saying that no stations would be left unstaffed while trains were running so either he is being misinformed by LUL or…………

Regardless the last WER went to timetable and I took particular notice of the shunt signal on 24; once bitten, etc. No engineers train to delay me leaving the depot but on the approach to NOA junction there was a red signal waiting for me where none should be. When I rolled into NOA there was an engineers train on the middle platform having come up from the EAB branch. Despite being only a couple of minutes late finishing I am getting very suspicious that the engineers trains are conspiring to delay me and make me miss my bus.

Thursday night I was spare, everyone was in and there was nothing for me to do. Spare again tonight, hopefully similar.

Sorry for the delay in writing but then Tuesday night/Wednesday morning was riddled with lateness. I was on the last EPP – WER and as with all last trains we hold at a platform until a member of station staff gives us “the right” to proceed to ensure we connect with last trains on other lines if required and that passengers aren’t left stranded.

Things started badly, I was over on Plat 1 at EPP which is the other side of the bridge from the entrance/exit. When the signal cleared the platform was bereft of staff, I waited for a minute, gave a blast on the train whistle just in case they’d forgot and when no one appeared called up Wood Lane. They tried to contact the Station Super but to no avail; EPP was unstaffed. Later I learnt that this had been announced earlier but it would appear that when they had a changeover of shifts at Wood Lane this information had not been passed on.

As I was now late there were station staff waiting for me all the way down the line except for SNA which was also staffless. This isn’t unusual, it’s not a busy station so I didn’t bother hanging around and just carried on. At MIE I got held while the last WB District Line caught up and then at LIS the CSA kept me there ages while stragglers made their way down the escalators. Had I been on time they would have missed the last train but that didn’t seem to inject any urgency in their efforts to get on board or in the CSA to get me moving. After that the station staff were more than happy to move me along as the sooner I left the sooner they could shut up shop.

There are two routes into Ruislip depot from the platforms at WER, either through the wash, literally a huge train sized car wash type affair, or 24 road which runs between the wash and the WB running line. 9 times out of ten they send you in through the wash before going into the yard, you pull up to the “Stop” boards, wait until the shunter tells you where to put the train then go slowly through the wash while it cleans your train.

24 road is covered by a shunt signal so after you get your destination from the shunter you have to wait till this clears. I’d got so used to going through the wash road that when they put me on 24 I nearly SPADed the shunt signal. Tiredness and lack of concentration on my part; don’t think they would have sacked me but I’d have probably been on a corrective action plan and a 12 month warning.

As I walked into the yard at the start of traffic I noticed an engineers train in the platform at WER. I prepped the train and waited to be called up by the shunter to the outlet signal. The minutes went by and I tried to call the shunters’ cabin without any joy. I suspected that I was being held while the engineers train was brought in and sure enough five minutes before I was due to leave WER EB I saw it rolling into the yard. A few minutes later I was called up and went straight out onto the platform, eventually leaving six minutes late.

With a little careful pruning of dwell times I was making up the lost minutes until I ran up against a red signal on the approach to QUE that to the best of my memory has never been red unless there was a train in the platform. Having waited the required two minutes I called up the signaller at Wood Lane who was unaware that the signal was at danger and cleared it. So I finished late, not the best day.

Body clock completely all over the shop, nothing of note to report, very quiet Monday night but back to normal levels Tuesday morning. This is threatening to be a very disappointing week......