On Tuesday we were told by the trainer that the four TOps from HAI and LOU would be doing stock training while the three from LES would be doing “Route retention” with an IOp. However the DMT meant to be organising all this is off to the Met Line in the big reshuffle and seems to have lost interest in things around here. We met up at LES 09:00 yesterday to be told that the IOp had gone to HAI.

When he arrived he didn’t have a clue what to do and only around 10:30 told us that “Route retention” now meant hiking around Ruislip depot. Apparently someone had refused to take a train into Ruislip and now we all had to have a guided tour to “re-familiarise” ourselves. So an hour on the train, a pointless wander around the depot, which is huge, covering every possible move we could do which most of us know and then an hour back.

Today we did stock training in HAI depot with the IOp simulating faults on the train and us getting the train moving. If a train stops in a tunnel and the nearest technician is at WHC or LES we have to get it to the next station and get the passengers off. It doesn’t happen often but when it does it’s our train, we are responsible. They don’t do that on the mainline, they can sit and wait while a fitter drives to where they are and walk up to the train to fix it. We are stuck in the pipe, a fitter isn’t going to walk up to us and solve the problem, we get it moving and we are the only drivers who are expected to do this.

That is why we get paid the big bucks.