800 walk along track as Tube is evacuated in second day of travel misery
Benedict Moore-Bridger and Dick MurrayStandard co. uk.,19.10.10
KONDON : Hundreds of Tube passengers were forced to walk along the track to safety today after a train broke down in a second day of chaos.
Up to 800 commuters were evacuated from the Victoria line after the “defective” engine left them stranded underground for two hours.
Three other trains were also stranded by the breakdown between Seven Sisters and Finsbury Park. The drivers of the three trains were able to reverse to Seven Sisters station to allow the passengers to get off.
The incident comes the day after thousands of passengers were forced to escape through tunnels on the Jubilee line.
Today passengers forced to walk through the track in near darkness expressed their anger.
Writing on Twitter, Jon Salt said: “People stuck for 2 hours underground on Victoria Line as another new train breaks down. Have to walk the tracks. This is becoming a scandal.”
Another passenger, Tatjana Bond, said: “Was just evacuated from victoria line train which was stuck between seven sisters and finsbury park stations. Has missed lecture and seminar.”
Jo de Bank, from passenger watchdog London TravelWatch, said Transport For London needed to do better.
She said: “Clearly it has been a terrible two days for passengers and walking along the Tube tracks is particularly upsetting. We expect TfL to look into this closely. It highlights how vital investment is. The Tube system is creaking at the seams and passengers can't afford for it to continue.”
There was also misery on other lines today when the entire Circle line was suspended, the Northern line partly suspended and the District, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines disrupted.
A Transport for London spokesman apologised, saying said: “We apologise for the disrupted journeys that some passengers will have faced this morning, caused by a signal failure on the Circle line, a track problem on the Northern line and a defective train on the Victoria line.
“The problems demonstrate the need for ongoing investment in our Tube services and infrastructure.”
Sue Singleton, from commercial law firm Singletons, said passengers should try to claim compensation for “all reasonable losses”. She said: “You may have missed billing clients for a few hours which could cost hundreds of pounds, or if you had to get a taxi or pay a babysitter an extra hour — people should try to claim for all that.”
