On 22 Sep, 06:58, Roland Perry wrote:

Assuming the RGT broke down before 5am, that's an extremely long time to
get it there.

Does the RGT operate permanently on the Underground, or is it just
hired in when required? Who was responsible for knowing the correct
procedures for recovering the train if it should fail and could not be
fixed on site, and for ensuring that those procedures were correctly
followed? was any form of emergency coupling equipment or special
tools required, and if so were they carried on the RGT or did they
have to be brought to the site from elsewhere? The BR DMU driver
training films did cover how to deal with various failures, but these
involved getting the train moving again, at least far enough to clear
the line, or being rescued by another similar train, or a steam
locomotive. This is rather different to using a normal tube train to
recover a special one-off train like the RGT. Obviously a normal tube
train driver will not have been trained in such procedures; will the
crew of the RGT, or will somebody with the specialised knowledge have
to be brought to the site to deal with it?

Who had to be informed, or give permission before the recovery could
be carried out? If the train was hired in as required, did the owners
have to be informed, approve procedures, provide equipment or
engineers before it could be moved? By it's nature this sort of work
is going to involve unusual procedures which are not carried out every
day. There will be risks involved, and care will need to be taken to
ensure that everything is done correctly.

I wouldn't be surprised if it took several hours to recover the RGT
and return it to Neasden Depot after the first failure.

It seems that the speculation in this group as to what happened after
the second failure was broadly correct, but there are still any
questions to be answered. It also does sound as if the RGT, with all
brakes isolated, an not even a hand brake capable of being operated by
those on board, was simply coupled to another train, and hauled up the
gradient towards East Finchley, but I find it difficult to believe
that this was actually done.