Basil Jet wrote:
On 2016\11\25 09:48, Recliner wrote:
wrote:
On Fri, 25 Nov 2016 08:34:08 -0000 (UTC)
Recliner wrote:
wrote:
Given the service level of the piccadilly line on the uxbridge branch when I
occasionally used it while working in ealing a few years back, I suspect
most
leaves on the line have a fairly undisturbed quiet life.

Well, that's certainly true today -- this is what was tweeted this morning:
"Due to shortage of serviceable trains there will be no service between
Acton Town and Uxbridge."

And from the web site:
"Piccadilly Line: No service between Acton Town and Uxbridge due to a
shortage of trains. SEVERE DELAYS on the rest of the line. Customers
travelling to stations between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge should use
Metropolitan line services. London Underground tickets will be accepted on
Chiltern Railways, Great Western, Southern, London Overground, London
Midland and local bus services via any reasonable route."

It certainly wasn't great this morning.

The situation doesn't seem to have improved, with the Rayner's Lane branch
still suspended, and severe delays on the remaining services. So perhaps
half the fleet has been withdrawn.

That's a reduction of at least 40% of the service (depending on how much
the Heathrow branch service has been reduced). The train situation must be
dire if they can't even run a limited shuttle service between Acton Town
and Rayner's Lane.

I would say that they'd found some serious fault in the trains and are keeping
it quiet while fixing them, but OTOH the unions would have a field day if that
was the case and we've heard nowt from them. Very odd.

Unless, of course, it's union action that's causing the problem? Is there
some dispute with the maintenance staff? Or are the drivers working to
rule about not taking out trains with even tiny, irrelevant defects?

If it really is as they say, then this level of failure is much more than
could be explained by wheel flats alone, though that may still be a
contributing factor. But I can't find any news reports about a major
technical problem.


If I counted correctly (unlikely) http://traintimes.org.uk/map/tube/
suggests that there are 35 Picc trains at the moment. The normal number
would be 68 to 78.


The wheel lathe must have been busy, as they've now added an infrequent
shuttle service to Rayner's Lane:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CyU5xoAW...jpg&name=large