Faulty Signal on Tube Sends Trains on Collision Course

During rush-hour on the Tube Wednesday morning, a train was sent into the path of another service, and London Underground bosses have launched an investigation with fear that a similar incident could happen again. This is the 3rd train safety alert in the last 3 months, and one of these was a Northern line train that traveled through 6 stations with no driver on-board.

The 6-carriage Hammersmith & City line train was heading east and then turned around in a siding at Plaistow. The female driver changed ends of the train to head back west into London, stopping to pick up Plaistow passengers. She got a green light to start off and crossed track points at the end of the platform. However, after going a short distance, she slammed on the brakes, realizing that she was on the east-bound track rather than the west-bound track into London.

The driver of a second train on the same track going to Plaistow was shocked when he saw this. It was lucky that he was held at a red signal, but this was only less than a mile away. An alarm was raised and all signals turned to red, causing all services to halt. Then the train on the wrong track was sent back into Plaistow and the passengers disembarked. The line was shutdown for 6 hours to be immediately investigated.

It was found that a signal fault at Plaistow station cause the incident, as neither the train driver or the signalman posted at that section of the track are to blame. Investigators were actually able to recreate the fault during the line closure. The siding where the train changed direction was out of action during the strike on Tuesday and hadn’t been used since Monday, so this was the first train to use it since. A senior source on the Tube said that a fault like this could happen again and cause a major disaster.