Jubilee line stock issue (October 2019)

[Chris M]

Oct 27, 2019 8:49:49 GMT alpinejohn said:

So what exactly is being done to fix it?
How long will it take?
Who will pick up the bill?

Based on the latest RMT communication quoted upthread, which was released on Thursday so might be out of date:
1. This is being worked on. They do not currently understand the cause and so they are investigating that. Once they have that knowledge they will be able to design and then implement a fix.
2. At this point it is unknown and unknowable. Once a fix has been designed and verified then a timescale will become knowable and, hopefully, known.
3. LU/TfL, at least in the first instance. Depending on what the cause is determined to be there might be scope to recover some or all of that cost from other parties (rolling stock manufacturers and/or signalling system suppliers) but if so this will depend on the on the contracts involved, will no doubt require negotiation and your guess is as good as mine about how long that will take. It's also likely that some or all the details will be deemed commercially sensitive and thus not become public.

[roman80]

An email from my firm to staff in Canary Wharf this week says the restricted entry plan TFL is employing between 430pm and 730pm at Canary Wharf is expected to last for up to six weeks. I wonder if that’s when TFL expect to fix the problem by, or if they expect to have Christmas bail them out as people take holidays and so can relax the plans after mid December for a couple of weeks. Travelling home from Canary Wharf is an utterly miserable experience. A testament to many failures in London given over the road stands an empty CrossRail station that should have been open by now and easing the load on the Jubilee line, which is an shambles to use in the evening peak at the best of times.

[metrider]

The 'reason' presented with the frequent "Minor Delays" service status messages seems to have subtly changed over the past couple of days. Now, more often than not it says ..."while engineers continue to fix a fault on some of our trains"... (as opposed to ..."due to a fault on"....)

Is this just a different spokesperson generating the message, or is a fix now actually being applied to the trains?

[aslefshrugged]

A bit late but this is from last weeks ASLEF Trains Health and Safety Council Update (THSC) No.117 06/11/2019

Jubilee line 96 stock cracks

By now many of you will be aware of the shocking situation of cracks appearing on the Jubilee line trains.

The problem mainly concerns the fixing points for the additional trailer car that was added to make the train a 7 car train.

Currently the company are still not sure exactly why these cracks have only just started to appear, investigations into this are ongoing.

Both senior and local reps have had onsite visits to see first hand the actual problem and what is being done to address the issue.

At present the engineers have developed a temporary solution for a number of the units, which involves bolting a plate over the affected area to give additional support and prevent the cracks increasing in length.

Testing on one unit has taken place to provide assurance it is safe and fit before it could be used for passenger service.

The local reps have and remain in full consultation with progress and what is being done on a regular basis.

We will of course keep you posted of any developments

[Deleted]

Just had a email stating all is well again

[Chris M]

The email from TfL I received is:

As you'll be aware from our previous emails, we identified a fault on a small number of Jubilee line trains during our regular
safety inspections. Over the past week, we’ve seen a number of trains safety tested and returned to service. Over the coming
weeks, we will see a gradual increase to our Jubilee line fleet stock, allowing us to improve the service we operate.


While these returning trains move us in the right direction, we are still below the required number of trains to be able to run a
full service, particularly in the peak periods. During this time we will continue to experience some delays during the peaks and we
advise you to continue to check your journey before you travel using TfL travel tools.

We will be in touch again once we have further details about when the train service will return to normal.


Thank you for your continued patience.


Yours sincerely,


Customer Information Team

Transport for London

Posted on Facebook is a letter to staff which reads:

Date: 14 November 2019
Issued to: all London Underground
Jubilee line update - three trains repaired, tested and back in service

As you'll be aware, a few weeks ago our usual safety inspections uncovered an issue on some of our Jubilee line trains. As a precaution, we removed these trains from service for further detailed inspections to ensure your safety, and that of our customers.

The fault we found involves cracking on one of the couplers which connects the train carriages. Over the past two weeks, we've seen three of these trains safely repaired, tested and returned to service.

We shouldn't underestimate the hard work and collaboration from our Engineering, Fleet, Planning and Workshop teams that has made this possible. I also recognise the added pressure and challenges the reduction in fleet availability has created for our customers and colleagues, with increased congestion on our network. Thank you for your continued efforts.

Our ongoing repair programme
We now have the information necessary to put a detailed repair programme in place, which should see all the repaired trains returned to service by the end of the year. We're also considering how this programme could be accellerated. However, this is a particularly complex fix, so while we're working at pace, the safety of our customers and our people is our priority and we will never compromise on this.

Over the coming weeks, we will see a gradual increase to our available Jubilee line fleet, allowing us to improve the service we opertate. However, during this time we do expect some disruption to continue on the line. We fully recognise the frustration this will cause our customers and the added pressure it creates for all of you.

Once again, thank you for your hard work. It is very much appreciated.

Peter McNaught
Director of Asset Operations

So I wouldn't say "all is well" but "things are improving".

[Chris M]

Another letter to staff, dated today (29 November) has been posted to Facebook:

Date: 29 Novemebr 2019
Issued to: all London Underground
Jubilee line update

Following on from my last update, I wanted to let you know how we're getting on with the Jubile line fleet repairs, and the timetables we're working to.

Over the past six weeks, colleagues from our Fleet, Engineering and Workshop teams have continued to work tirelessly - around the clock - to repair each of the affected trains. As with any fleet safety issue, we need to be 100 per cent confident every train is given a clean bill of health before it's returned back into service.

Alongside those directly involved in the repairs, our colleagues in Customer Service and Line Operations have been facing the added pressue associated with a reduced fleet. We recognise how challenging this has been and really appreciate your continuedd efforts to support Customers during this ongoing disrutption.

We have now repaired, tested and returned four trains into service since the fault was first discovered.

This is a complex repair, which involves the manufacture of individual parts and highly specialised engineers in order to put in place a fix. However, we now have a dedicated repair programme which is reviewed daily. As it stands, we expect to be able to run a consistently 'good' service by Christmas, with the full complement of trains then back in service by the end of the first week in January.

We have commissioned a Formal Investigation Report (FIR) to understand why the fractures appeared and assess our initial response. An independent Engineer will help with this investigation - we need to make sure we learn everything we can to avoid it happening again.

As we move towards Christmas, we'll continue to see a gradual increase to our available Jubilee line fleet, allowing us to keep improving the service we operate.

In the meantime, thank you for all your hard work in keeping London moving.

Peter McNaught
Director of Asset Operations

The summary seems to be that things are improving slowly but steadily.

[Deleted]

Thats the same exact thing what I had earlier internally

[d7666]

Not sure that I've seen any updates .... was the "full compliment of trains" ... "back in service end of first week in January" ?

[Dstock7080]

Jan 27, 2020 16:21:02 GMT d7666 said:

Not sure that I've seen any updates .... was the "full compliment of trains" ... "back in service end of first week in January" ?

From 3 January only an occasional single train has been cancelled for 'stock' issues.
Full peak service has run most days.

[bassmike]

Nov 14, 2019 6:04:27 GMT aslefshrugged said:

A bit late but this is from last weeks ASLEF Trains Health and Safety Council Update (THSC) No.117 06/11/2019

Jubilee line 96 stock cracks

By now many of you will be aware of the shocking situation of cracks appearing on the Jubilee line trains.

The problem mainly concerns the fixing points for the additional trailer car that was added to make the train a 7 car train.

Currently the company are still not sure exactly why these cracks have only just started to appear, investigations into this are ongoing.

Both senior and local reps have had onsite visits to see first hand the actual problem and what is being done to address the issue.

At present the engineers have developed a temporary solution for a number of the units, which involves bolting a plate over the affected area to give additional support and prevent the cracks increasing in length.

Testing on one unit has taken place to provide assurance it is safe and fit before it could be used for passenger service.

The local reps have and remain in full consultation with progress and what is being done on a regular basis.

We will of course keep you posted of any developments

I hope they drilled holes in the ends of the cracks before bolting plates over them?