Incidents Tonight? (09/03/2012)

I can't give you actual answers cos I don't work on the Met and wasn't there, but.......

"Blowing up" on the whistle is basically the driver letting the station staff know he or she needs assistance. More often not it'll be for a "handle down" (passenger emergency alarm).

The "passenger action" announcement would certainly fit the bill.

In fairness, it is over 50 years old. "Door problem" can mean all sorts of things but ultimately I'd imagine the bottom line was the driver couldn't get a 'pilot light' (doors closed visual). If that's the case the only safe action is to tip out and run empty.

That's quite possible - sometimes it is the only solution.

I'm a bit lost here over which train is which - and indeed if they're both A's or if one is an S - but given the time of night it might well be possible that the defective train stables in Neasden depot and the good train you want to swap it with stables somewhere like Rickmansworth in the sidings. It would of course be far preferable to have that defective train go to Neasden as booked and so what looks like a simple swap to you may not actually suit the situation.

The good train may also be the last train on a branch - if you then swap it and make it the dud, you also cancel that last train. This is where service control types will talk about the 'bigger picture' and how what looks like a sensible move at face value can in fact be the total opposite.

If the cause of the defect was removed when the train was taken out of service, or the driver is able to rectify it between stations, well yes it is possible that the train may re-enter service.

You'll need the likes of MetControl to come along and add anything more concrete.......if he can.

What does passenger action actually mean?

Can't add too much I'm afraid as I'm on a nice long holiday ;D ;D but...

Sounds to me like a typical Friday evening, with unfortunate/innocent customers losing out all thanks to a minority who think we're a playground.

Colin has more or less given the suspicions I would have, given the time of night, and which night it was.The empty train at Wembley could also have been a booked stabler, and as a result of the current balance between old and new stock, it isn't always possible to swap trains over. The train may have been required in depot that evening, and your train would no doubt have stabled at Rickmansworth. It's a balance of affecting late night customers, or early morning ones.

Passenger/Customer action - as Colin implies, where do you start?

Holding the doors, operating passenger alarms, verbal abuse to staff, graffiti, soiling cars through one bodily fluid or another, vandalism... the list goes on...