TUBE UNION RMT today demanded the immediate staffing  of ALL London Underground stations – or the closure of stations when they are unstaffed – after  another dangerous incident at an unstaffed station. 

At Ruislip station last Friday (20 Oct) as a train was pulling into the platform, a young person jumped from the platform onto the tracks. Due to the driver’s quick reactions he was able to bring his train to an emergency stop which prevented the youth being hit. 

It subsequently emerged that the young person had accessed the track previous to this incident and was witnessed playing around near the platform edge with friends. 

Had this station been staffed, police and other authority’s would have been summoned far earlier to prevent it from escalating to a life-risking incident. 

It is a serious concern to the union that the driver had to deal with the whole incident alone. “Near Miss” incidents can have a profound impact on drivers and it is imperative that they have as much support as possible as quickly as possible.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
“ Another day, another unstaffed station, another serious incident. London Underground need to get an urgent grip on unstaffed stations – the appalling station jobs cut programme known as Fit for the Future continues to leave an unsafe legacy of daily unstaffed stations. 

“Whilst RMT have had a major victory in getting 325 jobs back, unstaffed stations are still a regular occurrence . If stations can’t be staffed, they must be closed. It’s only a matter of time before a fatality occurs.”