This evening I was pleased to arrive at Green Park station without any delays or suspensions in evidence anywhere on the network (or indeed during the previous several hours).
My contentment was disturbed by the higher than usual concentration of British Transport Police and London Underground staff. I decided that this must be due to the football later... and thought no more of it. Until I heard 'Inspector Sands' being summoned to the Control Room. Anyone who travels regularly by tube will know that 'Inspector Sands' far from being a senior member of staff is in fact some sort of code (whether for a fire alert or security alert opinion seems to be divided). Sure enough, the plea for the Inspector was immediately replaced by a wailing two tone alarm.
The thing that struck me as strange is that any where else (probably in the world) should you hear an alarm you would evacuate the premises. Yet passengers in the underground carried on about their business. I kept waiting for somebody to tell me to vacate the premises, but nothing doing! Eventually the alarm stopped, I got on a train, and continued home.
My contentment was disturbed by the higher than usual concentration of British Transport Police and London Underground staff. I decided that this must be due to the football later... and thought no more of it. Until I heard 'Inspector Sands' being summoned to the Control Room. Anyone who travels regularly by tube will know that 'Inspector Sands' far from being a senior member of staff is in fact some sort of code (whether for a fire alert or security alert opinion seems to be divided). Sure enough, the plea for the Inspector was immediately replaced by a wailing two tone alarm.
The thing that struck me as strange is that any where else (probably in the world) should you hear an alarm you would evacuate the premises. Yet passengers in the underground carried on about their business. I kept waiting for somebody to tell me to vacate the premises, but nothing doing! Eventually the alarm stopped, I got on a train, and continued home.