Union claims TfL is "cutting corners" and calls for investigation

Transport for London has been slammed by the RMT union as District Line trains remain out of service for the third day running.

TfL has been forced to remove a total of 23 trains from service since Wednesday following safety checks which revealed a series of bracket faults.

This has caused delays for travellers and at one point led to services between Kensington High Street and Olympia being suspended.

Today, 17 trains are still being checked or repaired, though TfL claims this shortage of stock is causing only "minor delays".

During the checks engineers found cracks in several shoe beam brackets. These brackets hold the equipment which draws the current from the rails.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union has attacked TfL saying: "Short-term savings measures have slashed maintenance schedules and ripped up the safety rule book and the consequences are now being rammed home on the District line and beyond."

And on Friday, the union said that it was filing a report to the Office of Rail Regulation claiming that London Underground was "cutting corners" on Tube maintenance and calling for an investigation.

A Transport for London spokesman hit back, accusing the union of "scaremongering". The spokesman said: "All District Line trains are being fully and properly inspected before they enter customer service. Any trains that require work are also being fully repaired before they enter service. We apologise to passengers for the disruption this is causing, but passenger safety is our top priority."

October 8, 2010