It is almost thirty-five years to day since the Clapham Rail Accident. Recent accidents and near misses suggest that the lessons from Clapham may be fading both in individual and corporate memory.
When looking back at some the oldest accidents there are recurrent themes which imply that it may be harder to imbed the learning than we might imagine.
There are reminders of these recurrent themes and of how they have played a part in more recent incidents. Even when apparently all the relevant precautions have been taken, mis-configured apparatus too can lead to potential disaster.
Jerry’s career began as an apprentice in 1976 when he joined London Transport as a Trainee Technician. After completing the scheme he joined the signal design office.
Over the years Jerry has supported a range of signalling projects including the re-signalling of Wembley Park, the Watford-Croxley re-signalling, immunisation works to support the introduction of the Heathrow Express and the acceptance of designs for the Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) project to the east of London from Green Park to Stratford.
Under the Public Private Partnership contract, Jerry moved to Tube Lines as a principal engineer. There he supported the delivery of the seven-car train project on the Jubilee Line and the introduction of SelTrac S40 onto the Jubilee Line.
After more than thirty years in signal design Jerry was appointed as the Signal & C&I Asset Engineer for Tube Lines, the official receiver of assurance for all of Tube Lines’ signal and C&I assets, both for design and maintenance. Here he oversaw the introduction of SelTrac S40 on the Northern Line and was heavily involved in the management and planning for maintenance during the 2012 London Olympics, where any failures or service perturbations would have had a much greater impact than normal. Jerry introduced 16-week maintenance cycles and eliminated the four-year routine change backlog through a phased reduction.
Jerry has continued in that assurance role as a Principal Engineering Leader within R&RTCS, supporting projects which have included the extension of the Northern Line to Battersea, performance improvements under “Working Timetable 58”, the capacity enhancement works at Bank as well as the new rolling stock for the Piccadilly Line.