Don't blame me, says Tube driver

Passengers on London Underground have become used to hearing Tube drivers struggling in weary and resigned tones to explain the latest delay.

But now it appears that even the drivers' patience has snapped - and they are taking matters into their own hands.

The drivers are making announcements blaming the colleagues whose alleged mistakes have caused them to be stuck underground with hundreds of nearmutinous travellers.

In several incidents that underline the fact that things are not going as smoothly as they should at LU, drivers on the Piccadilly line have started to launch attacks on their controllers for causing hold-ups.

Passengers have been taken aback to hear drivers make announcements blaming "incompetence by controllers" as the reason for the delay. On one such occasion-construction planning engineer Colin Prior was travelling on the Piccadilly line in the South Kensington area on Wednesday night when the service came to a halt.

Mr Prior, 58, from Ealing, said: "The train kept stopping between South Kensington, Gloucester Road and Earl's Court and it eventually came to a complete stop.

"The train sat for about 20 minutes. Eventually the driver came over the tannoy and said: 'The reason we're experiencing so many delays tonight is because of incompetence by the train controllers. If I were you I would try the District line instead.' "

He said he experienced an almost identical incident the week before at North Ealing. Mr Prior said: "The drivers seem to be getting so annoyed they are saying exactly what they think. It says a lot about how bad the service is when the staff start attacking each other. The drivers have a sense of service.

"When no one gives them any information, they are bound to snap."

A spokesman for the RMT union, which represents a large number of LU drivers, said: "These alleged comments reveal the exasperation and frustration of being a London Underground driver in the 21st century. At the same time, as the service is deteriorating through a lack of investment, managers are squabbling over the future of the system and whether to introduce the [public-private partnership]."

LU refused to comment on the alleged comments in detail but said: "Most of our drivers make announcements in a timely and professional manner as far as possible."