Teams praised for keeping tube stations open during flash floods

 

Senior London Underground managers have praised Lanes Group drainage teams for helping to keep open dozens of the capital’s biggest tube stations during torrential thunderstorms.

In a few hours, central London was inundated with 100mm of rain, the amount usually expected to fall in a whole month, causing major flash flooding.

Over 12 hours, Lanes Group, one of London Underground’s main drainage contractors, received 370 emergency calls to respond to flooding problems at Tube stations across the capital.

The storms swept across the capital on June 22 and 23. When they first hit, the River Thames was experiencing a high tide, so pumping stations could not discharge, making the problem worse.

The flash flooding caused chaos, closing dozens of roads and badly affecting main line rail services.

During the crisis, 170 Lanes drainage personnel were involved in clearing water from Tube stations, some of it containing sewage from backed-up sewers.

Lanes Rail Division Project Manager Hus Ibrahim said: “This was, most definitely, one of the biggest flash flooding emergencies to hit London in recent years.

“Surface water drainage around stations, and station roof drainage systems just couldn’t cope with the volume of water, so it flowed in through entrances, into ticketing areas station and machine rooms.

“The amount of rain over a short period, and the fact it fell on central areas of London, most notably Westminster, multiplied the effect.

“Our teams responded magnificently over a 28-hour period. I’m very pleased to say it was recognised by London Underground who said our efforts played a key part in keeping stations open, and services running.”

As the calls came in from London Underground’s control centre, Lanes’ senior management team plotted the alerts on a map, and prioritised the responses of the teams on the ground.

Hus Ibrahim said: “Our main focus was on the busiest stations, and ones with multiple lines. This included 30 of the busiest Tube stations in central London.

“We deployed jet vac tankers, wet vacuumation machines, flood sacks, pumps, hoses and squeegee teams, whatever was required to keep the water at bay, and ensure the stations were safe for passengers and London Underground staff.

“For the first 18 hours we were fire-fighting flooding incidents just to keep stations open. As the emergency evolved, we were able to deploy deep cleaning teams to get stations fully up to standard once more.”

Lanes Rail Division Commercial Director Matthew Todd said: “Once again, our teams did a brilliant job, and I’d like to thank them for their huge effort.

“Everyone stepped up, and our procedures proved to be resilient, in the face of a major operational challenge. We’re reviewing our response and will be even better prepared to support London Underground next time.”