Underground Train Drivers.

[kbd]

Hi Guys,

a good friend of mine recently told me something that I found quite hard to believe and I figured that some of the members here might be able to guide me in this.

What he told me was this : "by the age of 50, 70% of Underground train drivers suffered from incontinence".

If this were true it would be horrendous. What my friend told me was that because there are no toilets on the train, drivers had to delay their visit to the WC and after 20 years of having to "hold on" on a regular basis it could lead to problems ... ?

I am really not sure - on the one hand it seems quite plausible - well if you need to go you need to go and if theres no WC nearby then that can be a problem.

But then on the other hand surely a single journey from start to finish can't be much more than 2 hours and 70% seems like a really really high figure.

Maybe someone here can shed some light on this. Am I being wound up ?

 

[Jordeh]

I think he's having you on although it does sound slightly plausible?

After googling "london underground incontinence" there's no relevant results what-so-ever which would suggest it isn't the case.

 

[Dstock7080]

I certainly think you have been misinformed.

Of all of the medical retirements I've known, this reason has not been given.

A full length trip on the District Line takes around 1h35m terminus to terminus, at which there are facilities provided.

A driver can request a "P.N.R." (Physical Needs Relief) break at the locations which have spare drivers, eg. Acton, Earl's Court, Barking.

Also, along the route there are 'designated' facilities at platform level, provided for drivers use. Off the top of my head, 4 come to mind. Use of these would require a courtesy call to Line Control to make them aware of the possible delay.

Added to that, a driver can obviously use other Staff facilities at ANY station they choose, should the need arise. Again, Line Control would be obliged of a call before this was taken- so that steps could be taken to regulate the trains behind.

 

[BestWestern]

LOL, quite amusing tho!! But if it were true, the same would be true of bus drivers, no? And that would be an awful lot of 'poorly' retired people out there hehe!!