Remembering My Worst Ever Shift
Posted by Simon Emmett on July 7, 2009, 09:09
I remember it as though it was yesterday. I was a Duty Manager for the Tower Hill group of stations, and was due to start work at 7am. However, I got stuck in traffic (on my motorbike!) going along The Highway, arriving five minutes late. I was usually half an hour early.
I remember that I was still on a high that morning, after being in Trafalgar Square the previous day, with my Manager, to hear the victorious Olympics announcement. I still had a few strands of the colourful tickertape in the pocket of my blazer.
As was the reporting protocol, all Duty Managers had to inform the Duty Operations Manager of the presence on the line. So I made that call. I remember clearly Bob (the D.O.M on duty) saying to me “thats not like you being late“. I replied “I got stuck in traffic, on my bike! Do you know what Bob? I think it’s going to be one of those days today“. Those words came back to haunt me in a way I could never have imagined.
I paid a visit that morning to my staff at Cannon Street, when suddenly all the lights went out, and the emergency lighting kicked in. Not knowing what was happening I phoned Bob, who said “Si, get your arse back to Tower Hill, there’s been an incident at Aldgate“. I ran the mile and a half back to Tower Hill, and as I arrived I saw the emergency vehicles heading up Minories towards Aldgate.
Much of the next few hours were a blur with the evacuation of the stations under my command, and the trains in the tunnel near to the bomb site. The images I saw that day at Tower Hill and Aldgate will stay with me for the rest of life, and are still as fresh in my mind as if were just yesterday.
I finally booked off duty at 11pm that night, even though I should have finished at 3pm, as it just felt wrong to go home. There was an eerie silence around the city that night, as I made my way back to pick up my motorbike.
The 7th July, like a lot of London Underground staff, has a special place in my memory, and always will do.
So today just take a small moment of your time to remember the 52 innocent people that lost their lives that day.
