A Night Tube Driver was seriously assaulted at Stanmore at 04.30 on Sunday morning (5th November). The driver was changing ends to move the train from reception road 33 to sidings road 27. Whilst changing ends the driver was assaulted by five or six youths and had spray paint sprayed on his face.

The youths also took the drivers radio.

This is the type of incident the RMT have been warning London Underground about since Night Tube was introduced. For months now the RMT have been insisting that LU review the control measures that they assured us would be in place to mitigate against this type of incident.

We have suspected for a long time that policing with regard to NT is inadequate and LU needs to now review these risks as a matter of urgency. This incident also raises concerns about depot security in general.

Security failure
On this occasion it would appear that so called ‘graffiti artists’ were the culprits. Without undermining the serious of this incident, in the current security climate, our depots, sidings and termini stations should be fully secured locations. A full review of depot and sidings security should be undertaken by local reps as a matter of urgency.

The RMT have also been pushing LU with regards to cab security. The driver on this train had no place of safety that they could retreat to. We need a secure cab and this needs attention immediately. This dreadful incident comes at a time when LU is proposing to take away detrainment staff at termini stations.

Passengers in sidings with drivers would be a regular occurrence. This cannot be allowed to happen.

We will keep you all fully updated as further information becomes available,

RMT Train’s Health and Safety Council