JNUP Night tube
For many Londoner’s the thought of being able to jump on the tube at any time 24 hours a day, is a tantalising prospect. For many years, late night revellers and night shift workers alike have been restricted as to when they can head home (or head out!) by the timetable as defined by London Underground.
Boris Johnson’s announcement of a “24 hour tube service” in September 2014, also came the realisation of a reduction in night time journeys across London by an average of 20 minutes and the support of around 2,000 permanent jobs.1
In order to achieve this ever running railway under the streets of London, there needs to be a lot of work across the network. Something that Thales has been involved with from day one.
Brian Lever, Assistant Project Manager for Thales’s transportation business, who started on the Graduate Development Programme in September 2014 around the time of the Night Tube announcement, never expected he would be involved with it during his graduate scheme.
“My involvement is project managing the delivery of Night Tube to this September 2015 deadline, in the absence of the software project manager. To successfully do that I am responsible for providing a shift by shift resource loaded plan that reduces the risks of delay. This requires booking the necessary access on the Northern and Jubilee Line to allow us to commission the software without interruption. Getting engineering time on the network is a challenge in itself, and something I had never even considered before working with Thales.”
“The re-signalling of two of London’s busiest tube routes (the Jubilee & Northern lines) was a huge project for Thales, but it set the company in good stead to work on Night Tube. There is such a wealth of experience all around me, and I get every opportunity to learn and develop my career.”
“We are working to tight deadlines, but I am confident that we will be ok. So look out for a tube running all night this September!”
1www.tfl.gov.uk press release, 24 September 2014