London staff resolute in face of terror attacks

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Andrew Dodgshon describes how the events of the 7 July unfolded for London bus drivers and how they responded

July 7 2005 started quietly. There were delays on the Thameslink line to London due to a power failure, plus reported delays on the Guildford line. The Northern Line on London’s underground “tube” system was having trouble. For commuters these were not extraordinary events. People shrugged and returned to their crosswords, reading or sleep. Few batted an eyelid.

By nine o’clock it was clear something was happening. Crowds had massed at Kings Cross, Edgware Road, Aldgate, Liverpool Street and Russell Square. Police, ambulance and fire sirens were sounding in symphony. News broadcasts told of power surges on the tube but bemused commentators couldn’t explain why. Eye-witnesses spoke of people with blackened faces coming out of the tube stations talking of loud bangs and chaos. Why would a power surge lead to this? asked the news anchors. Nobody knew.

By around half past nine reporters were describing the emergency services’ arrival at scenes of mounting chaos. Suddenly it was dawning. A major event on London’s underground system was unfolding. London was now on high alert as police and transport planners started to tackle the situation. The top emergency alert “Code Amber”was declared for the tube network. Over 200,000 people were evacuated to confine damage to the sites already reported.

Nobody was clear about what had happened underground, except that it was something major. George Psaradakis, a Stagecoach bus driver, was driving his Number 30 Hackney Wick to Marble Arch service into this mêlée. He was put on a diversion away from the crowded Euston Road. It was his first day back after time off sick with heart trouble.

People turned away from the tube got on George’s bus where they could. Some couldn’t. Others squeezed on but finding it too full, got off to walk. Shortly after 9.45am the bus reached the junction of Woburn Square and Tavistock Place. It was an unfamiliar place on the Number 30 route. An eyewitness said the bus driver stopped to ask where he was. Then there was an enormous bang. George later said in a statement through his company: “My bus had been diverted because there were thousands of people coming out of the tube. There were many people who were trying to get on the bus all at once. Suddenly there was a bang, then carnage. Everything seemed to happen behind me.”

The pictures taken in the immediate aftermath showed him shocked standing by his bus. What goes through your mind in that situation? What instinct takes over? For George, his passengers were his first thoughts. “I tried to help the poor people,” he said. “There were many injured people and at first I thought, ‘How am I alive when everyone is dying around me?’ The police then had to take me away because they were concerned there might be further explosions.” The true horror of what must have happened underground now became clear. Doctors and other emergency services rushed in to help.

By lunchtime it was evident a series of explosions had wrought devastation, killing many innocent commuters and injuring hundreds more. No one would confirm suicide bombers were behind the attacks, but the rumours persisted.

For London’s bus drivers the story was just beginning. With the entire underground system out of action, buses had to carry hundreds of thousands of extra passengers. More immediately some of the bus drivers offered their services to ferry the walking wounded to hospitals. Tony Woodley, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU), praised his members’ instinctive response. “They were not pressed into service. No bus was commandeered. It was the drivers who acted on their own initiative.”

Courage amid carnage

By the evening it was clear the deaths had been caused by bombs. A few days later everyone’s fears and suspicions were confirmed - suicide bombers. Testimonies from survivors closest to the explosions gave vivid descriptions: of the scream of the bus bomber just before his device detonated, of the appalling fear and suffering of tube passengers underground – the dead, injured and unscathed but terrified, trapped together in darkened, smoke-filled carriages. Politicians praised the emergency services and transport workers for their roles.

George Psaradakis added his message to that of many ordinary commuters and transport workers. “I am pleased that many people in London are still getting the bus, despite what has happened,” he said. “Myself and the other drivers in London have an important job and we are going to continue to do that as best we can. We are going to continue our normal lives. We are not going to be intimidated.”

Other tales of bus workers’ heroism reached the TGWU. A Muslim bus driver from Stockwell, unable to get to work at Shepherd’s Bush by his normal route, walked in. A woman bus driver who had been in the 9/11 attack on New York told colleagues she wasn’t going to let “these bastards” stop her. She volunteered to take one of the first buses out on 8 July. George Psaradakis’ shop steward at Stratford made a point of being the first to take the Number 30 bus out on the day after the bombs to show a lead to his colleagues and the travelling public.

Barry Arnold, Stagecoach London managing director, was impressed. “Our drivers are true professionals and have done a superb job since these terrible events,” he said.

The human tragedy inflicted by the bombers came home to bus workers when it was confirmed that Shahara Islam had been killed on George Psaradakis’ bus. Her father, Shamsul, was also a Stagecoach bus driver. George led the nation into silence a week later at the Stratford garage flanked by our regional secretary Eddie McDermott and Barry Arnold. “With quiet dignity and respect we show our deep contempt for those who planted the bombs and those who masterminded them,” he said.

Carrying on

No bus driver in London was forced to drive if they felt in genuine fear - they would be allocated other garage duties with no loss of pay. Nobody pretended drivers were not apprehensive but as leading TGWU lay rep in London Pat D’Cruz said in the Trafalgar Square vigil, “For me and all the bus drivers, engineers, garage staff and our companies it is about doing our jobs. It’s about keeping London moving.”

The nightmare appeared to have returned on 21 July. Again a Stagecoach Stratford garage service was affected, along with three more London tube stations. The Number 26 Waterloo to Hackney bus was among the services attacked, but there were no casualties. The rucksack bombs failed to explode with the devastation of two weeks earlier. Bus driver Mark Maybanks reacted quickly. He evacuated his bus and in a statement said afterwards, “I’m very thankful that I got everyone off the bus successfully. That was my overriding priority. I just did what I thought needed to be done.”

“Let us be in no doubt London’s bus drivers played a significant and calm role,” said Eddie McDermott, who was part of a union delegation. “Let us be equally clear that we cannot be complacent. We must ensure there are effective communications across all key personnel in bus garages in future, that the police are active in giving advice to drivers as well as having a visible presence on the buses and in the garages, and that route supervisors, who need to put immediate diversions in place, are properly trained.”

“London can be proud of its bus drivers,” he added. “What they need now is the continued support of their companies and for the industry to work with the unions and the police to make sure everything that can be done to protect crews and the travelling public is done.”

Transport unions have been meeting with the Mayor of London and urged him to act to improve security in public transport in London, including improvements to co-ordinated communications systems.

RMT members demand right to refuse undue risk

Following the 7 and 21 July attacks, the RMT tube drivers’ union revived its demands for improved security provision on the tube network more>>

Andrew Dodgshon is the press officer for the Transport and General Workers Union, which represents the majority of London bus workers.

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Issue 21 October 2005

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RMT members demand right to refuse undue risk

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