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The Day The Bombs Came

Image Captures

Journey through the Crossover

Starting from the eastbound platform, going west

On the crossover

Joining the westbound track 1

Joining the westbound track 2

Russell Square ahead

More Screenshots from The Tube Show

Platform 5 at KXSP, showing the rear four cars moved back into the station.



Farringdon Sidings, I think

TrackerNet Images from The Tube Show

The Tube Show

Model showing train 204 and two Metropolitan line train in Aldgate Station.



Model showing H&C train 235 stopped on the North Curve and a District Line train.

Between King's Cross and Russell Square

The tunnel is 820m long. The layout of the track is important. Here is a link to a map of part of it. Starting 70m from the King's Cross platform is the trailing crossover, a piece of track that joins the eastbound and westbound tracks. It is 115m long and is constructed as a wide diameter tunnel.

Weaselbitch was in the 5th carriage of train 331:

When I got to the Picadilly Line platform London Underground were announcing delays on that line too, and you could tell. The platform was packed. I decided to make my way to the other end because it’s usually slightly less crowded down there. I just managed to squeeze onto the train in the second to last carriage. From what I’ve read/heard I think the bomb must have gone off in either the first or the third carriage from the front.

The train departed as normal. When I was describing it to thessalian and dodgyhoodoo last night I said we were about 30 seconds out of Kings Cross. The reports I’ve read since say it was 3 minutes, so all I can really say now is that it was “not long”. I was reading an article in the paper about London winning the bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

Suddenly there was an almighty bang, the train stopped, all the lights went out and the carriage was filled with thick, dark grey smoke.
...
One of the main reasons I think we were quite slow getting to the point of deciding to smash one of the windows is that we were in a very narrow tunnel. There was about a maximum of a foot's clearance on either side between the train and the curved tunnel wall. If we'd got outside the train we would have had to make our way along the side of the train propped up between the train and the tunnel wall. We didn't know about the fork in tunnel up ahead. I think this would have been where the people who'd smashed their window and climbed out came from.

At least part of the 5th carriage was in narrow tunnel. This puts the rear of train 331 much closer to the KXSP platform than the 100m often stated. If the whole of the 6th and half of the 5th carriage were in narrow tunnel, then the rear of train 331 would have been only about 45m from the platform.

In addition, the front of train 331 would have been in wide tunnel. Any explosion in either the first or third carriage would not have been as destructive as the explosion in train 311 in narrow tunnel up ahead.

Joe Orr places the front of train 311 about 440m from King's Cross.

...start running towards Russell Square down the left hand side of the track to try to get help. I look at the 100metre measurements along the track to see how far it is to Russell Square - about 380 metres.

The impossible carriage 346A

A note on Piccadilly Line 1973 Tube Stock car numbering.

Each car has four axles labelled A, B, C, D. Each car has an A end and a D end. The couplings at the A end are different from the couplings at the D end. Cars can only couple A to D. Three cars couple to form a half train. For example, 146-546-346. 146 is the A car of the half train. 346 is the D car.

A full train would be: 146-546-346-4xx-6xx-2xx.

346 would be the third or fourth carriage from the front, depending on which way the train was going.

Which train does the physical set 166-566-366-417-617-217 belong to?

The Tubeprune informs me that:

"Unit 166-566-366 was severly damaged, 366 is probably the only possible survivor but it has no other cars to work with at this time."

Since the explosion in 311 was near the rear of the first carriage and also damaged the second carriage, there is a strong presumption that 166 belonged to train 311, the train near Russell Square.

346A is impossible and 346D cannot be the first or second carriage.

Yet the articles below refer to it.

Blue Watch relive the bomb hell inside carriage 346A

the gruesome, hellish confines of carriage 346A

Suicide bomber Jermaine Lindsay was probably two to three feet away when he detonated his device in carriage 346A but a woman sitting between them took the full impact