Tube driver saves child after seeing 'tiny hand reaching from under train'

Stock photo: PA

A London Tube driver has been hailed a hero after saving the life of a five-year-old boy who slipped between the platform and the train.

The driver described how, as he took a last look back along the platform on his CCTV camera, he spotted the child's hand reaching up from the track.

Driver's union Aslef said the automatic devices in place at Finchley Road station had given the all-clear for the northbound Jubilee Line train to depart, but, after the safety check, the driver spotted the little hand coming out from under the train and jammed the brakes.

General secretary Mick Whelan told the Mirror: "The driver, on a final visual safety check, saw a tiny hand reaching up from the track.

"The train remained in position and a young life was saved."

In a statement released to the Evening Standard, the unnamed tube driver said: "A small child fell beneath my train trying to board while the doors were closing. Thankfully I saw something and was staring at the CCTV when I saw the hands come up from the platform."

The incident occurred just days after Boris Johnson pledged to introduce driverless tube trains within the next two years. It is being highlighted by unions as a good reason not to go ahead with his plan.

Mr Whelan said of the proposals: "On Sunday all the automatic devices showed the platform was clear. Only a driver could have averted a potential tragedy.

Speaking in the Daily Mirror, he said: "Boris Johnson is wrong to continue to push his policy for driverless tube trains when it can threaten the lives of London's travelling public. I want him to accept that it is a mistake."

"How would he explain to those watching horrified parents that his proposal is a good one?"

Transport for London confirmed the incident and said the driver had followed standard safety practice by checking CCTV in his cab before pulling off from the platform.

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