The brand new Elizabeth Line trains have an alleged fault which could injure people, a whistleblower has claimed.
Around 70 of the line’s new trains are fitted with 7KG metal boxes close by the passenger doors, which are reportedly at risk of blowing off the train from a build-up of gas.
The manufacturing company, Alstom, denied anybody was at risk and said it was rolling out a new component at the end of the month to fix the issue.
The Daily Mail reported an internal memo to Alstom staff that reportedly warned engineers not to go near the boxes while working on carriages.
It added that if there was a choice of routes, engineers should always choose to avoid the converters.
They whistleblower told the Daily Mail: "It’s odd that it’s enough of a risk to employees for them to implement safety precautions, but not to customers.
"If the trains are passing through stations at 100mph or crossings where there are people and one of the doors comes off, it’s a 7kg lump of metal that could cause chaos and wipe quite a few people out."
Alstom said they always took safety precautions to protect workers, who were exposed in ways the public were not.
The firm said passengers were totally safe to continue using the train and, because the new line is a stopping service, no trains speed through the stations, jeopardising the boxes.
Alstom added that “detailed risk assessments” supported the continued and safe use of the train and TFL pointed out that the trains had been in use since 2017 without incident.
This all comes as the brand new £18.9billion line opened just last month, almost four years later and £4billion over budget.
It was originally due to be completed in December 2018 and in 2010 its budget was set at £14.8billion.
But the line will not fully open up until next year and currently doesn’t operate on Sundays.
The boxes in question are fitted diagonally below the passenger doors, meaning they are underneath the platform level as trains pull into the station.
This means they are unlikely to pose a danger while the trains are pulling in or out of stations.
It is also reported that another 70 trains used by Greater Anglia and 54 London Overground trains have similar boxes.
An Alstom Spokesperson said: “There is no risk to passengers using our Aventra trains, or on station platforms, from this small, potential fault affecting a train component.
“Detailed risk assessments support the continued operation of all potentially affected train fleets, including on the Elizabeth line.
“Mitigating even the smallest risk for our depot maintenance staff is our absolute priority, which is why we have proactively introduced a temporary maintenance procedure pending the rollout of a modified component by the end of this month.”
A spokesperson for Transport for London said: "Alstom, the manufacturer and maintainers of Elizabeth line trains, informed us that there is a potential fault with a component on some of their trains, but assure us that it poses no risk to our customers.
"This assessment has been supported by industry experts.”
