London Underground, the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police can now confirm that the three bombs which exploded on three Tube trains on Thursday 7 July went off simultaneously at around 08.50am Explosions were as follows (in succession): Circle line train number 204 heading eastbound from Liverpool Street
station to Aldgate station. Circle line train number 216 travelling westbound heading from Edgware听 Road station to Paddington station. Piccadilly line train number 331 travelling from King's Cross St听 Pancras to Russell Square southbound. London Underground operates a system called TrackerNet which allows听 staff to observe electronically the movement of rolling stock on the听 Tube network. It is presently being introduced for all London听 Underground lines and is in full operation on the Circle line.
TrackerNet is a management information tool only and not a system on听 which to base safety critical decisions. This is complimentary to existing LU signalling and track systems which feed into the听 individual line control rooms. After careful consideration of the recorded archive of realtime听 TrackerNet movements on the Circle line we can confirm the above for Circle line trains numbers 204 and 216 to have occurred within the听 space of one minute respectively. TrackerNet is not yet live on the central section of the Piccadilly听 line. However, we can also confirm for Piccadilly line train 331 that听 the explosion occurred simultaneously at 08:50:00. Our evidence is听 based upon the precise time the Tunnel Telephone system went out of听 service. It was this information supplied by London Underground which enabled听 the Police to confirm that the explosions occurred simultaneously and was a critical development in the hunt for the perpetrators of these听 terrorist attacks.
The events of Thursday morning were unprecedented. London Underground听 followed its well-practiced procedures to keep passengers safe based on the flow of information received. First indications received by London Underground's Network Control Centre听 (NCC) at 08:50 of a problem on the network suggested a power supply problem affecting a large area as stations were reporting that some听 escalators had stopped and other station equipment was no longer working.
The Network Control Centre immediately treated this as a power supply听 issue and took actions to resolve the issue. At this stage NCC believed that the problem could be resolved and power would be restored by 09:15.
What we now know is that the power surge occurred as a direct result of听 explosions knocking the power supply out at the three incident sites. At 08:51, the Central line called the NCC enquiring about a possible听 large noise or explosion onboard a train at Liverpool Street. At听 08:52, the Metropolitan line confirmed that an explosion had taken听 place.
NCC believed this to be directly related to the ongoing power听 supply issue. Loud noises or explosions often accompany a power supply听 rupture.
At 08:53, London Underground commenced Gold Control (command and control person in charge of a serious incident on the Underground)听 in response to the first incident at 08:50. On its own, a power surge is a major issue. While this was being investigated, the NCC received a report at 08:59听 indicating that a train departing Edgware Road station had hit the听 tunnel wall.
Further information came in quickly, including smoke and听 passengers self de-training and walking down the tunnel towards the听 nearest station, Edgware Road.
Sub-surface line managers immediately听 called the emergency services believing this to be a derailment. At this time, London Underground believed that they were dealing with听 a major incident (derailment) and a serious power supply issue on the听 network. The first call to the Metropolitan Police at 08:51 indicated that they听 were being asked to attend a person under a train incident caused by the derailment.
It wasn't until 09:17 that the Metropolitan Police听 received a call specifically stating than an explosion had occurred at听 Edgware Road. This explains the Metropolitan Police reporting that the Edgware Road explosion occurred at 09:17.
We now know this not to be听 the case as it has been proven that the three explosions on the Tube network occurred almost simultaneously. The various emergency services听 were either in attendance or on their way to Edgware Road. We also听 know that the train did not derail and hit a tunnel wall. At 09:01, the Metropolitan line reported that a person may be under a听 train at Liverpool Street. This was the third issue that the Network听 Control Centre was now dealing with within a space of eleven minutes. At 09:03, the Piccadilly line Duty Operations Manager receives reports听 of passengers running from King's Cross. At 09:05, the NCC is advised of walking wounded at Edgware Road. At 09:09, an engineer reports losing a high tension power cable between Mansell Street and Moorgate. At 09:10, the Piccadilly line Duty Operations Manager reports to NCC a听 request for ambulances.
In the 20 minutes that had passed since 08:50, the Network Control Centre was now dealing with four separate听 issues (power supply, derailment at Edgware Road / person under train,听 person under train at Liverpool Street, loss of high tension power cable near Moorgate) and was receiving the appropriate co-ordinated response from LU,听 emergency services and suppliers. At 09:11, the Piccadilly line Duty Operations Manager reports loss of traction current in Russell Square both east and westbound and that a听 loud bang had been heard at Russell Square westbound with staff already investigating.
By 0915, it was clear that the series of events occurring across the network were directly related to multiple explosions and a Code Amber听 alert was declared which means trains are brought into stations and told to stay there until further notice.
This was LU commencing the听 shutdown of the entire Tube network as it was evident that the听 continued operation of the Tube presented a risk to customers if听 further explosions occurred. LU staff began de-training large numbers of passengers and evacuating them from the network. During the morning peak, LU operates over 500 trains and this is greater than the number of platforms on the network so some trains听 would have had to wait in tunnelled sections until they were clear to proceed into a station.
Where possible, trains in tunnelled sections听 joined together so that passengers could walk through from one train onto another until they reached a station. The NCC asked all Underground lines to continue to hold all services and identify trains they had in stations and what was stalled in听 tunnel sections.
We then evacuated all remaining passengers from their trains - equivalent to a Code Red action - at 09:46 which means that听 all trains remained stationary, remaining passengers were detrained, stations commenced evacuation procedures and all services were听 suspended. A Code Red, the immediate shutdown of the network, was never called.
As this would have left many passengers trapped in trains which would have been stalled in tunnels across the network.
The Code Amber action allowed the majority of passengers to be de-trained at stations rather than proceeding through tunnels which is a slow and dangerous process. Between 08:45 and 09:00 on Thursday 7 July 2005, over 200,000 passengers would have been travelling on over 500 trains. The majority听 of passengers who were not killed or seriously injured were evacuated within one hour. The three explosions presented a variety of complex operational issues for London Underground each requiring analysis and response. | 
