The Tube: Keeping London Moving

In this first episode, it's rush hour in the capital, and millions of Londoners are making their daily commutes. The network is close to maximum capacity with temperatures of 35 degrees above ground and much higher below. But there's also a trespasser on the line - the Emergency Response Unit must react quickly to reports of a large dog loose on the tracks underground, which has brought the Northern line to its knees. After walking through half a kilometer of underground tunnel, the ERU reach the train where the terrified German Shepherd was last spotted. The team must move fast to help sweltering onboard passengers, but rush hour delays are spreading.

Above ground, it's an intensely busy day on the bus network. Picking up the slack from tube delays, Dennis and Matt are out trying to keep the service running, checking tickets and looking for fare dodgers. And at Tottenham Court Road, the scorching summer heat takes its toll as a passenger suffers from heat exhaustion. The whole network is sizzling in the heat and at the TFL Control Centre the pressure intensifies to get millions of passengers through the system.

It's the Coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in central London. And it's the responsibility of TfL to make sure that thousands of people can get to the procession and back safely. Removing street lights, diverting over one hundred roads, managing foot traffic and fixing any surprise engineering issues, the teams must work to military precision in order to keep the day running as smoothly as possible. But protests have been scheduled and there are reports of terror threats.

In west London, engineers at the depot get ready for some ballast replacement work, moving tons of replacement rail in time for Northern line engineering works in the evening. And at Acton Town Station, an 85-year-old train is temporarily being brought back into service. The art-deco Piccadilly line train will be running alongside the regular service, which means it must keep to a strict schedule in order not to upset the controller or the thousands of commuters using the line. The old train is mechanical and susceptible to the heat, which might throw a spanner in the works.

It's the FA Cup final and this year it coincides with a national rail strike. Parvez and his team at Wembley Park Station must get tens of thousands of football fans to the game and back home safely. But there's a points failure at Baker Street, forcing all southbound trains to terminate at the already packed station. Soon scuffles break out on the concourse between rival fans, adding to the pressure.

The on-call Emergency Response Unit is rushed to reports of potentially dangerous damaged track at Leicester Square Station, which requires immediate attention before it starts to impact the service.

At Hyde Park Corner, Kevin is part of the team moving thousands of Billy Joel fans through the century-old station, and the busiest Saturday night of the summer in central London brings its own challenges for station staff, where the team must deal with the late-night weekend revellers.

This time the fare evasion team are out scouring London's tube stations tracking down suspected persistent fare evaders. They are suspected of each racking up thousands of pounds in unpaid fares over long periods of time. Poised to pounce, the team study their movements via CCTV, devise a plan and finally approach the suspects in plainclothes.

On the weekend of the Notting Hill Carnival, one of the largest street festivals in the world, around two million partygoers are expected to descend upon the west of the city. Teams are pulled in from all over London's transport network to help support the key stations.

Keeping everyone safe and controlling passenger flow is the priority on the frontline, and at the network Control Centre they must keep a watchful eye over the millions joining the procession, and the rest of the network. But suddenly - could reports of a fire at King's Cross station have a devastating knock-on effect, as it inevitably brings back memories of the 1987 disaster…?

On a boiling hot July weekend TfL staff cannot let their guard slip as they find themselves contending with threatened assaults, lost children and fare evaders on the run among the many millions of passengers travelling through the network of roads, tube and trains.

It's also Pride weekend, and London is hosting one of the biggest parties in the country. One and half million proud folk descend on the capital, many heading for Soho in the heart of the city dressed to the nines, party hats at a jaunty angle and with merry mayhem on their minds. But it's a serious business for TfL staff who have to keep the capital moving when so many people cram into such a small part of the city, flocking from all points of the compass.

London is home to 13 professional football clubs and managing the flow of fans on every match day is a huge logistical challenge, particularly on the one day of the year when the season's final Premier League matches kick off simultaneously. This year the challenge is even greater because tens of thousands of cyclists are descending on the capital for the annual Ride London event, and eight miles of city centre roads are now closed to traffic.

Adding to that, numerous train cancellations due to engineering works and delays caused by track-side incidents add pinch-points and are stretching a system that is on the verge of being seriously overcrowded at any moment. For staff at south-west and south-east London stations exuberant and rowdy supporters bring back bad memories of serious misbehaviour, including staff being pushed off platforms and on to rail-tracks. Will this be another bad year for staff on TfL's front-line?

Altogether less abrasive, but just as excitable, is the experience of DLR staff at Pudding Mill Lane. Here the chances of over-exuberant passengers is guaranteed. But these are voracious ABBA fans going to see a show by the eponymous Swedish pop gods' avatars, delivering their greatest hits, so station staff are more likely to be leading a sing-song than stopping a ding-dong.