Most deep coal mining operations started off near to the shaft, and the travelling distance to the coal face was fairly short. However, over the years, the old coal faces were worked out ( the coal removed ), new faces were developed to replace them, so the travelling distance became longer and longer. Instead of travelling a few hundred yards to the coal face, the miner was perhaps travelling a few miles. We had a saying that while we were marching we weren't fighting, metaphorically meaning we were not actually working as we walked.
This situation was not ideal from a production point of view, coal paid our wages and it had to be removed from the face and sent to the surface before it could be sold.
Travelling time needed to be reduced in order to become more productive. The men were walking fairly quickly in conditions which were not ideal, the danger of tripping, slipping and falling was ever present. So how was this problem overcome, we could not just call for a taxi or a bus, 
which would have been nice, other methods had to be devised.
Some pits utilized empty mine cars which were primarily used for coal transportation, the mine cars were pulled by a locomotive, there were no seats in these mine cars so the miner had to make himself as comfortable as he could for the duration of the journey. Some squatted, others sat on their gloves ( this never fully covered all of the desired area ) , and many took their safety helmets off, turned them upside down ( to keep the inside of the helmet clean ) and sat on the helmet.
It was essential that everyone remained in a low position while being transported because some parts of the roadway were not much higher than the height of the mine car itself. I know of one occasion when one miner, who was suffering from the after affects of the night before, produced a very nasty smelling odour. Two men immediately jumped up to obtain some fresh air just as their mine car was going under a low part of the roadway. They both hit their heads on a roof support girder, ( a straight girder ) and received severe cuts which kept them off work for a considerable time.
In those days ( early 1960's ) the only way to stop the train was by shouting and waving cap lamps to attract the drivers attention. As you can imagine it took a while for the train to stop and for the men to receive the first aid which they required.
In later years purpose built man-riding facilities were introduced, consisting of cars made solely for the purpose of transporting men, and they contained nice wooden seats ( little more than planks of wood really ) for comfort. These personnel carriers were extremely diverse in design and size.
Sometimes the cars were pulled by locomotives, other cars were pulled by attaching them to an endless rope haulage system which pulled the the cars to their destination. The rope haulage engine was then placed in reverse for the return journey.
Another very convenient method of transport was the conveyor belts which carried the coal from the various districts in the mine. For as long as I can remember miners have "rode" the belt, even when it was illegal to do so.
Getting on the moving conveyor belt was an art in itself, if a person just stepped straight onto the belt they would be thrown backwards because the momentum of the belt took their feet away. The trick was to distribute your body weight correctly so that you were leaning forward as you stepped on the belt, it was then possible to adjust your position safely. Sometimes you had to throw yourself onto the belt and quickly lie flat due to height restrictions in certain roadways. The precise method depended on many things, the speed of the belt, the slope ( on a drift belt ), was there coal on the belt, or was the belt wet and slippy ( from naturally occurring water or from dust suppression equipment ).
Successfully negotiating the difficulties of boarding the belt did not bring to an end your problems, you then had to find a way of alighting the belt at the outbye end. A place had to be found with sufficient height and space, this was not always possible and you had to make do with what was there.
Belt hangers ( lengths of wire rope which were attached to the roof supports, the conveyors were suspended from them ), were very handy, you just grabbed one and stepped off. But if it was low, you grabbed one and swung yourself off the belt as best you could. If you had any personal equipment with you , it was not always possible to get it off with you, so you had to run after it and retrieve it before it was lost over the conveyor head end.
Armoured cables were also a godsend when it came to alighting the conveyor, these cables were suspended very close to the roof on cable hangers and stretched all the way up the roadway. You could always tell the most popular and probably the best place to alight by observing how dusty the cable was, if it was clear of dust then many others used that place and therefore you knew it was alright.
Not everyone was always successful, occasionally, very occasionally,  someone went over the head end and landed very uncomfortably on the next conveyor. Fortunately for them they were not seriously injured and they gave everyone else who heard about it a good laugh.
Many years later properly constructed man-riding belts were introduce with purpose built boarding and alighting stations. Men could then legally ride the belts.
It would have been nice at times though to simply call out "Taxi".
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