Comments: Safety concern. Temperature on the tube unbearable. I’m pregnant and this caused the environment to be horrendous. I would like to use the freedom of information act to find out the recorded temperature on the underground during this trip. I would be shocked if it complied with travel safety regulations. How you expect the elderly, pregnant, frail or very young to use your service is beyond me. Please contact with the relevant information. Many thanks,

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TfL Ref 0807-2021

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 11 August 2020 asking for information about the temperature on the Tube on a recent journey you made.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. 

We record temperatures across the Underground in order to inform our cooling initiatives but this is not done on an individual journey level. We are investing millions as part of a long-term programme to ensure we can deliver more services, and continue to introduce new trains to meet growing customer numbers whilst providing more comfortable journeys. We have implemented energy efficient solutions on new trains which saves energy and reduces the heat generated. We have also removed heat from our station and tunnel environment by installing new ventilation or cooling solutions.

We are constantly working on new ways to keep the temperature down on the London Underground. There are already air conditioned trains on 40 per cent of the London Underground network and we are determined to do all we can to help make journeys more comfortable on other lines while investing in solutions for the longer term. During periods of hot weather, we advise our customers to ensure they carry water with them when they travel in order to stay hydrated, offer a seat to those who may need it, and, if they feel ill, to contact a member of staff at the next station.

Unfortunately we do not hold the specific information you have requested in relation to your specific journey and so we will not be able to determine what the temperature was during your journey on the Piccadilly line on 11^th August but we are sorry to read that this was less than comfortable. There are currently no government mandated travel safety regulations related to temperature inside of passenger carriages on the Tube (or on National Rail), however we have previously published average monthly temperatures across the network which may be of interest to you at the following link: https://data.london.gov.uk/download/london-underground-average-monthly-temperatures/b01c7853-fff2-4781-9755-9b5e1404d78c/lu-average-monthly-temperatures.csv

The Piccadilly line is an old stock dating from 1973 and does not have the capacity for air conditioning units. This will be addressed during the upgrade where 250 new Tube trains will be introduced on the line. The first of this new stock is expected from 2024.

The impact of current circumstances on TfL’s resources means we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present.

Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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