FOI request detail

Information on tube line temperatures & heat related passenger incidents

Request ID: FOI-1178-2122
Date published: 20 September 2021

You asked

Hello, I am looking to get the most up to date information you have on the following: - The temperatures of the individual tube lines, month by month. - Passenger incidents, specifically those caused by the temperature of the tube. If that is not available, all data you have on fainting incidents specifically, would suffice. Thanks!

We answered

Our ref: FOI-1178-2122/GH
 
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 3 September 2021 asking for information about Information on Tube line temperatures & heat related passenger incidents.
 
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold the information you require.
 
London Underground records temperatures across the Underground in order to inform our cooling initiatives. 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.
 
We have recently published data in the London Datastore on the average temperatures on London Underground lines, and this can be found here:
https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-underground-average-monthly-temperatures?q=underground%20temperature.
 
With regards to passenger incidents caused by the temperature of the tube, or relating to fainting, we are applying Regulation 12(4)(b) as we believe that the request is ‘manifestly unreasonable’ because providing the information you have requested would impose unreasonable costs on us and require an unreasonable diversion of resources.
 
To answer your request would take an excessive amount of staff time and resources. Any such incidents would be recorded under the broader category ‘passenger ill’. We would therefore need to manually check each incident to see whether the temperature was considered to be a factor, or whether the passenger fainted. Fainting on trains can be for many reasons and not specifically related to temperature or crowding etc, and therefore were we able to identify this information it would not necessarily indicate the reason behind the incident.
  
The use of this exception is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to consider whether the public interest in applying the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. We recognise that the release of information would promote accountability and transparency in public services and may help address your particular concerns about this issue. However, the time it would take to provide the information you have requested would divert a disproportionate amount of our resources from its core functions and on balance we consider that the public interest currently favours the use of the exception.
 
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
 
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
 

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