Request ID: FOI-2238-2122 Date published: 12 January 2022
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
I am kindly requesting that, if you have access to the noises of Door Opening and Closing on the Underground (any line possible), that you can send it to me? I would really appreciate this.
We answered
TfL Ref: 2238-2122
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 31 December 2021 asking for information about tube train door opening and closing sounds.
Your requests have been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. You asked for the sound files for the opening and closing of tube train doors on the Underground for any line.
Please note that we are refusing your request under section 14(1) of the Act. This is because we are unable to provide these audio recordings without an exhaustive search across London Underground Limited / TfL to determine if and where they may be held and for which individual tube lines they may be held. To clarify, our sound files are not held in any central repository and each tube line may use different train stock and train door design which in turn may mean they have different sounds associated with the opening and closing of the tube train doors. In the event that any sound files are located, we would also need to manually review the associated individual contracts under which these recordings are provided to ascertain whether the release of any files is permissible within the agreements in place.
This is information in which there is very limited public interest but would require significant resource to locate, extract and collate the information you have requested. Whilst transparency and openness is a vital part of ourwork, the work involved in providing the requested information would therefore place an unreasonable burden on us. Our principal duty is to provide an effective transport service for London and we consider that answering this request would represent a disproportionate effort. It would be a significant distraction from our work managing the TfL network, requiring re-allocation of already limited resources and placing an unacceptable burden on a small number of personnel. We do wish to clarify that whilst we consider that your request falls under section 14(1) of the FOI Act, this does not reflect a conclusion that it has been your intention to deliberately place an undue burden on our resources.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Sara Thomas FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
