I would like to know the statistics regarding how many people have fainted while using the London Underground in 2017. The incidents of fainting can be on the tube, on the platform or anywhere else at a tube station.

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TfL Ref: 4652-1718

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 25 February 2018 asking for information about how many people have fainted while using the London Underground in 2017.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we the information you require.  You asked: I would like to know the statistics regarding how many people have fainted while using the London Underground in 2017. The incidents of fainting can be on the tube, on the platform or anywhere else at a tube station.

There are a number of reasons why passengers may be taken ill on the Tube, which could include pre-existing medical conditions, lack of sufficient food or water, alcohol consumption or overheating with layers of clothing during the winter months. We have been working to ensure customers know what steps they can take to minimise the risk of falling ill on the Tube.

This includes carrying water, not boarding a train if they feel unwell and waiting at a station to seek assistance rather than using the passenger alarm. These messages have been incorporated into the Travel Better London campaign to raise awareness of how passengers can help reduce delays and improve the environment for fellow travellers.

With incidents on tube trains, our priority is, if safe and possible, to remove the person from the train to the platform where they can be more easily treated and services can be kept running

The data below includes all incidents where there was a mention of people fainting or feeling faint anywhere in the station or trains regardless of it causing any delays to service. The incidents took place against a backdrop of growing passenger numbers and services with nearly 5 million passenger journeys made per day.

Please note that this is highly dependent on the observations made by staff dealing with the incident and how they subsequently completed the incident report, and therefore is not necessarily fully accurate. Additionally, we took the decision from 1^st August last year that we would no longer record incidents where customers were ill  unless it caused a delay to the train service of 2 minutes or longer or the incident lead to the customer sustaining a physical injury. Accordingly, and with the aforementioned caveats in mind, the total number of incidents recorded of customers fainting for the calendar year 2017 was 729.

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.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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