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Just how bad is air quality on the Northern/Victoria line

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387star

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Yesterday a coughing fit spread on a northern line train whilst a passenger commented their newspaper had turned dirty in the short time it had been down there

At finsbury park a balloon caught hanging on the victoria line platform is now covered in dirt

Just how bad is it down there ?
 
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70014IronDuke

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In today's Financial Times there is a full-page piece on air pollution in the tube.

https://www.ft.com/content/6f381ad4-fef7-11e9-be59-e49b2a136b8d
...the investigation found that levels of pollution on the Underground are dangerously high — as much as 10 times above the guidelines set by the World Health Organization in some parts of the network.

Commuters travelling on the Central, Victoria and Northern lines are most at risk, according to the analysis by the Financial Times.

The FT research measured fine particles known as PM2.5, which are about one-thirtieth the width of a human hair and can penetrate deep into the lungs. Inhaling the invisible particles is linked to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, respiratory infection and a range of other harmful conditions...
Click to expand...
 
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philthetube

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nothing lie as bad as it used to be, working as a gurad in the 90s you could never consider going out after work without having a shower first, the water used to be black around your feet.
 
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edwin_m

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One of the sources of pollution is particles shed during friction braking, but this should be decreasing on those lines as the current trains mainly use regenerative braking. The Piccadilly and Bakerloo are probably worst for this as they still have older trains. Another one is wheel/rail wear, which is probably worse on the Northern than on the Victoria which was built later and efforts made to avoid tight curves. This, and other sources notably skin cells and fluff shed by passengers, will probably increase in line with the numbers of trains and passengers.
 
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70014IronDuke

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edwin_m said:
One of the sources of pollution is particles shed during friction braking, but this should be decreasing on those lines as the current trains mainly use regenerative braking. The Piccadilly and Bakerloo are probably worst for this as they still have older trains. Another one is wheel/rail wear, which is probably worse on the Northern than on the Victoria which was built later and efforts made to avoid tight curves. This, and other sources notably skin cells and fluff shed by passengers, will probably increase in line with the numbers of trains and passengers.
Click to expand...

According to Wednesday's FT (paper version, in front of me now), but see thread

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...n-the-london-underground.194732/#post-4276639

the Piccadilly and Bakerloo are actually the 'best two' (albeit of a bad bunch) of the deep lines.
The worst is the Central, specifically between Lancaster Gate and Queensway, at nearly 8 x the WHO safe limit and - yes - next worst is the Victoria, at 6 and a bit times the limit.
 
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westv

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What with that and all the diseases that lurk there! :lol:
 
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philthetube

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It would be interesting to see how many staff have retired early with diseases which could be linked to air pollution compared with people following other careers.
 
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Mitchell Hurd

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When I've left a GWR train from Oxford and Didcot at Paddington, as soon as I've entered the Underground to catch a Bakerloo line train, there's an immediate smell of dust - I'm wondering if it's the 1972 stock that gives off that smell.

That aside, that and the sounds (and echoes) the Bakerloo line trains make are all part of the fun of using the Underground if I'm honest :)!
 
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trebor79

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It's filthy down there. Just stand at one end of a platform and observe the haze looking towards the far end.
A couple of short tube trips and I blow black stuff out of my nose for a day or so.

About 20 odd years ago a friend and I spent most of a weekend riding around in the tube. My hair and clothes picked up this odd smell that I've never smelt since, but can remember vividly..
 
bramling

bramling

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edwin_m said:
One of the sources of pollution is particles shed during friction braking, but this should be decreasing on those lines as the current trains mainly use regenerative braking. The Piccadilly and Bakerloo are probably worst for this as they still have older trains. Another one is wheel/rail wear, which is probably worse on the Northern than on the Victoria which was built later and efforts made to avoid tight curves. This, and other sources notably skin cells and fluff shed by passengers, will probably increase in line with the numbers of trains and passengers.
Click to expand...

There's still a lot of dust around from the previous generation of trains!
 
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