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London's Tube will have (some) air conditioning next summer
Londoners and visitors alike will have some relief next summer as the city introduces its first air conditioned subway car, which was delivered this week.
But don't throw away your water bottles just yet. The first air conditioned car will only be on the Metropolitan line, and that line won't be entirely air conditioned until 2011. By 2015, the District and Circle lines will also have air conditioning.
That's a long wait, and the nine other lines will have to wait even longer, perhaps forever. Some, such as the heavily used Northern and Piccadilly lines, are too deep in the earth to easily expel warm air. The Piccadilly is the one that goes to Heathrow, so you can have a nice sweat after several hours of cramped seating and airline food.
Oh, and there's more bad news. Since this is part of a major revamping of the Tube system, prices will go up 3.9 percent, and bus fares will also go up 12 percent. The fare hikes will start in January 2012.
Filed under: Europe, United Kingdom, Transportation
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Unexpected Traveller Oct 25th 2009 10:23AM
Urk - about time too. I used to live in England and my memories of the Underground (the Tube, if you're a local) is crammed, hot and stuffy.
Sadly I had forgotten about that but it all came flooding back rather quickly on a recent trip ... http://wp.me/ppqxP-8J
Nick Oct 25th 2009 3:28PM
'I've even seen people faint, either from the heat or the stink of sweaty bodies'
You've seen someone faint due to someone else's sweat? Yeah, right. Not sure about you Sean, but most of us in London have a pretty close relationship with soap and water, so that's maybe why in 40 years of commuting I've never seen anyone faint due to the stench of someone else's sweat.
Jan Moir's column in the Daily Mail might be going free soon. She got by with filling it by making stuff up that sounded good, maybe you could carry the torch when she's booted out?
Sean McLachlan Oct 25th 2009 3:36PM
Nick,
You're a rarity--an Englishman with no appreciation of sardonic humor. You almost sound American. Yes, I have seen people faint on hot summer days on the Tube, but the stink comment was obviously a joke. Although you have to admit it can get pretty ripe. Soap and water only go so far in the sweatbox that is the Tube during a heatwave.
True Tech Air Conditioning Service OKC Nov 8th 2009 2:10AM
London's Tube will have (some) air conditioning next summer, its great to all to have air conditioning next summer, so the people can relax very well.
http://airconditioningokc.com/