How Hot Is The Tube? 

Two more facts for your Central line video! 1) Central line trains run on a slick of magma. 2) Between Holborn and Tottenham Court Road, you might think you've seen the British Museum ghost station - but it's not! It's actually where Hell used to be situated, before Satan moved out because it was too hot.

To be fair to the tube, it's bloody hot everywhere else too

For next time: Could also measure humidity somehow, too, makes an enormous difference to how it feels

Interesting video Geoff. I actually work on the Underground and some of the temps in rooms, track and areas behind-the-scenes are much hotter than this. You've inspired me to buy a thermometer and see the various temps I can record when I'm out and about.

So nice of you to give out free water!!

I am looking forward to ‘how cold is the tube?’ In 6 months

I always carry 2 small bottles of cold water...an ice pack in a 'cooler bag' helps throughout the day!

Can we just appreciate how he's giving everyone water

He is like the London Underground version of Casey Neistat.

Haha love the Aussie! She'd know about heat, here in Aus during the summer's we often reach low 40s and one or two days per summer we reach 45'C. But our trains (in Sydney anyway) are air conditioned.

I'm positively surprised to be watching this before the "It's always 50°C where I live, what are you complaining about?" comments start rolling in...

The thing with air conditioning though... it heats up the tunnels and stations. Was in Barcelona last summer where the trains felt almost arctic inside, while the stations were unbearably hot.

Good to see Andy and Geoff reuniting for another video - you two make brilliant videos!

How ironic, when the British built us the MTR in Hong Kong, they have installed air-con in every trains and stations since day one. But the British themselves don't have air-con on their tubes until today😅😅

What a nice human being the fact that he was giving out free water to people on a hot day inspires me MR MARSHALL RESPECT FOR YOU SIR !!!💗👌👍👏

You should have gone to the overground parts of the not-air conditioned liens, where the sun directly heats up the air in the train.

I've been in London on two separate occasions within the past two weeks and it's been fairly cold outside, especially yesterday. But the tube was just so HUMID, it's hard to escape the heat. We literally felt this astonishing air current coming up from inside when coming out of 4 degree heat outside. Can't begin to imagine how it is to take in the summer.

At 8:08 we can here the fact that the London Underground should look into regenerative breaking for their trains. This means that the train dumps it's kinetic energy back into the third rail instead of dumping the energy into break pads or more often into resistor banks on the train itself. Another advantage of regenerative breaking is that it also reduces the power demand of the train network as a whole as the overall power efficiency has increased. Another thing one can do is drive heatpipes into the surrounding rock to provide a larger thermal mass for heat to sink into. And during winter one can use said thermal mass to keep the tube a bit warmer. (or even draw in extra cold air to preemptively cool the tunnel for summer season, people after all wear winter clothing so won't really mind if the tube is 5-10 C during winter.)

Yes, although I miss the A, C and D Stock, those S Stock trains really come into their own on hot days in the summer, with their powerful air-conditioning!! For a stark comparison, try changing from a District or H&C train to a Central Line one at Mile End on a hot day!

I just got back from a week in London,and must say that i ADMIRE you guys spending all that time in that heat on the tube. I found myself getting off the trains one station earlier just to get out in the open air...

Bring back Calling All Stations. Been gone too long.

Interesting video! Clay must have a really high specific heat capacity- heats up slowly, cools down slowly. A full air conditioned train may that's hotter than an empty one might be partly because of the constant opening and closing of doors. You'll get the same thing with a fridge that's being opened all the time such as in a busy hostel. It doesn't get a chance to cool down much. The train is effectively a fridge.

Lets Make a petition to the government and TFL to rename Cross rail/Elizabeth line to Cross Elizabeth Purple rail.

We get heat like this quite regularly in Boston, so most of our subway lines are air conditioned. But as someone who lives in an old house (built about a century before the proliferation of AC), here's some advice. Cold showers. Shower with cold water rather than the normal temperature and then don't towel off. It works wonders for staying cool. And according to my weather app, it looks like there's rain forecast in London for Sunday. Hang in there Geoff!

I don't miss the two times I've been in London during a proper heat wave. It was good seeing Andy again.

Hi Geoff, can we have a video about the temperature on different types of buses, including where best to sit/stand. Loved this one though.

I was in London during this time after a two week holiday across England. It barely rained! It was my first time in England and I got to experience it without any rain. I dreamed of visiting London and ride the Tube for so long, but because of the heatwave and my exhaustion from my walking-filled holiday, I didn't even want to use the Tube! I will maybe return to London sometime in the wintertime and take a few days off work to explore it myself.

I used the Bakerloo Line recently and it was pretty hot between Elephant & Castle and Waterloo. Still Loved that the old 1973 Stock Tubes were still running.

Very useful video - but have you also measured the noise? Some underground trains are very loud - even dangerously so.

Geoff love these videos my man 👏🏻

Let’s not forget that air conditioning in the trains will make the stations hotter than they are now.

The problem is that you can't create cold - you can only move heat away. That is a very annoying and fundamental law of thermodynamics. If you're in the underground, far away from the surface, where are you gonna put the heat to? Giant, long valves all throughout the tunnels, that go all the way back to the surface? You could cool down water at the surface and pump it down and back up once it's warm... that ought to be cheap, especially the plumbing! London's underground is (basically) impossible to cool, because it's so far below the surface.

Great video as always Geoff! Going off subject, was wondering if you no of any stock replacement for the Island Line? I did hear possible in 2020. The 1938 tube stock looked very rusted on the roofs when I last saw it. I also heard that the 3rd rail power supply is struggling. Best wishes Lee.

I'm visiting london/Birmingham next week, from Toronto. This helps, thank you!

If you had filmed this at rush hour it would have been much hotter. The Northern line yesterday when packed was unbearable.

In New York, we have air conditioned subway cars. But guess where all the heat goes from the cars. The platforms, where the temperature can easily hit over 100F/38C.

Had to go from Canons Park to Fulham Broadway this evening - all but 3 stops on air conditioned sub-surface - bliss!

I'm obsessed with watching your videos. Also big up to me Loughton girl!

And there I was, hoping to get a slight cool-down next week when I'll visit London - and you're telling me it's both hot AND the tubes are hot, too. Thank you for the heads-up!

Tfl, please officially name it Cross Elizabeth Purple Rail

I went on the Bakerloo, Northern & District lines on Sunday (29-7-18). I can agree that Bakerloo was the worst but I was fortunate enough to stand next to a window. I only went one stop on District so I didn't have time to appreciate it. Anyway, great video Geoff

I was on the Bakerloo Line when I was in London for the first time last month. It was autumn and it felt like it was 105F in the train.

My room in Helsinki is now at 20:40 nearly as hot as the Central Line. Our Metro tunnels are quite cool but the 100-series trainsets do not have AC and they are hot because they travel also partially overground.

I took my thermal camera out today as I work in London, did not go on the tube as I like being alive. But in the shade the ambiant temp was 29*C -30*C 36*C - 37*C in the sun. Temperture serfaces in direct sunlight were 40*C -50*C. A black car was 58*C at its hottest point, other colour cars were around 45*C. These were all parked, bit hard to mesure the moving ones.

1 very memorable trip to London i have is 2 years ago in early Sept. Staying out in Essex as my partner was working and I spent the day wandering the tube in central London. My partner returned to our hotel to find me fully clothed in a bath of cold water eating a chinatown bakery bun and ill with heatstroke! i honestly never expected it to be that hot!

3:50 you just broke the challenge 'to carry and not to drink' Geoff! Tut, tut:P

to get the correct temp use a wet and dry bulb thermometer... and measure the air flow.. ...good video thanks

When I visited London the last time in 2019, there also was immense heat. Around 35-40 degrees. But it was a dry heat, so one could deal with it.

This helps me take my mind off the fact I live in Scotland and it is (obviously) raining right now

All of our subways here in Toronto have air conditioning systems on them. However we do have ventalation fans and ducts around the system plus there are a number of open areas too.

As you put the temperature thing in your hand it would make it show a higher number

The subway in Toronto got soo hut one summer, the AC units on our 90s Bombardier T1 trains failed. And most of our stations are underground and they get really hot too. Our stations are fairly shallow though except the ones in the new TYSSE extension and on upper Younge street.

The cooling effect of the emptier trains is the same reason you should not tightly pack your fridge - the coolness comes from the circulation air (convection). A freezer however uses conduction more to transfer the heat so you should pack it tightly.

Humidity is an important aspect. It's 100FREEDOM (37 Commie) in Dallas, but the humidity is only 27% so it's easy to stay cool, as long as you have some air movement and stay out of the sun.

This is one thing I don’t miss about living in London. I worked in Oxford St for 8 years & during summer I always walked to Charing Cross, rather than get the Bakerloo line.

it would be good to repeat this again with a humidity sensor - luckily I have only been on the tube in the middle of summer a few times, but always think of the air feeling quick thick

In Stockholm Metro [Underground] even if it is the hottest day in Stockholm it is kinda cold at the stations. Which is good

As a person who has all air-conditioned trains, getting out of the train at above-ground stations is very hot, and where I live it's currently around 33°C-35°C, I can't imagine how much hotter it would be to exit from an air-conditioned train to a hot underground station (The ones in my country has had platform edge doors since opening.)

Geoff - can you do the same on the top deck on the new buses that HAVE NO WINDOWS?!

I liked how cold the tube gets that was my favourite :D

I travelled on the Circle Line on the 9th July 2018 (My first time in 20 years) from Liverpool Street to Euston and was very surprised how cool it was and it was very hot outside on the surface

In Singapore we have air conditioning but as for the above-ground stations the heat from the engines of the train is practically negligible and in the underground stations there are platform edge doors to help keep the heat in the tunnels and air conditioning in the stations

I visited London for the very first time two months ago, and had the misguided impression that the Tube would be similar to the MTR in Hong Kong, with air conditioned, modern trains. I couldn't have been more wrong!

Wow! Hot trains. I got the train from London and we wear delayed by 40 mins. But thankfully we were one of the few trains with air con! Southeastern commuter trains have no air con but our express one did we did have to run for it though but it was worth it

I was on the Toronto Subway in 2011. Official air temperature was 38 Celsius. Have to think it was about 45 C on the subway. Probably the hottest you’ll feel in Canada!

Hey Geoff, I love your videos, I was wondering if you needed someone to edit your videos. I’m very experienced, pricing can be negotiated (I might work for free, depending on the exposure I get). Anyways I was just going to enquire about that, I can get a light edited video done with in 30 minutes if you only want text images or jump cuts in.

The heat on the tube was on the news in New Zealand a few days ago. Also, CrossLizabethPurpleRail (I called it Crossrail Elizabeth Line before Geoff did) was on the news in 2014. I thought it was going to be a tube line because I didn't know the Overground, DLR, Trams & TfL Rail existed until last year.

I went on the Piccadilly line, and travelled to South Kensington the other day on the way to the royal albert hall, and I measured 43 degrees between Green Park and South Kensington.

should compare them with the buses too.

it gets upto 45 degrees in delhi!! but luckily all metro trains have great air conditioning!!

That the new Cross Betty Purple Rail Line carriages will have A/C will likely make matters worse. NYC subway trains have aircon and the stations become unbearable hotboxes in summer because of the heat thrown off the trains, then you have 4mins of cool in the carriage before you step back into the sauna.

Try the Bakerloo Line northbound. Even hotter than southbound, esp north of Oxford Circus.

The last day it rained was May 2nd, Geoff. I know this because it was the day after I arrived in London for my 10 day trip, after which the first heat wave hit on May 3rd. Just so you know!

Humidity readings would have been useful as Aircon typically reduces that and thus it can be comfortable but still quite hot.

South Bank Uni did a lot of work on this about 8 years ago. Suggest you do some research on that on the net.

The easiest way to cool off in London is to take a train to Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted or Luton and catch a plane to Reykjavik, Iceland. One thing to consider with your temperature experiment is that your body is 37°C +/- 1°C, and holding the thermometer will transfer some of that heat into the thermometer causing a false high reading. Finally, one suggestion for a future video is to see how loud trains are. You should be able to download a free decibel meter onto your phone, which would tell you how loud the trains are.

I'm from New York City in the States and from July 2008 and October 2011 I lived and worked in the UK. With 2 of those years I lived in Harrow and took either the Bakerloo or Met Line into London. I had assumed, as with the NY City subway, the London Underground trains would have air conditioning. Boy was I wrong and it wasn't until near the end of my stay when the Metropolitan Line and the Overground got those newer cars did I feel relief.

Interesting you mention winter. I wonder if the temperature differential is more than summer? I think a 2-4 Celsius isn’t all that bad. Also the deep level tube AC issue is a thermodynamics problem, the heat is essentially being moved from inside the train to the outside which is already hot, unless there’s a way to cool the clay you’ll only end up exacerbating the problem.

Geoff ALWAYS travels to train stations that I frequently use and yet I never see him, whether be where I live or work or commute through, I feel I let myself down with my travel times

Cooler than the Kent coast where it's been up to 34 outdoors. We've been shutting the windows to keep indoors below 30. Fans don't even help - just blow hot air!

Geoff, you need to do this again with a more accurate device. Your thermometer is designed to be kept in one place so the temperature will change very slowly. I expect on the A/C trains, the temperature will be closer to 21 or 22 degrees.

Splendid video, great finish. I recently poured half a bottle over Phil for the same reason. (He *had* given permission) 😊

*You should buy/take a temperature logger and do the complete heatmap of the London Underground ;-)*

song in the beginning? EDIT:: the song plays throughout EDITEDIT:::: beach by joakim karud

amazing. you are so nice giving free water to people on a hot day! #moregoodppllikethisplease

I'm watching this in a week where the heat indices here in Chicago are hitting 44C.

Interesting video! I always thought the Central was hottest followed by the Victoria! I'd never seen the Bakerloo as of one the really hot lines!

I was in London today Im so gutted I didn't see you

Just want to say props to you guys for handing out water, really nice gesture ❤️

Think you needed a better temperature detector. I have a Garmin Tempe an ANT+. Which works with my Garmin GPS and it also works with an app on my phone. So you can put the detection on the roof of the train where the heat rises and read the temperature on your phone.

The Bakerloo at rush hour in the summer, always a pleasure.

Yesterday I travelled with the Northern Line. I can't remember which station it was, but when standing on one end of the platform you could see haze on the other end. Very interesting :D

The coolest place on the U-Bahn in Bielefeld is the Hauptbahnhof station platform at level -3 (their deepest platform and the one I use). But there aren't that many sweaty bodies on the trams at these places and the brakes are designed to recharge the system or at least that is the advertising the city council have on the trams.

lol @ 9:02 That's our normal daily morning temps. last sat it was 44 degs @11 am. kept going up!. too hot!. @ least we have air-con , lots of people use trains to cool down, head into shopping centers.

What is the reason for not piping water down to station level as coolant, probably for air conditioners, then pumping it back up and either dumping it to drains or cooling it at surface level? If the coolant got hot enough, you could even return it to drinking water if you mixed it in enough to not seriously impact water temperature. I fully expect there is a reason, I'm just curious why.

I've almost passed out on the The Central Line last year in the Summer

In the winter, the Victoria line remains hot even then. Central Line and Bakerloo Line don’t get as hot, especially the latter. Granted I have not traveled the full length of the lines but i still have a general idea.

Your like my Travel Advisor

I thought they were about to be run over by that New Routemaster at 1:40. "Carry a bottle of water with you" is like "Dogs must be carried on the escalator".

Most important is the "feels like" temperature that takes into account humidity and wind chill. Hot tube trains are like steaming in a small pot.