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Boris on first Tube with air conditioning
Dick Murray, Transport Editor25.09.08
The first Tube train with air conditioning was unveiled today as part of a £1.6 billion upgrade on the Underground network.
Climate-controlled carriages will come into operation on the Metropolitan line from 2010, to be followed by the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines the next year and the District line by 2013.
Each carriage will be equipped with two thermostatically-controlled air conditioning units which will pump cold air through vents in the roof.
Recent hot summers have seen commuters endure searing temperatures which have caused many to pass out.
As he visited a mock-up of a new Tube carriage in Euston Square Gardens Mayor Boris Johnson said: "London is the coolest city on the planet and now we're getting the coolest trains too.
"After decades spent sweltering, in just two years' time Londoners on the sub-surface lines will be able to use the first of these superb trains.
"I can assure passengers who will use them that we hope rather than arriving at their destinations drenched in perspiration they will emerge cool as cucumbers and ready to enjoy all the capital offers."
The Mayor added that the trains are designed to make life much easier for disabled passengers and emphasised the "greener" technology being used to power the airconditioning units.
London Underground has ordered 191 of the new seven and eight-carriage trains at an average cost of £8.5 million each.
For added safety - and to ease overcrowding as well as fears of claustrophobia - the trains are fully "walk-through" with no connecting doors between carriages.
Instead, carriage-ends are joined by a concertina mechanism which creates a brighter and more open space. The trains will also improve safety by allowing passengers to easily see what is happening in neighbouring carriages and providing greater scope for closed circuit television.
Transport for London Commissioner Peter Hendy said: "The new air-conditioned trains are part of vital upgrade works which will transform the oldest and complex lines on the Tube network - the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and the Metropolitan.
"When works are completed passengers will see faster and more reliable journeys and more trains per hour. The trains will be common to all the Underground's subsurface lines and will help us deliver a better service with improved accessibility, more space and enhanced security."
Jo de Bank, of London Travel-Watch, said the trains were a huge improvement. "As well as air conditioning, there is better seating, more space and disabled access."
While the new trains will operate on all the higher level Tube lines, there will be no room for similar equipment on Victoria, Bakerloo, Central, Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly line carriages which use deep tunnels.
Tube chiefs are working on other ideas to keep those trains cool but have not yet come up with a definite solution.
The mock-up will be on public display at Euston Square Gardens, in front of Euston main line station, from Saturday until 2 October.
Reader views (34)
I'm flabbergasted at the naivety of some comments left here that people actually think this was Bojo's idea! Since when has a train, car, plane, boat or for that matter anything been designed in 5 months!
To answer other comments, yes, the hot air will be expelled onto the platforms. Anyone who travels abroad regularly and uses similar sub-surface metro systems will notice how unbearably hot the platforms are. However - better to have hot platforms where you can escape from than a being stuck on a hot train in a tunnel.
- Don, London, UK
And where does the heat go when the aircon cools things inside the carriage ? Anyone knows that aircon units cool things at one end by generating heat at the other, so the heat will simply be blown out over the same passengers on the platforms !
- Graham, Fleet, Hampshire
First thing is that they ARE NOT TUBE TRAINS they are sub-surface underground trains and anyone who refers to them as tube trains shows how little they know about London.
Congratulations must go to the photographer who managed to get Boris to stand with the BENDY link behind him showing Boris praising Bendy-Trains while he plains to crush load users of Red Arrow routes by removing Bendy-Buses.
The comments from BOJO supporters show how they live in a dream world where they imagine things can appear as if by magic well these are Kens trains as is the overground network and fleet.
As for Boris well he is not proceeding with Tram projects and I have just read that the 4 tracking of the north london line in Camden is not gong ahead so by 2012 BOJO Jam will be worth investing in!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
Thanks Ken! Much appreciated.
- Andrew, London
"These plans were kicked off by Ken years ago"
"He has listened to voters where Ken has ignored them"
'Er.. I wasn't exactly the biggst Ken fan, but it would appear some BoJo-weenies have lost their minds and memories. These trains were ordered two years ago. I take it when the the new Victoria Line trains appear next year (also ordered ages ago) they will be congratulating Boris again. They will be associating him with the building of the Tower of London next..
- David, N10
Perhaps in the efforts to keep the deep level tube cool we will see the increasing number of plasma displays and high powered advertising projectors removed?
As you go down the escalators you can feel the heat being generated by the plasma screens which have replaced the old advertising cards. Very nice? Yes, but certainly not green and contributing to the heat build up. On the platforms we have the new cross-track projection systems with high power lcd projectors in their housings.
Cut out all these power hungry and heat generating gizmo's and things will start to cool down a little at least!
- John Whitby, Peterborough, Cambs
There is as has been pointed out a few flaws in Boris idea . Air-conditioning works by transferring heat from the inside of a building or in this case train to the outside. The problem is where does all the transferred heat & the heat from the energy to transfer it go? Answer: To the air in the tunnel. the air temperature in the stations and tunnels is already very high in the summer so adding heat from the trains is only going to make it far worse. A person will get out of a cool carriage and be hit by the high temprature and humidity of the station, while at the same time the cool air will escape from the carriage being replaced by the hot air outside! this will use even more energy once the train gets going to cool it down again, making the tunnels & stations even hotter The cycle goes on...
Back to the drawing board.
Cool the stations and tunnels & the trains will be bearable.How you may ask not a big problem (send cheque in post for my ideas) The problem is the COST but probably cheaper in the long run than changing all the trains & all the problems of maintaining the on-board air conditioning units against that of maintaining the much bigger static units which would be installed on the underground network. but again it is the cost of installation power consumption & maintenance which is the problem. cancel the 2012 Olympics & using the money will give you some idea & better way to spend the money long term!
- Ron (Elect Eng), london uk
"Ken your not missed!"
Er, these trains were specified and ordered in 2006. If anyone thinks Boris did anything other than turn up to the press event they're insane.
As for the heat, these are sub-surface lines where the build up of heat doesn't matter so much - the tunnels are bigger and only just sub-surface and a lot of the running actually happens outside. Its the deep level tubes that won't see air-conditioning, which are the ones which are hottest anyway. Sadly voting Conservative does not, as some seem to imply, mean a change to the laws of physics - so far Boris is following exactly what Livingstone did.
Don't get me wrong, this (along with the rollout of the first new Overground train, which is of similar configuration) is an excellent bit of news for everyone, but don't forget who was Mayor when the planning was done.
There's only one fly in the ointment though, which is that both new trains have substantially fewer seats than the old ones.
- Tom, London
Tony - are you an Eskimo? 40F - brrrr.
- Adrian, London
Stop whinging all the armchair engineers. Its a step in the right direction and whatever the problems are in the tube, they're legacy. Just be glad there is a public transport system WHICH YOU CAN CHOOSE NOT TO USE.
- Lee, London
Can they please also get rid of the velour seat covering while they're upgrading the trains?
- Jessica, London
Are these really the first ones with air-con? The new Northern line trains seem to push out a bit of cold air, albeit it can't compensate for trying to cool down nearly 150 people in each coach.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
Good work, Boris, this is exactly the sort of thing we elected you for. No doubt Livingstone was too busy defending his cronies to actually get something like this sorted out. I am SO glad I decided to give Boris both my vote and a chance to lead this once-fine city.
- St, London
I love how TFL is banging on about aircon. How many seats are there on that carriage?? How do you fancy standing as you travel all the way out to Amersham? It's being touted as having "wide gangways" but basically that means fewer seats.
By the way, George, I see your point from a purely theoretical point of view this does create heat. But New York has air-conditioned carriages and it works fine in tunnels just under street level very similar to these lines.
- Jim, Enfield, UK
Tony,
40 degrees fahrenheit is only dangerous because its very cold !!!
About 5 degrees centigrade.
- Chris, London
Don't you just love this man - hes implementing changes for the good of londoners, opposite to ken who just hated drivers and wanted to tax londoners more for the privledge of living in london. hip hip hooray!
- Raminder Bhalla, Northolt
To Aaron, and "Misery".
Well done Ken! Excellent news for London's commuters.
He listened to Londoners, whereas Boris has ignored them,
and seems content to ride on Ken's bandwagon, sorry, new tube train.
How gullible can some people be?- As we have BoZo as Mayor, loads it seems.
- Fresh, London
Paul, where have you been? Do you really believe Boris thought this up and produced it in 4 months? Sorry, this was promised on Ken's watch, just like the Olympics and Crossrail, which Boris is also trying to take the credit for.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa. Spain
Charlie - the reason you probably don't notice those that are claustrophobic is that they currently choose not to use the tube. Perhaps these measures will encourage those of us who suffer to take the tube again?
- Emma, London
So, ‘’the Metropolitan line from 2010, the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines the next year and the District line by 2013’’.
Hey, How about the Central line? That one is a killer! Honestly!
- Tsukasa, London
Apart from a "real tunnel" between Kings Cross and Farringdon, there are lots of vents on the shallow sub-surface lines, built for when steam trains were used. So there is every chance for heat to escape, except ironically, at rebuilt stations, where all the holes no longer exist.
- Jon, London
Where exactly does the heat go that is extracted to cool the interiors of the trains down?
Onto the platforms and into the tunnels?
Unless they have devised some sort of heat sink to be purged once outside of the tunnels, this will be a non-starter.
- George, London, UK.
"providing-greater scope for closed circuit television" - the real reason perhaps? To keep spying on everyone! How many people suffer from claustrophobia and I have never noticed it to be an issue with anyone in the carriage.
Chris from London has an excellent point about terrorist attacks.
- Charlie, London, UK.
This is fantastic news, shame its 10 years late. Now all we need is get rid of the driver's and computerise the system like the DLR. They can then pay for conductors on each train which would help stamp out antisocial behaviour and they could also enforce Boris’s no drinking on the tube regulation. Ken your not missed!
- Paul, London, UK.
In case Tube Misery didn't realise, these trains were ordered well before Boris came on the scene. He should be praising not criticising Ken for this. Boris, on the other hand, has done only one thing for our beloved Tubes: ban alcohol. And judging from the number of empty lager cans I still see littering our platforms that policy has been incredibly badly implemented.
- Jonathan, London, UK.
Recent research has shown that it is extremely dangerous to travel in temperatures of more that 40 degrees fahrenheit. In the light of this new research should we not shut down sections of the tube when the temperature reaches 40 degrees. If this were to happen then TFL might at last get their finger out and do something. Why not at least air con the stations?
- Tony, London, UK.
Aaron, these trains were ordered when Ken Livingstone was in power, they're nothing to do with Boris
- James, London, UK.
£8.5 million for an entire train is a pittance. There is no excuse for having 5 carriage trains on the district and circle line when these stations can take a 6 carriage train.
- Mark, Hammersmith
Well done Boris! Excellent news for London's commuters.
He has listened to Londoners, whereas Ken ignored them.
- Tube Misery, London, UK.
Air conditioned tubes are a great idea, and having one long compartment makes it easier. But the flipside of that is: with just one compartment, a bomb or poison gas goes all the way through.
Today, if a terrorist lets off a bomb or gas on the tube, the chances of getting hit are very low. Lets do some back of the envelope calculations. With 12 lines and say an average of 10 trains, each with 8 carriages, your chance of being in the wrong carriage IF you are in the tube system when a bomb goes off is only about one in a thousand, but with these trains, it is more like one in 120.
- Chris, London, UK.
Aaron, do you honestly believe that new air conditioned tube trains have been conceptualised, designed, agreed, funded, and built in the four months since Boris became mayor?
These plans were kicked off by Ken Livingstone years ago, and air conditioned trains would have been delivered regardless of the outcome of the mayoral elections.
- Mark Lee, Vauxhall
At last a tube train that does not resemble a sauna!
I'm not sure if I agree with the design of the train being totally walk through. Several scenarios spring to mind. Gangs robbing people, being able to run the whole length of the train in one fell swoop. Fire on a train spreading quicker due to no intercepting doors. Bomb scare, making people run like a stampead to front or back of train. Bendy bus disguised as a train!
- Triffidqueen, London, UK.
This is excellent news and shows how Boris is really making a positive difference to London's commuters unlike his predecessor who said a lot but did nothing.
- Aaron, Upminster, UK.
Firstly - what a silly poll?! Of course it should be air conditioned! Who would choose to nearly self combust each summer and then also have to put up with the heat when it's overcrowded? Is the met line the right one to go for? I get it every day and find that it's one of the more bearable lines because it does have time in the open air? The ones totally underground are the worst?
Secondly - what does the lack of separation of carriages mean for our safety? Should the appalling happen and the tube is targeted by bombers again - would this new open space actually mean more damage is caused as there would be no barrier?
- Vg, London, UK.
