(upbeat music)
(turnstile beeps)
It's Wednesday the 25th of July.
It's very hot right now in Britain.
We're having what we would consider a heatwave.
I can't remember the last time it rained
and I can't believe in all the years, weeks, months,
days I've been making tube videos.
I've never made one about how hot do tube trains get
when it is weather like this.
So it's time to find out.
This is the Victoria Line train
to Walthamstow Central.
(train doors beep)
So what I've got is that I've got a thermometer with me.
Actually I've got two digital thermometers with me,
just to kind of average them out, or in case one breaks.
But I don't fancy doing it by myself,
so I've arranged to meet a friend.
(upbeat music)
(turnstile beeps)
You're wearing a hat.
I am.
And shades.
Yeah.
Everybody, this is Andy from "Calling All Stations".
Hello.
Did you bring water?
Are you carrying your water at all times? Yes.
We're carrying ten bottles.
So the pathetic gag that I like to do is
there's this announcement that says
"Please carry a bottle of water with you at all times."
So, as a controlled experiment,
we're going to carry with us a bottle of water at all times.
We're not gonna drink it.
We're just going to carry it.
I've got two thermometers. I'm gonna give you one.
Okay. This little one. This little tiddler.
And I've invited you out
'cause you're a frequent Central Line commuter.
Yeah. I think I'm starting to get sunburn
on the Central Line, it's that bad.
(men laugh)
You're looking forward to Cross Elizabeth purple rail.
Yes.
Not because of the speedy connection-
Because of the air conditioning.
but because it's air conditioned.
TFL, the biggest benefit about your purple trains
is that they're air conditioned.
And everybody on the Central Line
can just use the Purple Line instead.
Yeah.
And it'd be amazing.
Do you want to ride some tube trains with me,
and see how hot they are?
Do we have to?
(men laugh)
Yeah. Oh we better do that. Okay.
That's the point of the video.
All right. Let's do it. (upbeat music)
Did you see that man?
He's actually carrying his bottle of water.
He's not drinking it, he's just carrying it.
(upbeat music)
Okay. What are you on? I'm still on 30.
I'm still on 29, it's broken.
29 or 30. Okay. Let's do the free water.
Who'd like some free water? Quick, free water plan.
Would you like some free water?
Yeah.
Free water?
You're clearly hot! I love the fact that you have a fan.
But it's hot air.
So is it not working? Can you fan my face?
It just kind of fans hot water, doesn't it?
It fans hot air. But do you know what?
It makes me feel better.
Do you have to do the central line every day?
Every day. Every day. Is it hot?
It's very hot.
(Brandon laughs)
Okay. Have a free water, my love.
That's great. Thank you very much.
Where are you going?
Loughton.
Loughton? Yeah, that's hot.
All right. Good luck!
Thank you.
I'm already sweating.
Oh no. It's okay. I've got deodorant.
Oh, clever.
Do you want to- (deodorant sprays)
Did you not bring your deodorant?
Nope.
Always bring deodorant on the Central Line.
Don't do that at rush hour, seriously.
(Brandon laughs)
Oh, it's gone up to 31.
Do you guys want a free water? No I'm all right.
Can I have one mate? Yeah, all right.
Yeah. Yeah. (laughs)
I think some people think it's some kind of evil.
Like "Why are you giving me a free water?"
Nothing's ever free, folks.
31.
Point one.
31.1. The point's important.
What if I just poured water in my hair?
Too hot for a hat.
Too hot for a hat? Yeah.
We've made it to, are we at St Paul's?
St Paul's.
Your one's still saying 30 something,
but you haven't gotten the decimal point.
Mine with a decimal point is now saying 31.8.
31.9.
31.9!
We're nearly at 32.
Just gone up.
Okay, we're crossing over at Bank.
I've got up to 32.1.
We're gonna head back West towards Oxford Circus.
So let's see how warm it gets,
by the time we get back to Oxford Circus.
We'll take the Bakerloo Line. Bakerloo Line?
Bakerloo Line.
Sorry. Bakerloo Line next.
(upbeat music)
Look, there are giant fans.
Oxford Circus, Bakerloo Southend, there are these giant-
Can you feel the breeze?
Breeze? It's just moving warm air around.
(Brandon laughs)
It's a large version of that lady's fan. Brilliant.
Do you think-
These are hotter than I remember.
These are hotter.
But the thing about the Bakerloo Line is
that in the Winter it's the cosiest warmest line.
So it's at 33.
We'll go to Elephant & Castle, which is what?
5, 6 stops?
Yep.
I think it's gonna get hotter.
You think it's gonna get hotter?
It's currently 33. We'll see how warm it gets.
Still 33. Bang on 33.
What's the problem is the humidity.
33.1! Are you still filming?
Yeah.
Oh, it's gone up a point.
Andy's being being told off for his hat.
We're getting hat tips from the Aussie.
Can we have your hat tips again, madam?
Okay.
Hat tips are that you evaporate a lot through your head.
So you're best off, if you're in the shade,
to keep your hat off.
So don't wear your hat, Andy!
Just gonna leave it here. There we go.
(Passenger laughs)
No hat. No hat.
But in the sun, you need your hat on
to protect your skin from the sun.
Just as I started filming it ticked over
from 33.3 to 33.4 centigrade.
So Bakerloo Line has gone up to 33.4.
What do you want to do?
We'll get the Northern into Stockwell,
come back up on the Victoria Line,
and we'll measure the Victoria Line.
Then I'm going to head for some subsurface lines.
Bakerloo is hotter than the Central Line, though.
(train hums)
Right. The temperature has dropped down to 32.
Trust me. I know you can't see it.
And that's because we've got on the Northern Line
to come into Stockwell,
and the Northern Line did feel slightly cooler.
Slightly. Yeah.
Andy, what is the problem with deep level tube lines,
as opposed to subsurface lines,
and why is it harder to put air conditioning down here?
This is a good question, actually.
In the infancy of the underground, in the 1900s,
when these lines were first opened,
they actually advertised that the tube in summer is a really
cool place to be, to draw punters in.
The temperature was actually about half of what it is now.
But over the years, the London clay around the tunnels
has insulated all the heat in.
Yep.
Now people kind of think that it's the amount of people,
and the overcrowding that we have now
that's caused the problem. It isn't.
That accounts for about 2% of the heat.
What is actually causing the heat is the braking
in the trains.
And that accounts for about 50% of the heat.
Now, on subsurface lines,
I'm about to go and do an S Stock in a minute,
they're just 20 feet below the surface,
and they have lots of ventilation points.
So it's easier to do air con there
than it is here on deep level tube lines.
So the Central the Northern, the Pic, the Bakerloo.
When they do bring in the new tube for London,
where's the hot air actually going to go?
This is the problem. It's a problem to be solved.
And it's something the TFL have got to overcome.
You're exactly right.
That's why the S Stock can have air conditioning,
'cause there's lots of ventilation,
which was of course originally installed
for steam trains to get rid of heat.
Right. Here on the big tube there isn't the ventilation.
We're gonna get the Victoria Line,
and see how hot that is.
It's nice and empty.
So by the time we got here,
the thermometer had dropped to 32.4,
so I think that does make it Bakerloo hottest, then Central,
and then Victoria or Northern,
which I'll put on the screen now.
A graph is appearing about here.
TFL themselves did do a survey of all the temperatures.
So you've got to get back to work.
And when I get outside
I'm gonna be allowed to put my hat back on.
So the next 60 seconds of the video will just be me.
I've got to go and get a subsurface.
See, you're now simply going to go
and enjoy the air conditioned lines.
So I have to suffer the heat.
Here's 30 seconds of subsurface,
followed by Thameslink, followed by Purple train,
followed by Orange Overground, and their temperatures.
Thanks Andy!
(upbeat music)
This train terminates here. All change, please.
Conclusions. I'm at Liverpool Street, by the way.
The conclusions that we came to were,
as we thought would be the case, the deep tube lines,
the ones without air conditioning,
so the Central Line, the Jubilee, the Northern, Victoria,
the Piccadilly, they are the hottest.
I think the Bakerloo, excuse me,
is actually slightly hotter than the Central Line.
New tube trains are coming for those lines.
The subsurface line, so the District and Circle,
the Met and the H & C, are air conditioned.
The S Stock trains, they were pretty pleasant.
We did find,
I went onto the Overground,
and there was a busy train
and the air cooling on there does a good job,
but it struggles.
So the emptier the train is,
the better the air cooling, or the air conditioning does.
The busier the train is,
the harder it is for the train to be cooled down.
So that is why,
when you're on a rammed Central Line train in the peak hours
between five and six, it is quite warm.
The best one by far was the Purple train.
We do love the Purple trains that are coming in.
They were beautifully air conditioned.
All of this is detailed in my air conditioned London map.
There is a link in the description.
Do follow the advice about carrying a bottle of water
with you.
Although,
we can't help but think
that the only way to truly stay cool in London
is to maybe just pour the water on your head.
Ah! What a ridiculous thing to do!
(upbeat music)