“Hell is other people,” the Jean-Paul Satre quote, is one of the slices of philosophy to be read out by Tube drivers on the Piccadilly line from today (Thursday 25 June), in an experiment to see if quoting great thinkers can give passengers a bit of a brain lift on their mind-numbing travels.


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You have to admire the Underground’s to-hell-with-the-bottom-line honesty.

It’s like trudging around a supermarket and the public address system reminding you that shopping is a drag. Or being in an Ibiza club and the DJ warning men that Jordan needs some attention.

Other one-liners to get an outing on the Tube include Ghandi’s “there is more to life than increasing at speed”, great for when the train is stuck in a tunnel and you’re stuck under someone’s armpit, and Cezanne’s “we live in a rainbow of chaos”, probably to be wheeled out on the last train on Saturday night when the platform is covered with vomit.