TUBE journeys are set to get cooler, promises Boris Johnson, speaking after trying out new air-conditioned trains that he calls a “miracle of modern technology”.
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“For thousands of clammy Tube passengers some relief is finally in sight,” said the London Mayor.
“Having taken a test run myself I can vouch that passengers are going to be terrifically impressed.”
The London Mayor was speaking after visiting the Oxfordshire test site for the new S Stock trains, which have been kitted out with air-con and are planned to be in service on Tube services by autumn next year.
The first London Underground line to get the the cool trains will be the Metropolitan, followed by the Circle, District and Hammersmith and City lines.
These are the cut-and-cover lines, which are easier to re-engineer for air-conditioning as they have more space on account of lying much closer to the surface than their deeper cousins.
But the plan is for even the deepest lines such as the Northern and Victoria eventually to join in the cool-down party.
“The difficulty is of course that [the air-con scheme] will ramp up the public pressure on us to deliver air-conditioning on the deep lines as well,” said Johnson.
“A crack team of Transport for London engineers is focused on that and is concentrating on the Victoria line in particular.”
