London's Tube to get Air Conditioning

All I have to say about that is THANK GOODNESS. I find the Tube hotter and stuffier then using the Metro in Paris,, and this past summer ,, although it was hotter( outside temps) in Paris then London,, I found my visit marred by having to use the Tube when it was so stuffy. I don't think the Metro is a/c'ed,, but it is definately better ventilated..

It also seems you have longer rides between sites on the Tube,, so ac is a great addition .

Unfortunately this is only affecting a few lines that are close to the surface (the Circle and all the lines that branch off it). The deep lines will never have air conditioned trains as the small size and deep level of the tunnels means that the heat pumped out of the trains would just overheat the stations.

Don't get too excited too soon. As always, there are many sides to the story.

Firstly, the new trains will run on what are known as the sub-surface lines. These are only just below ground level, and have large areas where they are actually open to the sky. These trains are larger, and so have space for the air-conditioning equipment. More importantly, the heat which is extracted from the trains can be sent up into the atmosphere. The District, Circle and Metropolitan lines are all sub-surface lines.

The real tube lines run much deeper underground, and use smaller trains. There is less room for air conditioning equipment, but more importantly there is nowhere for the extracted heat to go. You could get cool trains and stifling stations. Fitting air conditioning to tube trains will also require much improved ventilation of the tunnels. Examples of tube lines are the Victoria, Bakerloo and Northern lines.

Meanwhile, the London Undergound is short of money because privatising the maintenance has proved very costly.