"Unimaginable in Korea": No Air Conditioning Despite 40°C Carriages... London's 'Gentleman’s Country' Endures Sweltering Subways

Train Car Floors Reach 40 Degrees Amid Heatwave
Difficulties Installing Air-Conditioning on Deep-Level Lines
Full Replacement Expected to Take Decades

Due to a record-breaking heatwave, temperatures inside some London Underground carriages have approached 40 degrees Celsius. Passengers continue to experience discomfort as the introduction of air-conditioned trains has been delayed for an extended period, due to both technical issues and budget constraints.

On the 24th of last month (local time), amidst the ongoing heatwave in central London, a passenger is cooling off inside a London Underground carriage using a portable fan. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

According to the Financial Times (FT) in the UK on July 7 (local time), a thermal imaging survey conducted last month during the heatwave at the request of the environmental organization Greenpeace found that the floor temperature of Piccadilly line trains had risen to 40 degrees Celsius.

Currently, there are about 190 trains equipped with air conditioning on the London Underground. However, even the most recently introduced trains were deployed in June 2017, and all of them operate only on shallow-level lines such as the District line and Circle line. While the Elizabeth line, which opened in 2022, also uses air-conditioned trains, it is not classified as part of the London Underground network.

Installing air conditioning on deep-level lines, which account for about 60% of the entire network, is not easy. According to the FT, deep-level lines were built in the 1890s by tunneling through London’s clay soil using tunnel boring machines. The space between the tunnel walls and the trains is extremely narrow, making the installation of air conditioning units structurally difficult. In addition, as hundreds of trains pass through during rush hour, the so-called "piston effect" causes heat to accumulate in the surrounding soil, making cooling even more difficult.

New Air-Conditioned Trains Planned for Deep-Level Lines... Full Replacement Will Take Time

On the Piccadilly line, which has been in operation since 1973, new air-conditioned trains are scheduled to be rolled out sequentially starting at the end of this year. This will be the first time that air-conditioned trains are introduced to a deep-level line. The new trains, manufactured by Siemens of Germany, are designed to have compact air conditioning units installed beneath the carriages, with the space for the system secured by reducing the number of wheels.

However, several technical issues arose during trial runs, causing the originally scheduled launch in December last year to be postponed to December this year.

The passenger rights group London TravelWatch stated, "The air-conditioned trains for the Piccadilly line need to be introduced as soon as possible," emphasizing, "Additional investment in air conditioning and cooling systems across London’s public transportation is urgently needed."

Transport for London (TfL) is also planning to introduce air-conditioned trains on the Bakerloo line, which began service in 1972, as well as on the Central line and the Waterloo & City line, which have been running since 1992. However, the necessary budget for these upgrades has not yet been secured.

Even after the new trains are introduced on the Piccadilly line, it is expected to take considerable time before the entire line is replaced with air-conditioned trains. For the Northern and Jubilee line trains introduced in the late 1990s and early 2000s, replacement schedules have not even been established. Similarly, Victoria line trains introduced between 2009 and 2011 are expected to remain in service for several more decades.

Nick Dent, Director of Customer Operations at Transport for London, said, "We are working to maintain the reliability of transportation services even as heatwaves become more severe and frequent," adding, "We are investing millions of pounds in network improvements, including incorporating energy-efficient technologies in new trains to reduce heat generation."

On the 25th (local time), passengers are moving at Paddington Station in central London, UK. Photo by APF Yonhap News.

Calls for Expansion of Air Conditioning Facilities Continue

Passengers, civic groups, and labor unions are demanding solutions to the problem of high temperatures inside train carriages. Finn Brennan, Organizing Officer of the train drivers’ union Aslef, pointed to a lack of past government investment as the reason, stating, "In the era of climate change, rational investment in public transportation that can respond to rising temperatures is essential for London’s future."

The news outlet reported, "This year’s heatwave in the UK has caused disruptions across schools, hospitals, and transportation networks," adding, "Scientists say that, due to climate change, extreme weather events such as heatwaves are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.