So it turns out that the London Underground isn’t just cramped, sweaty and often subject to delays… it’s also absolutely filthy. But I don’t suppose that will come as a surprise to any of you. The pattern on the seats is especially designed so that we don’t notice the dirt, and its said that 20 minutes on the Northern line is the equivalent of smoking a cigarette.
The Northern line takes a strong lead on the dirt chart, with almost three times as many germs as the Central line, which comes in at second place.
Researchers swabbed 60 surfaces on 10 of the busiest tube lines in order to assess bacteria levels by measuring colony-forming units, or CFU (that’s the number of bacteria cells that thrive in every 10cm² — what a delightful thought). Here’s the league table:
1. Northern — 1, 647 CFU
2. Central — 597 CFU
3. Bakerloo — 117 CFU
4. Waterloo & City — 110 CFU
5. DLR — 90 CFU
6. Victoria — 87 CFU
7. Jubilee — 52 CFU
8. Hammersmith & City — 18 CFU
The research also measured bacteria levels on different surfaces on the trains and at the stations. This revealed that Stratford is the dirtiest station overall. Fun fact: the ticket machines were found to be 10 times more bacteria-ridden than the toilets.
Er, anyone got any sanitiser?