Comment by mgaunard
1 day ago
The quality of the travel experience on the tube highly depends on how old that specific line is.
The northern line, which is arguably one of the most useful lines for many people, is just not pleasant at all. The air is stale and full of soot particles, and you wait in a small cramped station perfect for claustrophobia. The trains are narrow and not air-conditioned. The central, victoria and piccadilly lines aren't much better.
The elizabeth or jubilee lines, newest of the bunch, offer comfort that is much more in line with the overground (wide and tall air-conditioned trains, large and well-ventilated stations).
Myself, I just avoid taking the tube and cycle instead. It's usually faster anyway.
Your point about air-conditioning is mistaken. The Jubilee line can be very unpleasant in the summer months as it is not air-conditioned.
The Metropolitan line, by contrast (the oldest Tube line and first metro line in the world, serving as the concept's namesake) is now air-conditioned - as are quite a few other older lines. The Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Waterloo and City, and Central lines are all slated to receive air-conditioning within the next 5 years. (Although the inevitable delays in delivery will probably push this back a bit.) There are no plans to add it to the Jubilee line.
The air conditioning on the new Piccadilly Line trains won't be great as they're still limited by the thermal constraints of narrow tunnels and hot clay.
This is about the overground though..
The overground is nice because it is more comfortable than the underground. But it's newer, and as I said the newer underground lines offer a somewhat similar experience.
While I think all overgorund trains have AC installed, this summer a lot of them either ran too low or not running at all, this is for Windrush line
Not to mention that you need earplugs if you're traveling on the old lines. And I really hate blowing my nose afterwards and the snot coming out black.