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The Tube 🚆

(7 Posts)
Millie22 Sat 01-Aug-26 11:12:36

I was in London on Wednesday and had the truly awful experience on being on the Underground network on an extremely warm day.

I really don't think it is an ideal place to be if you are over about 40. Well perhaps on a quiet day if there is such a thing. One train in particular I felt was dangerous due to the overcrowding. Perhaps it's always like that but I thought they restricted access to platforms during really busy periods.

Fallingstar Sat 01-Aug-26 11:16:03

We live in London and have stopped using the underground though the overground usually isn’t as bad if used outside peak travelling times. However, in school holidays is bedlam. My DH is disabled so we use the buses or uber.
And you are right, at times the underground is so crammed it is dangerous, and nobody polices this.

MawsRosie Sat 01-Aug-26 11:21:08

Over 40 ????

I travel regularly on the Tube and I’m 78

Did you look around you at the (approximate) age of your fellow travellers? I bet most of them were between 30 and 50 ish

Could you perhaps have a fear of enclosed spaces and crowds?
To be fair, if a platform or train is crowded I have been known to hang back and wait for the next train and I would never walk along the train side edge of a platform, but while I do not think you should force yourself to do something which clearly causes you distress, you need to be realistic. Buses can be equally unpleasant when crowded.
Maybe you might need to talk to somebody about this?

HelterSkelter1 Sat 01-Aug-26 11:21:15

Often it can be quicker and a tad cooler to catch a bus. Always worth checking on a map or on TFL Plan your journey to see other ways of getting to where you want to go.
The Tube has always been pretty hot and crowded but even hotter now and busy with tourists. And don't get me started on enormous rucksacks banging into you.

Luckily my trip on the tube a couple of weeks back will be the only one for a while.

GrannyGravy13 Sat 01-Aug-26 11:30:06

We use black cabs or depending where we are going the taxi boats on the Thames, especially when we have GC with us.

I have always been a tad scared on the underground, so tend to avoid using it if possible, despite growing up in London.

hollysteers Sat 01-Aug-26 11:30:33

I rather enjoy my underground trips on my visits to London (79). I like people watching and it’s certainly more interesting than my hometown. The bus however is nice for seeing more of the city.

I wasn’t so pleased to lean against a wall in the underground recently and find myself stuck to it with chewing gum! Best linen Burberry jacket too..
Remember, if you are tired of London, you are tired of life.
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grumppa Sat 01-Aug-26 12:17:14

I travel on one of the hotter, noisier tube lines every week, and try to avoid the rush hour, but someone almost invariably offers me a seat if it is standing room only. It can be pretty unpleasant in this weather at the moment, but it is frequent and fast. And I was in my forties over forty years ago.