[Anonymous]

[VintageKrug]

Well, the decision to introduce this just after Summer is not ideal.

However with a “heatwave” on its way this weekend, this can’t come soon enough.

Metropolitan Line first, followed by the Circle, Hammersmith & City, and District lines.

Here is the article from the beeb:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8114284.stm

[Legroomneeded]

Definitely Great News , however what a strange first choice , The Met line has more “outside” line than any other tube line , from Finchley road in North west London all the way through to the depth of Middlesex .
Beggars cant be choosers i suppose and at least its a step in the right direction .

[Kaicat75]

VK considering most tube lines seem to have engineering work this weekend, or got people out on strike…the heat wave wont be an issue as you’d be lucky to get on a tube.

And Legroomneeded, you are right they seem to have picked three line which are more over ground than under-ground…the only exception being of course the non-circle line.

As the article says though the deepest lines which need it most are going to be problems.

So its bottles of water to the ready again this summer.

[VintageKrug]

Or indeed “it’s bottles of water to the ready”.

My understanding is that there are other ways of improving ventilation in the deeper lines whcih involve better cooling of the air in the stations, which should lower temperatures more widely without having to re-engineer all the trainsets.

[RogerVictor]

The deeper lines have a problem dissipating the heat that an air conditioning system would produce and therefore the affordable engineering solution remains elusive.

[VintageKrug]

Isn’t there some sort of deepwater heat sink solution being examined?

[RogerVictor]

They had a public competition a few years back where they said ‘we don’t know how to do this, do you?’ and I think that was one of the suggestions. I’m going to google it now!

[Kaicat75]

Back in 2003 Ken Livingstone offered £10,000 to the first person to come up with a workable way to cool the Tube.

[NTarrant]

The three lines that will get air conditioned units are quite logical in that they do work a fair portion overground and that they underground bit is quite shallow. Having been built mainly by the “cut and shut” method.

With the exception of short sections, there are no other tube lines around the world as deep as the Northern and Victoria

[JesseFogg]

Another of Boris’s mad schemes. We have survived this long on the Tube. It will never be a pleasant experience because it will always be crowded and late. Wear less and take water. We were also supposed to have free bikes to cycle around London in February, then June and oh where are they?

[VintageKrug]

It’s hardly a “mad scheme”.

As summer’s get warmer, and the numbers who use the tube have increased exponentially, cooling the tube has become an even more important issue. Especially for our ageing population, who find it less easy to manage the heat.

The amount of heat related incidents was increasing, and alarms being raised over fainting passengers etc. has a real economic and efficiency impact on the tube.

So I am looking forward to the air conditioning scheme.

As for the remark about the Cycle Hire scheme, it was only ever announced as starting in Summer 2010, so I am not certain where you got the February start date (unless for a limited trial?). Who on earth launches a cycling scheme in the middle of winter?

The date now announced for the launch of Cycle Hire is 30 July 2010:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/12444.aspx

[NTarrant]

It certainly is not a mad scheme and it is not Boris’s idea. It was put about in Ken Livingstone days as a desire. As VK says there are countless issues with people fainting on the tube which causes delays.

The tube is a victim of its own success.

[VintageKrug]

Does Jesse now think this is still a bad idea now he/she knows who thought of it *rolls eyes*

PS I had Haddock Souffle for supper last night, NTarrant. Delish.

[MartynSinclair]

oh the joys of aircon. Thankfully when chez Sinclair’s manor was built 18 years ago, airconditioned was included. Such bliss………………

[Author]

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