Which line of the London Underground is the most polluted?
The Northern line has the highest concentrations of dust levels of any Tube line. The finding was revealed in a report commissioned by Transport for London (TfL) to analyse air quality on the London Underground.
Researchers have found the underground lines with the most polluted air are the Northern, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Victoria – because they are the deepest.
London suffers from traffic related pollution in a similar way to most UK cities, but the sheer size of the city, along with a dense road network and high buildings, means that central London tends to be one of the most polluted in the UK.
It's the dirt being pushed through by the linked northern line platforms. The further towards the northern line link you walk the blacker the walls get. And because the walls are porous, they can't deep clean them. A major design fail!!
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Is the Northern line toxic?
A new report has outlined that passengers on the Northern line, Victoria line, Jubilee line and Bakerloo line are regularly being exposed to particulate matter levels above 200 microgram per cubic metre of air. The UK safe recommended limit is 25.
In most instances, facts are hard to come by and evidence of adverse human health effects is not available. The paper ultimately dismissed concern about tube air quality being as bad as smoking on 3 bases (which I'll discuss more below): There's less ultrafine (PM0. 1) pollution on the tube than outside.
While this data shows that London has better air quality than Paris, the British capital could still face fines of £175 million if it does not reduce the amount of pollutants in the city before the 2012 Olympic Games.
Most importantly, London's air quality—which was far worse than comparably sized cities like New York and Madrid by one key measure in 2017—is now on par with them.
Another study found that the air in the London Tube was up to 18 times more polluted than the air found above ground in central London. These findings seem to contradict Transport for London's (TfL) assertion that the pollution levels below ground are safe.
Central. With pollution levels eight times above the recommended WHO limit, the Central Line is the most polluted London Tube line. Accelerated signs of ageing, inflammation, acne and a wide range of skin conditions have all been linked to exposure to airborne pollutants.
The Victoria Line has been dubbed London's noisiest underground track, with some Londoners experiencing high-pitched piercing sounds loud enough to drown out conversations.
Crime increases on London's transport network – with worst Tube lines and stations revealed. Crime has increased on Transport for London services – with the Central and Northern lines being named as the Tube lines with most offences.
N'Djamena, Chad, was ranked as the most polluted city in 2024. The World Health Organization (WHO) says average annual levels of PM2. 5 should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic meter. Byrnihat, an industrial town in northeast India recorded a PM2.
1. Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen, often regarded as the world's cleanest city, has prioritised sustainability in its urban development. With a population of about 1.99 million, Denmark's capital has established measures that put it at the forefront of worldwide environmental initiatives.
By the early 1990s, the line had deteriorated due to years of under-investment and the use of old rolling stock, most of which dated back to the early 1960s. The line gained the nickname "Misery Line" due to its perceived unreliability.
The Northern line is a deep-level tube line on the London Underground, colored black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers than any other Underground line; 206,734,000 a year. For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line.
The deepest station is Hampstead on the Northern line, which runs down to 58.5 metres. 15. In Central London the deepest station below street level is also the Northern line. It is the DLR concourse at Bank, which is 41.4 metres below.