London Underground passengers treated worse than sheep

The London Assembly’s Transport Committee has issued a report called “Too Close For Comfort” about passengers’ experience of the London Underground. It concludes that overcrowding can be so bad that Tube travellers have to “psych themselves up” to cope with it. At peak times, passengers are regularly squashed in at a density of four or more per square metre.

Looking up DEFRA’s regulations for the welfare of sheep during transport, it appears that the minimum legal requirement for a sheep over 55kg is 0.3 square metres. So London Underground get away with squashing people into carriages at a density that would be forbidden if they were sheep. As the leaflet also explains: “No one shall transport animals in a way likely to cause them injury or undue suffering.” In addition, the vehicle should be designed “to avoid injury and suffering” while “water, feed and opportunity to rest” should be made available. Perhaps Britain’s hard-pressed farmers should think about setting up a rival operation to London Underground.

So will London Underground please stop telling us that they’re giving us a “good service” when it’s an out-and-out lie. We are the customers. It should be for us to decide. Waiters don’t tell us at the end of a meal how splendid the service has been. And you certainly don’t see many Underground passengers showing their appreciation for the service by tipping the staff!

London Assembly Report: Too Close For Comfort

Related post: Squeezing the Tube