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Grab yourself some hand sanitiser pronto, because the dirtiest tube lines have been revealed and the results ain't pretty. According to research from online doctor Dr Edd, the Northern line is the most germ-ridden tube line with almost three times more germs than the Central line, which came second in the bacteria league table.
The website sent a team to swab 60 surfaces on the ten busiest tube lines to assess bacteria levels on the Underground network by measuring colony-forming units (CFU), which means the number of viable bacteria cells that thrive in every 10cm².
The research also looked at the dirtiest stations and found that Stratford was the worst offender for those pesky bacteria, where the touch-screen ticket machines had ten times more bacteria than a toilet. Lovely stuff.
And it'll come as no surprise to anyone that the poles that are grabbed by thousands of people trying to stay upright on the tube are also rife with germs. The upright poles were dirtiest on the Northern line, while the Waterloo and City line's ceiling poles had the highest level of germs, which is good news for small people, at least.
Oh, and the seats were dirtiest on the Central line, so you can give those a wide berth and pretend you're just doing it to be selfless.
Image: SNeequaye
Now find out which are the hottest platforms on the tube
And could London be getting tube lines painted on the pavement?