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Summer in London has finally arrived, with a 30C heatwave hitting the capital this week. But blue skies and sunshine also means one thing: boiling to death on the Underground. Now, London’s hottest tube line has been revealed, and it’s not the Central line.
New figures from the London Datastore have revealed the hottest and coolest tube lines. The Victoria line was officially the warmest Underground line in 2023, with an average temperature of 28C. This is significantly hotter than the Vicky line’s 2022 average of 24C. Old pale blue beat the infamously hot Central line, which had an average of 27C. At its warmest, the Victoria line reached a sweltering 31C in September last year. Its coolest month was March, when it went down to 25C.
If you can’t stand the heat, we’d recommend sticking to the Jubilee, Waterloo & City and Overground lines, as those are the coolest. In 2023, the Jubilee had a very reasonable average temperature of 22C, while Waterloo & City was 21C .
With the tube getting hotter every year, Londoners might rightly wonder what TfL plans to do to improve the situation. Good news: air con is in sight. In the next couple of years the first air-conditioned Piccadilly line trains will hit the tracks. However, don’t expect major changes anytime soon for the Central and Vicky lines. TfL has previously said that a/c on London’s deeper train networks won’t be possible without major investment.
Make sure to stay hydrated down there.
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