Tube drivers are reducing speed in protest on the Underground – here’s why

You don’t need us to tell you that some parts of the tube are loud. Noise levels on the Underground have been revealed to be harming our ear drums, and a recent study by Boots Hearingcare even found that the Vicky line was louder than a nightclub, with noise reaching 100 decibels. It’s so loud that TfL is even dropping a whopping £30 million to make the Underground quieter.

So, in light of all this, tube drivers have decided enough is enough. They’ve organised a protest against noise levels on the Victoria line. Members of the RMT union have voted in favour of taking ‘action short of a strike’, which means an official protest. 

The ‘go slow’ protest will involve drivers slowing down to below 50 miles per hour on the Victoria line, sources told the Standard, although it’s not confirmed when this will take place yet. 

Although most of the Vicky line is automated, drivers control the speed of the train coming in and out of the depot. Even a small reduction in the speed of one train could cause knock-on impacts along the line and make it impossible for the Victoria line to achieve the peak hour frequency of 36 trains an hour.

Members of the ASLEF union also expressed concerns about the noise volume on ‘deep level’ lines – the Central, Northern and Jubilee

Aslef said that London Underground admitted that noise levels on the Victoria line ‘exceed legal limits’. The union is currently in meetings with TfL to come up with a solution, but union reps said if there wasn’t a fix to the noise problem soon, they ‘will be taking action’. Watch this space for updates.

London tube closures this weekend: here’s the full list of travel disruption for Oct 18-20. 

London tube strikes in November 2024: new dates announced by ASLEF and RMT to cause more travel misery.