UK tube system welcomes first air-conditioned train

Next summer London is to receive air-conditioning in its tube trains and the first train equipped with the mod con has just arrived in the nation’s capital. The tube is notorious for being hot and stuffy, particularly in the summer months, and the new services will be a welcome relief for many who rely heavily on the tube system for getting around. The air-conditioned service will run on the Metropolitan line and the new train is being held in Northwest London until its debut in the summer of 2010.

The whole of the existing fleet on non air-conditioned trains will be replaced by the cooler trains by 2011 when 58 new trains will come into play. The new models are known as stock trains and by 2015 the air-conditioned vehicles will also be in place on other lines. The idea was brought into play by the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, in a bid to rebuild the whole of London’s public transport system.

Many lines will have to wait for the new trains as they are set too deep underground for the air-conditioning to be able to successfully expel the heat that is produced. Northern, Piccadilly and Bakerloo are among the lines that will have to wait for the new trains. Only last week, Johnson said that he will be raising the prices for bus and tube fares by a considerable amount. From January, bus fares will rise by 12 per cent while tube prices would undergo a 3.9 per cent hike.