5 Transformations to Make the London Underground a Better Place

The London Underground is one of the most recognised and established city transport networks in the work, alongside the New York Subway. But like any public transport, it has its issues. Whether it is the cramped spaces on various tube lines, the high cost of weekly/season tickets and the generally oppressive mood of peak time, the London Underground is in need of some fixing.

Londoners are used to it though. They wake up every morning and trawl back every evening on the same lines, sometimes crunched up against the same people from the previous evenings. Either way, they know that TfL needs to give it an overhaul in places. And then there are the leisure and business travellers that aren't used to the whole system. 

They will exit their London serviced apartments, head onto the tube for cultural sights and business deals, only to come head-on with the grouchy and over-stuffed platforms and early risers.

Everyone has a list of how to improve it, and here are our 5 transformations to make the London Underground a better place:

More Space and Height

Fed up of getting cramped next to someone with bad body odour? Or how about constantly hitting your head on the top of the carriages? If there's one thing that we can all agree on improving, it is the overall size of the carriages. 

Given that London's population is 8.9 million and always growing, the London Underground needs more space to facilitate its growing population and millions of tourists every year. Otherwise, there will be more of the same grumbling and tinned-sardine squish every weekday.

Ditch the Zone System

Let's face it, the zone system sucks. The prices for different zones get higher every time and can be a pain for those that live in the more distant areas of Greater London. Not only does this defeat the whole objective of encouraging people to use public transport to get across further distances but it can quite often impact poorer individuals and communities. 

While some would no doubt prefer the prices to be higher for zones 1 and 2 to reduce people taking shorter trips on the Underground, it would be best to do away with the system altogether. Some cities like Barcelona, have a system where you buy a ticket and it covers X amount of journeys (e.g. 10 or 20). 

This would be a suitable system in London where you pay a set price for a ticket that covers 10-20 journeys. It could encourage people to walk shorter journeys and will make all parts of London equal to paying for Underground tickets.

More Stations With Lifts

For a city that states that it has disabled users at heart, it still has very few Underground stations with lifts outside of the centre of London. If disabled users are to have sufficient access to the London Underground, then lifts need to be available at the vast majority of stations. 

While the infamous red buses have suitable-ish access for wheelchair users, many want to use the London Underground as it's a faster mode of transport and is part of the daily London experience.

TV Screen on the Tube

While we all have our phones to stare at throughout the journeys, sometimes it would be best to have a bigger screen to look at. How about a TV that has BBC News on or a spot of light entertainment? Imagine bigger carriages and the opportunity to spread out and watch the TV as a community rather than isolated on your own device.

Light-Hearted Train Announcements

We all need a little bit of a lift early in the mornings while drudging to the office on the tube. And what better way to have a funnier and more pleasant journey than for TfL staff to poke fun out of the whole journey...even the boring or stressful parts? A few humorous announcements could make the whole trip a lot easier. 

A few quips could be "Apologies for the delay, a Dalek has held up the carriage" or "Stand back from the platform edge, you don't want to end up like my Uncle Jeff", etc. At the end of the day, every little bit helps.