Stripping off, keeping a straight face and riding the Tube in your pants: One of London’s strangest traditions returns this January

For most people, accidentally leaving the house without trousers would trigger an immediate panic, shame and a frantic dash back through the front door. For a small but fearless group of Londoners, it’s the highlight of the social calendar.

The No Trousers Tube Ride is back, returning to the Underground this January and once again inviting the capital’s most confident commuters to do one thing and one thing only: get on the Tube wearing nothing below the waist except their underwear (and shoes). No slogans. No protest. No charity bucket. Just legs, vibes and a very British commitment to pretending everything is completely normal.

If you’ve never heard of it before, the premise is that simple. Participants meet fully clothed, head into the Tube as a group, remove their trousers once inside the station, ride for a few stops, then get off, get dressed again and usually head to the pub. That’s it.

The event traces its roots back to 2002, when New York staged the original No Pants Subway Ride (note: “pants” refers to trousers). London soon followed, and the tradition has quietly become one of the city’s most peculiar annual fixtures. After the original organising group stepped away in 2024, the event was rescued by personal trainer Dave Selkirk, ensuring the tradition lived on.

In 2026, the No Trousers Tube Ride will take place on Sunday 11 January, with participants meeting at the Old Pagoda in Soho’s Chinatown at 2.45pm, before heading off at around 3pm. Trousers must be worn to the meeting point, and attendees are divided into smaller groups and led to nearby Tube stations, where the trousers are removed, and the fun begins. Bringing a bag to carry your discarded bottoms is strongly advised.

There are, naturally, a few rules. Underwear is mandatory, and organisers ask that it’s kept as “normal” and low-key as possible: no thongs, novelty pants or anything that would draw more attention than the absence of trousers already does. The aim is to look as though you’ve simply forgotten something crucial, not staged a fashion statement.

As for the reason behind it all? There isn’t one. It’s not a protest, a fundraiser or a statement about public transport. It’s just a harmless bit of silliness designed to give fellow passengers a moment of surprise, confusion and, ideally, a laugh. Participants are encouraged to act completely unfazed: read a book, scroll your phone, listen to music and absolutely do not acknowledge the fact you’re missing half an outfit. So if you're travelling on Sunday, you may see a lot more flesh than you bargained for.

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