London is full of impatient people who need to be somewhere else, very soon. And few things raise the blood pressure of harried commuters more than a delayed tube.
Wait times usually run thus: one minute - excellent, two minutes - acceptable, three minutes - getting anxious, four minutes - this is unacceptable, five or more - what kind of disgraceful, abysmal service do you call this TfL?
So which tube lines are the worst offenders?
Metro has studied TfL performance data and found the the District line is the worst offender, with the most trains delayed by more than 15 minutes over the last decade - 3,441 journeys in total. In six of those ten years (2005-2010), the District line topped the lateness charts, with the Metropolitan line taking the crown in the remaining years (2011-2014). The Metropolitan line was second overall on the list of shame with 3,087 delayed trains.
The full charts run as follows:
District: 3,441
Metropolitan: 3,087
Piccadilly: 2,642
Central: 2,142
Northern: 1,882
Bakerloo: 1,700
Jubilee: 1,662
Circle and Hammersmith & City: 1,447
Victoria: 1,084
Waterloo & City: 437
The District and Metropolitan lines are both set for an upgrade programme, which was announced in August this year, with an eventual aim of 32 trains per hour through Central London, increasing capacity by a third. In addition, it's not all bad: the overall number of trains delayed by over 15 minutes has halved over the last decade.
David Waboso, London Underground’s capital programmes director, told the Metro: "Londoners are already seeing a rapidly improving Tube network with a cut in delays of 40 per cent in recent years thanks to major investment in new track, trains and signalling. However, we of course recognise that some lines still need to be upgraded to keep pace with the huge demand for services. We will now be improving the District and Metropolitan lines with new trains and signalling, which will mean faster, more reliable journeys for customers."
(Image: Rex)
