More expensive but still annoying: The London Underground

26^th January 2014

Michelle McGill

Michelle McGill

26 January 2014

So our weekly, monthly and annual London travel cards have just increased by an average of 3.1 per cent. It’s not as if we weren’t paying enough already! So why has the world’s most expensive travel fares risen further? Yes, we may have been promised a few things, such as upgrades to the Piccadilly, Bakerloo and Central lines and by 2016 we should have five car trains. But what about the annoyances we face every day on our travels throughout the city? Will the 3.1 per cent extra we pay help to banish some of the below aggravations?

Unpleasant odours

I’m sure you all have endured that terrible journey where the person beside you raises their arm to grasp the bar and you are left inhaling pungent whiffs of body odour. Perhaps if customers each used that extra pound a week towards a stronger deodorant our journey quality would dramatically improve.

People who hold up the barrier

The person in front of you swipes their card and it fails to work, so they do it again, and again, and again. Surprisingly, it still doesn’t work! But instead of moving out of the way they wave for assistance whilst a long line of angry commuters form behind. Is our increased fare going to free us of these disturbances?

Weekend closures

It’s great being able to make it to work during the weekdays (after all we do pay for it), but we also have lives during the weekend. There is nothing more frustrating than arriving at a tube station to find the shutters down and a board informing us that the tube line is closed this weekend. We have to make other travel arrangements, which usually involve slow buses and transferring at numerous stations. Will the extra £1 a week stop these closures? We doubt it!

These are just a few of the annoying things we experience travelling throughout London on a daily basis and paying an extra 3.1 per cent has certainly tested our patience further!

Michelle McGill