Revealed: the worst London Underground line and tube station for dust

If you’ve ever been on the London Underground, you probably noticed three things, it’s pretty efficient (but not as efficient as it could be), it’s very loud, and it is seriously dusty. Like leave-your-hands-covered-in-grey-ash dusty. It gets into your hair, into your lungs, into your soul.

This is just something Londoners have come to accept in exchange for working public transport, but not all lines were created equal. Some are so bad you fee dirty just setting foot in them, and others are the Elizabeth Line.

But which London tube line is the very worst for dust? You’ve probably got a theory, but we’re here today to set the record straight with facts. There can be only one dustiest tube line, and, surprisingly, it’s not the Northern.

You read that right: the Northern line has officially been overtaken in dust-levels (it came top last year). The new title-holder? None other than the Victoria line.

A 2024 study commissioned by Transport for London (TfL), which aims to make sure that drivers are not working in unsafe conditions, found that despite being one of the new-ish kids on the block, the Victoria line has the largest amount of ‘inhalable dust’. This is largely owing to a lack of ventilation and several very deep stations, which are also the reasons it gets so hot. Seven Sisters was reported as the most dusty station, and Vauxhall had the highest amounts of respirable dust – both tube stations which are served exclusively by Victoria trains.

Most of the dust on the London Underground comes from wheels grinding against the tracks when they brake, so it’s primarily teeny-tiny metal particles which, in high doses, would be pretty bad for your lungs. Luckily, the trace levels found in tube carriages, which are at highest around 0.56 mg/m3 (milligrams per cubic meter), are far below the amount which could become hazardous (4mg/m3), so the only thing you need to worry about is your hands feeling a bit icky if you’ve touched a seat.

As explained by the chief of health and safety at TfL, Lilli Matson, ‘Air pollution on the tube is different to air pollution found above ground, and common air pollutants classified as carcinogenic to humans such as nitrogen oxide are not produced inside the Tube network.’

Conversely, subsurface lines, that is those which are closer to ground level, were found to have less grime because they’ve got much better natural ventilation. As such, the Circle, Hammersmith & City, and District lines have the cleanest air on the tube.

Although the Victoria line is a bit polluted, dust levels across the board are trending downwards, so with luck someday in the future we’ll have a completely clean underground experience. Plus, you have to count your blessings – back when the very first tube line opened they were still using steam-powered engines, so at least we don’t have to put up with literal soot in our carriages.

Did you see that TfL tube, Overground and rail fares are set to rise in 2025?

Plus: Kentish Town tube station finally has a reopening date.

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