please empty your brain below
Perhaps more appropriate for winter would be the use of a snowflake on those lines from which you might see a nice snowy outdoors view.

mushroomcounter | 22.09.23 - 7:05 a.m. | #

The Victoria Line is unpleasantly hot 12 months of the year. I think the map will keep its ❄️s.

Dan | 22.09.23 - 7:25 a.m. | #

It'll be leaves next.

If we get a harsh winter and fuel bills go up, the warmest sections of the Underground will be quite popular.

Still Anon | 22.09.23 - 7:35 a.m. | #

Assuming that it is "proper" air conditioning, it should cool in the summer and heat in the winter, i.e. there is a reverse cycle. That being so, either in the winter the maps should show the Sun symbol rather than the Snow-flake symbol or the Sun symbol should just be added permanently.

strawbrick | 22.09.23 - 8:25 a.m. | #

It's not a usual thing to have A/C that operates in "reverse". That's a heat pump really, but the ductwork and fans would be completely different to have it operate as one. They're also not suited to an environment where doors open and close all the time and have higher installation and maintenance costs. So while I'm not an expert on Underground trains, I'd be really quite surprised if they had that installed.

I do think that the Elizabeth line *stations* have heat pumps though.

Chz | 22.09.23 - 8:46 a.m. | #

The Weekend Travel Advice email sent by TfL on Thursday 10th August has a reference (and link) to the updated tube map:

"If you're travelling in hot weather, know that a number of our lines have trains with air conditioning. To see which of our services are air conditioned, we have added a symbol to our Tube map."

JP | 22.09.23 - 9:02 a.m. | #

So it did... and in the very first paragraph too!

(and again on 7th September)

diamond geezer | Homepage | 22.09.23 - 9:07 a.m. | #

Will there be a half snowflake for the DLR and Picc when new trains start coming into service? Guess we'll have to see.

And it is useful information, much more pleasant at times to take a slight detour to get air con in a heatwave. Good thing about the tube's A/C is that it's generally reliable, the air cooling on the buses is hit and miss... even on the newer ones.

matthieu1221 | 22.09.23 - 11:15 a.m. | #

Good grief. Even the A/C trains are hot when crammed to bursting with sweaty bodies!

Cornish Cockney | 22.09.23 - 11:17 a.m. | #

Coming next, little phone pictures to show where you can get a mobile signal!

greatkingrat | 22.09.23 - 11:20 a.m. | #

This at least warrants a 🔥🔥🔥 being added next to the Northern Line as a warning.

Whatever happened to "less is more". Frank Pick must be turning in his grave, etc

Dominic H | 22.09.23 - 11:25 a.m. | #

I would have thought a snow flake to indicate those lines that are most likely to stop running as soon as the first snow hits.

Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 22.09.23 - 11:30 a.m. | #

Ah, but is this just cooling or also humidity control (I think we all know the answer). Some definitions of air conditioning suggest that humidity control is integral to the definition

MilesT | 22.09.23 - 1:36 p.m. | #

From an S-stock Datasheet (via Wikipedia):
"Single roof mounted saloon air conditioning module with dual refrigeration circuits supplying ceiling mounted air ducts. Separate module supplied on DM cars for cab air conditioning with fallback air conditioning from the saloon module. Internal and external smoke detection."

Nick K | 22.09.23 - 2:24 p.m. | #

Having used the Central Line Night Tube back in June "Baked In" is the perfect description for the 92 Stock. I was literally standing by the emergency door window to try & remain cool

Andrew Jarman | 22.09.23 - 2:32 p.m. | #

Ah, what have the lefty liberal wokester snowflakes cooked up at TfL today? Are the guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati giving the tube lines colours of the rainbow? Are the blue-haired, just-stop-oil, tree-hugging globalist elites celebrating Black History Month by doing something silly like adding Croydon to the tube map?

Sorry did you say that they were adding snowflakes? Oh, I thought you said the snowflakes were adding something. Uh.. carry on then.

Note: extreme sarcasm

A Grumpy Old Man (with hearing problems) | 22.09.23 - 7:06 p.m. | #

"Selecting the coolest trains is not necessarily a practical way to make decisions when route planning"

A better idea would be to show, on the map itself, the many many sections of lines where there is an unreasonable amount of noise between two stations. I could then sometimes choose more comfortable routes that don't need earplugs.

Or better still, instead of cluttering the map, build that in as an option on the Journey Planner, so that I can choose between a 22 minute uncomfortable journey or a more comfortable 27 minute journey.

Or even better still -- stop using unsuitable concrete to replace old wooden sleepers and fix the tracks and wheels that are worn out.

Harry | 23.09.23 - 9:46 a.m. | #

Let’s hope they add another symbol in the winter indicating which lines have car heaters that a) are working and b) are turned on, because neither can be taken for granted.

Kim | 23.09.23 - 11:47 a.m. | #

A/C is humidity control just by the way it operates. Cooling the air reduces its ability to hold moisture and it precipitates the moisture onto the cooling coils. Or to look at it another way, a dehumidifier is just an air conditioner that vents its waste heat internally. This is how heat pump tumble dryers operate - they run a dehumidifier and vent the cold air into the room and the hot air into the drum.

Chz | 25.09.23 - 8:15 a.m. | #

I don't think it's silly at all to show which lines have trains with Aircon.
Quite a handy feature in my view.

Slim Tim | 29.09.23 - 1:06 p.m. | #

I wish you hadn’t brought a culture war reference in first paragraph with “ridiculous woke nonsense”. You write funny, informative and witty transport pieces. I wish I didn’t have to think of whether you jump for joy when the Daily Mail lands on your doorstep, or doesn’t, every morning.

UrbanNonFarmer | 02.10.23 - 11:15 a.m. | #

It was the set up to a joke, the answer to which was snowflakes.

I was trying to write a funny, informative and witty transport piece.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 02.10.23 - 4:20 p.m. | #

Personally I like having all these information symbols, I use them when determining a route. I would add another symbol to the chart of ten at the end of the post - the black tracks for Thameslink.

TfL should have an interactive Tube Map on their site, like their TfL Go app, where users can remove networks and details they are not interested in

Long Branch Mike | 06.10.23 - 7:55 p.m. | #











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