What are the most annoying things you've come across on the London Underground?

Question

I have never known anger like the kind I experience on the tube.

My biggest LU gripe is waiting in line to top up my Oyster card, waiting in a long queue for the machine which will accept cards, waiting for 15mins or so, and everyone in ahead of me is paying with coins which they could have used at any of the coin machines which have no queue. It is infuriating.

And when you're standing by a seat, the person gets up so it's available to you, but you can't sit until they get past you, and some little person just dashes in and steals it...

Please fellow Londoners, share your stories and let's all be angry together.

Answer 1

people with those wheely trolley suitcases completely oblivious to the fact they are tripping up everyone around them.
people who don't wait for everyone to get off the train before they barge on (rude).
people that smell
how the time on the screens on the platform bares no relation to time as we know it. 1min = 5.5mins in tube time.
how bloomin expensive it is to travel about 2 yards (even with an oyster)
when smoochy couples attempt to snog on really crowded trains and you end up feeling like part of a threesome because you are so near their heads.
the northern line on a friday or saturday night around 11.30pm
train announcers who think they are funny
the amount of time it takes to fix one escalator
how they proudly announce it when there are no reported delays on the underground like its something they should get a medal for.

i sound quite moody don't i?

Answer 2

I have learnt that there are 10 commandments concerning London that cannot be broken under any circumstance, otherwise you will be carted off smartly and given a very stern look:

1..Thou shalt not speak to anyone on the tube (or any form of public transport. Doing so will instantly mark you out as a perv/fruitcake/drunk/tourist or possibly all four. (The tube is also known as “the cattle train” for obvious reasons. I keep imagining that they will soon be using highly trained sheep dogs to help keep everyone in line.)
2. Thou shalt not sit next to someone on public transport if there is another seat further away.
3. Thou shalt not speak about “mind the gap.” It’s just an announcement, no need to go on about it like the tourists do.
4. Thou shalt not stand on a street corner with a map. You might as well wear a sign that says: ‘Mug me’.
5. Thou shalt not stand still on the left hand side of the escalators. (Or else you’ll get the stare…or a tut tut.)
6. Thou shalt not smile at anyone on public transport, make eye contact, or in fact show interest in anything else apart from yourself. This can be handy though, if you want some space to yourself, as a cheesy grin will clear a tube carriage in seconds. I have also found that anything more than a polite clearing of the throat, or a slight rustle of a packet will get a “Are you trying to wake the dead with all that racket??!!” stare.
7. Thou shalt not suddenly stop walking in the middle of a busy pavement. Londoners in a hurry-and Londoners are always in a hurry-can under, bylaw 2008, subsection 2, kill you. (ok, ok they can’t, but they’ll want to).
8. Thou shalt learn to love the queue. It’s a national sport. Don’t complain, don’t comment, don’t say anything, just get in line mate.
9. Thou shalt learn to love the weather.
10. Thou shalt not whinge! If you don’t like it, you know where Heathrow is.

Answer 3

A drunk man who didnt notice his arm was getting jammed in the door. It kept opening and closing on a packed tube and everyone was getting annoyed because the train wouldnt leave. In the end this other bloke just pushed him out the door and onto the platform.

Incompetent escalator dwellers, armpits in face and dordellers have to be at the top of the list for annoyances.

Answer 4

people with stinky armpits, when the space by the door is stuffed full but no-one will move up into the empty aisles so that you can get on, people who rush onto the train without letting you off. And the fact that no-one pays any attention to you, a homeless man once ran after me still wrapped in his sleeping bag trying to kiss me and no-one batted an eyelid!

Answer 5

I studied in London for three months last year and used the tube to get from my homestay to classes (and touristy places on my days off).

Gripes I had:
-the Northern Line (once I got used to life in London, I avoided the Northern Line like the plague! so unreliable!)
-inconsiderate people
-rush hour where you barely have room to breathe on the train let alone move when it's your stop

Answer 6

People shouting at the doors to move down when there is no where to hold on to if you do move down.
People who barge on to the tube before you have had a chance to get off.
Personal Stereos so loud you can hear it from the other side of the carriage.
People who have been drinking the night before and they reek of stale alcohol.
People who smoke in the rain and then they smell of wet smoke.

Answer 7

people like you who could top up their oyster online or in the corner shop if they wanted to!
also you could choose another time to top it up and not when it is busy.

I don't know what kind of ticket you put on it but you can buy it a month in advance.did you know that from 1 month upward you save a bit of money.buy a yearly 1 and you get 2 months free!no more queue!

https://sales.oystercard.com/oyster/lul/entry.do

Answer 8

Mine is this:

Your sitting on a crowded tube and no doubt a commuter is swinging his laptop in your face. Just as you get up to get off the tube, He PUSHES you out the way so he can steal your seat. The amount of times i've been sent flying by rude commuters doing that. Thing is, my voice tends to carry so i make sure i embarrass them in front of the WHOLE tube! hee hee!

Also, the dawdlers who get in your way when your in a rush trying to jump on a tube. GAAAHHHH!!!

Oh, and some of the nutters who get on the tube just scare the pants off me...but quite entertaining at the same time.

Answer 9

- Lairy youths on their way to get drunk/ on their way back from getting drunk.

- Sneaky seat-stealers that wait until there is a massive crush of people at a tube stop, then squeeze their way into the free seats, irritating everyone in the process.

- Tourists who clamber on the tube in vast numbers, and whenever someone speaks English, they proceed to glare psychotically at them.

- The sweaty heat of rush hour.

- When in a packed but deathly silent carriage, someone always discusses their sex life loudly and unabashedly on a mobile phone.

.... and there's plenty more.

Answer 10

I top up my card online, works pretty well.

I have t say, the most annoying thins about the underground is the fact that it always smells like feet in Bank tube station.