Ulez one year on: Sadiq Khan plans force more onto ‘unhealthy’ polluted tube network
Londoners opting to take the tube rather than drive their car following the Ulez expansion are being exposed to unsafe air on a daily basis, a GB News investigation has found.
On year on from Sadiq Khan’s decision to implement Ulez rules on all London boroughs, many commuters have been forced to travel via the London Underground in order to avoid paying to drive.
But GB News can reveal that almost all of the key tube stations contain “unhealthy” polluted air.
Branded “tube dust” by TfL, the air floating around in the 161 year old underground system contains a mix of metal iron oxide particles caused by track and wheel wear and braking, plus organic matter like skin and hair – as well as mineral dusts.
When breathed in, they’re small enough to go into a persons lungs and even enter their bloodstream. The particles have been associated with diseases including asthma, lung cancer and even Alzheimer’s.
The World Health Organisation says breathing an annual average of anything above five micrograms is unsafe.
Carrying out tests at more than ten London Underground stations, GB News found levels as high as 171 micrograms per cubic metre – a level deemed “very unhealthy”.
Journeys on the London Underground rose 20 per cent in 2023 compared to the year before.
Commuters in the capital expressed their concern to GB News over the air quality on Transport for London’s tube system.
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One person said: “I’ve got asthma, I am a smoker as well and I feel like I’m dying when I’m down there.”
In agreement, another Briton fumed: “Yeah, the tubes are horrible. It’s musty and warm and feels dirty – it’s just horrible.”
A third said “some improvements need to be done” to improve the air quality.
One man called for the air to be “filtered” in tube stations, adding: “It smells bad, it really does. And it should be filtered more.”
Speaking to GB News, another Londoner stressed that the underground “can’t be shut down” to be improved because of how essential it is.
He explained: “You can’t shut it down, can you? Because we need it. But they should do something about it.”
Lilli Matson, TfL’s Chief Safety, Health & Environment Officer said: “Action is being taken to improve air quality both above and underground in London.
“Our monitoring shows that dust levels on the Tube remain well below limits set by the Health and Safety Executive and on most of our network are below the recommendations from the Institute of Occupational Medicine, which are set significantly lower.
“TfL’s independent monitoring shows that in-station dust levels have reduced by 19 per cent on the Tube network since 2020 and that dust levels have reduced by 27 per cent in the driver’s cab since 2019.
“However, we are not complacent and have developed a number of innovative new cleaning regimes to reduce dust further. This includes the use of industrial backpack dust cleaners, which are one part of our multi-million-pound Tube cleaning programme.”