London’s dirtiest Tube line - with trains fully cleaned once every 43 days

Katherine Gray
·2-min read
Commuters boarding a train carriage on the Victoria Line platform
-Credit: (Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire)


The London Underground’s dirtiest Tube line has been revealed, according to an FOI. The information reveals how often each Tube line receives a full-service clean, with one coming in significantly lower than the rest.

Tube trains have a detailed and specific cleaning schedule followed by TfL. Trains receive a pre-service clean daily and then further cleans every three to four days which include cleaning of window ledges, windows and interior panels.

The trains on each Tube line then undergo a full interior and exterior clean roughly every 28 days. However, trains on one line are cleaned less frequently than the others, with over a month between full-service cleans.

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London underground subway train station with Jubilee Line and Victoria Line at Green Park station in Mayfair, city of Westminster in London, England, UK. General view of the interior of the station with the moving escalator, train wagon and Underground Sign Logo at the platform, while people are waiting in the station or are seen inside the rail carriage commuting, some of them wearing a facemask because of Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic or others are on their phones. London, UK on August 2022 (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The Jubilee Line receives full-service cleans every 43 days -Credit:NurPhoto via Getty Images

At the bottom of the pile are trains on the Piccadilly line, which sees trains only receive full-service cleans once every 43 days, the FOI requested by Showers to You revealed. The Piccadilly line has a fleet of 86 trains which is the third biggest of the Underground lines.

The Tube line cleaned the most frequently of all of the Underground lines is the Jubilee line, with full-service cleans taking place once every 18 days. The Jubilee line has the second smallest fleet of all the Underground lines, with 63 trains.

A spokesperson for TfL said: "Our cleaning schedule for Tube trains consists of three different levels of cleaning: pre-service cleans (daily), further cleans every 3-4 days which include cleaning of window ledges, windows, interior panels, and then a full clean of the interior and exterior of the train around every 28 days.

“All seats, floors and surfaces are cleaned daily on every train as part of the pre-service clean, and any seats that are not fit for customer use are replaced."

A list of Tube train full-service cleans is below:

  • Piccadilly - every 43 days

  • S-Stock (Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City, Circle, and District lines) - every 28 days

  • Central - every 27 days

  • Bakerloo - every 25 days

  • Northern - every 25 days

  • Jubilee - every 18 days

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