Revealed: Londoners' biggest gripes about travelling on the Tube

Of all the ordeals London commuters have to suffer, being blocked by fellow passengers as they try to get off the train is the worst, a survey reveals today.

Manspreading, however, is women’s particular bugbear — and the Northern and Central are the capital’s joint most hated Tube lines.

Only 29 per cent of Londoners “generally like” the Northern line, according to YouGov’s research. Twenty three per cent said they hate it.

In contrast, 51 per cent of Jubilee line users are fans of the service. The Docklands Light Railway came in second with 50 per cent approval.

As for breaching commuter etiquette, 90 per cent of Londoners are left angriest when people try to board a carriage without giving travellers a chance to get off.

Next on the list of most irritating behaviours is the practice of standing in carriages in the way of exiting passengers, closely followed by people who shove their way to the train doors as they open.

Railing at trains

Two-thirds of Londoners get irritated at having to wait for a Tube for an entire five minutes, with the impatience of the capital showing in the fact that 17 per cent of Tube users believe even four minutes is far too long to wait for the next train.

More than half, 53 per cent, of Tube users engage in platform positioning, either squeezing into a certain carriage to be nearest the exit at their destination station or heading for the very ends of platforms to find a seat in the quietest carriages.

Seventy nine per cent of women said they were most irritated by manspreading — the practice of splaying one’s legs to take up far more space than necessary.

The former Game Of Thrones actor Richard Madden was once mocked online after being pictured manspreading on the Bakerloo line, while politicians including David Cameron and Boris Johnson have also been found photographed in similar positions.

More than two thirds of women said they were fed up with being stared at by passengers.

A divide also emerged generationally, with 86 per cent of older Londoners angered by the drunken behaviour of young revellers.

For their part, most 18- to 24-year-olds were chiefly annoyed by older travellers standing on the wrong side of the escalator.

Recent examples of selfish behaviour on busy journeys include passengers on a train to London Bridge who failed to give a seat to a 31 weeks’ pregnant Londoner despite her request, and a cyclist who provoked outrage by parking his muddy bike across two seats on a crowded rail service at Vauxhall.

Meanwhile, Londoners’ reputation for unfriendliness remains intact, with 55 per cent saying they feel angry when someone strikes up conversation.

The survey also offered an explanation as to why encouraging passengers to stand on both sides of an escalator — despite trials suggesting it cut congestion — won’t catch on.

Thirty two per cent of commuters always prefer walking on escalators and 26 per cent said they like to do so some of the time.