The tube is a real experience in closeness at rush hour. You think your carriage isn't all that crowded, really, and then you stop at a station and a few people get off, and twice as many get on. And then you stop at the next station.... And only six more to go until your stop!
At some point the driver will announce – with commuters still trying to bend the laws of physics at the open doors – that the train is full, and it’s leaving now. There’ll be another one along in a few minutes, the friendly, hopeful voice says, but those damned souls on the outside know that yet another train with all carriages packed to bursting isn’t going to make any difference.
And what of the damned souls inside? Everyone wants to be near the doors so that they have a prayer of leaving at their stop, but only if people obey instructions – “Please move right down inside the carriage!” – can more be packed in. So eventually your stop is coming and there are a couple dozen bodies between you and the nearest door, and it’s time to negotiate that squishy gauntlet of flesh before the doors open and more of it packs itself inside. Pickpockets do their best work in rush hours, ’cause who can tell if sombody’s touching your butt?!
Rush hours in the summer add a certain subtle dimension of dehydration and heat-stroke on top of all that, and though it hasn't been really hot yet this summer, it will be. And when it's 90-ish F up here, it can get to 115-ish F down there, and rails deform in the heat, and trains stop in the tunnels 'cause they can't move without risking derailment (which happens), and more trains stop behind them, and people who've forgotten to bring water can be in real trouble. Did I mention there's no air-conditioning on tube trains? The ventilation comes from open vents and windows taking in air from the tunnel while the train is in motion. It would be illegal in any first-world nation to transport animals to slaughterhouses in those temperatures. Mooo!
I hear it's lots and lots worse in Tokyo, because the Japanese are better at the skill of turning off that natural human aversion to packing in with strangers long enough to get to work and back. My theory is they enter a sort of commuter trance where the rules are different, and effectively dissociate from the press of alien flesh for as long as necessary. Their trains are really crowded. The persistent thing one hears about Tokyo commuter trains is that someone can have a heart attack and die, and not fall down until the train empties out again. So let's all give thanks that we're not in Tokyo (those who are not), and meanwhile I'll be thankful that I very seldom have to travel in London during rush hour. But that doesn't mean I won't be packing water this summer, ’cause trains get caught in tunnels when it's not rush hour, too.
And what of the damned souls inside? Everyone wants to be near the doors so that they have a prayer of leaving at their stop, but only if people obey instructions – “Please move right down inside the carriage!” – can more be packed in. So eventually your stop is coming and there are a couple dozen bodies between you and the nearest door, and it’s time to negotiate that squishy gauntlet of flesh before the doors open and more of it packs itself inside. Pickpockets do their best work in rush hours, ’cause who can tell if sombody’s touching your butt?!
Rush hours in the summer add a certain subtle dimension of dehydration and heat-stroke on top of all that, and though it hasn't been really hot yet this summer, it will be. And when it's 90-ish F up here, it can get to 115-ish F down there, and rails deform in the heat, and trains stop in the tunnels 'cause they can't move without risking derailment (which happens), and more trains stop behind them, and people who've forgotten to bring water can be in real trouble. Did I mention there's no air-conditioning on tube trains? The ventilation comes from open vents and windows taking in air from the tunnel while the train is in motion. It would be illegal in any first-world nation to transport animals to slaughterhouses in those temperatures. Mooo!
I hear it's lots and lots worse in Tokyo, because the Japanese are better at the skill of turning off that natural human aversion to packing in with strangers long enough to get to work and back. My theory is they enter a sort of commuter trance where the rules are different, and effectively dissociate from the press of alien flesh for as long as necessary. Their trains are really crowded. The persistent thing one hears about Tokyo commuter trains is that someone can have a heart attack and die, and not fall down until the train empties out again. So let's all give thanks that we're not in Tokyo (those who are not), and meanwhile I'll be thankful that I very seldom have to travel in London during rush hour. But that doesn't mean I won't be packing water this summer, ’cause trains get caught in tunnels when it's not rush hour, too.
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