Courtney Pochin
Published March 10, 2026 5:33pm
Updated March 10, 2026 5:34pm
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Do you sit on the Tube? (Picture: Getty Images)
When I first moved to London in 2018, I was always trying to nab a seat on the Tube.
On a rammed Northern Line train during a morning commute, I was desperate for a seat to avoid being smushed into a stranger’s armpit.
And on the way home after work, I’d gaze longingly at the seats, waiting for the moment one would free up so I could get off my feet (I had a terrible habit of wearing uncomfortable shoes).
But flash forward to today, and you’ll hardly ever catch me sitting down on the Tube.
Instead, I opt to stand – a choice I appreciate I’m privileged to have as many fellow Londoners need to sit due to mobility issues.
The trains never look that clean to me (Picture: Getty Images)
My aversion to sitting on the Tube began in 2023, amid the bedbug outbreak in France.
Like many others, I became paranoid about inadvertently bringing the critters home, especially after seeing videos of them crawling around on Tube seats.
And while we didn’t end up having an infestation on the Underground here, I found myself unable to return to sitting on the vast majority of the lines, as the more I stood, the more I noticed just how gross many of the seats actually looked.
I’d argue the worst culprits can be found on Northern, Central, Victoria, and Picadilly lines, which have previously been named as some of the ‘dirtiest’ and ‘most polluted’ lines in the city.
To give you a better idea of what we’re dealing with, one study by the London Metropolitan University found 22 different types of living bacteria on the Victoria line, four of which were on the WHO priority list as potentially deadly, antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
And if this doesn’t make you think twice about parking your bum, this just might…
@makkie.24sWho needs a seat anyway🤣🤣 #underground #train #fyp #makkie
♬ Bell Sound/Temple/Gone/About 10 minutes(846892) – yulu-ism project
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A video has been doing the rounds on social media this week, showing an unknown man urinating on a priority seat on a Northern Line tube after a night out.
The original clip appears to have been deleted, but the damage has already been done.
Many Londoners have shared snippets of the clip as a warning, proclaiming they’ll ‘never sit on the Northern Line again’, while some went as far as to vow they’d never sit on any Tube again.
And honestly, I’m feeling pretty vindicated about my decision to stand right about now.
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If something like this has happened once, you can bet there will be so much more we haven’t seen – as a Reddit thread also seems to attest.
Over on the r/London forum, people have shared the ‘worst’ things they’ve witnessed on the London Underground, and the jaw-dropping list involves many more accounts of people weeing on Tube seats, as well as incidents involving ‘explosive puke’, ‘dogs with diarrhoea’, ‘masturbation’, and ‘faecal matter’.
I’ll spare you any further details, but what we can take from that is that those seats have seen just about everything and more.
Understandably, for those who need to sit, it does beg the question…
How often are the Tubes cleaned?
Transport for London (TfL) revealed how often seats on the Tube were cleaned in 2024 in response to a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request.
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David Wells, the FOI case officer at TfL, said: ‘On the London Overground, there is a 30-day heavy cleaning programme for the interior of trains which includes seats. A dry foam is used and then vacuumed out.
‘On the London Underground, seats across the fleet are brushed and checked daily prior and post going into service. The seats are also further cleaned and hoovered every 28 days, with the Northern Line also receiving an annual steam clean, due to the levels of dirt and dust being seen, with at least two trains per week being achieved as part of this maintenance programme.’
He added: ‘These cleaning programmes are also supported by seat covers being changed where necessary (for example, due to vandalism, chewing gum, paint damage and so on).’
Metro has contacted TfL for further information on their cleaning process.
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