The best and worst London Underground lines (according to science)

London lures in tourists with promises of world-class museums, royal palaces and manicured parks. But the only way to understand London, proper London, is to seek out one of its 272 Underground stations, tap your bank card, descend the escalator, and submit yourself to the warm, windy underbelly of the city.

There is much to dislike about the Underground network (the Tube, to Londoners).  Find a bending stretch of track, like between Liverpool Street and Bethnal Green, and you will have your hands covering your ears to protect them from the deafening screech. Board at rush hour and you are destined to experience a journey in the armpits of another adult. The smells, the sounds, the delays, the despondency. The Tube is, in some senses, a damning snapshot of modern urban life.

But there is much to love, too. From the retro designs of the seats, to the intricate platform tile-work, to the station architecture, to the announcers injecting humour into the mornings of commuters, to the raucous wild west of the night tube, to the “ghost stations” glimpsed through the windows of the train. And indeed, there is the unrivalled genius of the Underground map itself: arguably a more intricate work of engineering than any bridge or building in the city.

Some five million passengers board the Tube each day, across 270 miles of track, making it by far the best way of travelling longer distances across the city. If you have ever visited London, you probably have an opinion on the Underground. Londoners certainly do, and the biases are potent. Brixtoners will celebrate the speed and frequency of the Victoria Line; Bermondseyites will boast about the sleekness of the Jubilee line. 

But which is the best line, according to raw numbers, away from century-old reputations? To find out, we gathered data across 37 categories, covering everything from air quality to crime, frequency to speed, air-con to wi-fi, and how useful each line is for tourists to reach major attractions, airports and railway hubs. 

When we hit “crunch”, we were unsurprised that one line – historic, dignified, expansive – came out top. It is, without a doubt, the best of the best. Have an opinion? Join the conversation at the bottom of the article to let us know if you agree or disagree with the scores throughout the article. 

The visuals aren’t great, are they? The brown colouring, the name that evokes visions of a pastry chef in the lavatory. Sadly, the data is just as damning. The poor old Bakerloo line mustered just 26.1 per cent of the points available to it. With its creaky rolling stock (last updated in 1972: the oldest on the network), dearth of wheelchair accessible stops, intermittently noisy tracks and high average temperatures, there’s little about this line to celebrate. A below-average crime rate and (suitably) higher-than-average number of public loos at its stations are among the only redeeming features.

Baker Street (the “loo” is from Waterloo) is a stand-out station not just on the Bakerloo line, but across the entire network. Built in 1863 to serve the Metropolitan steam train line (see below), this is the oldest Underground station in the world. Across Baker Street’s 10 platforms, more than any other Underground station, you will find tiles commemorating Sherlock Holmes.

Disembark at Regent’s Park station, unique to the line, and explore the royal park and gardens. In summer, the Open Air Theatre (again, the oldest in Britain) brings Shakespeare, comedy and live music to a crowd of up to 1,240.

Each year more people give “Waterloo and City” as a pub quiz answer than the number of people who actually use the line (probably). In some ways, however, it was the first Underground line ever conceived. Soon after Waterloo railway station opened (1848), city planners became aware of the necessity to build a quick link into the financial district via a mooted City Station (later renamed Bank). The line finally opened in 1898. These days, the Waterloo and City line (nicknamed “The Drain”) feels like a glitch in the matrix, a two-stopped oddity which spans just 1.4 miles and takes four minutes to ride. More Legoland than London. The only category it excelled in? The low quantity of delayed services. 

Not exactly the biggest pool to pick from, but Waterloo pips Bank, for reasons obvious to anyone who has ever tried to exit Bank Station. Waterloo Underground station is nothing to write home about, but the railway hub upstairs deserves a mention as the largest station in Europe, receiving more than 90 million passengers a year. It is not a “destination station” to hang around in, per se, although a 2012 refurb, introducing a mezzanine level with shops and food outlets, opened things up a bit.

This riverside Southbank walkway offers something for everyone: skateboarders, thespians, fans of Brutalist architecture, mudlarkers, street food fanatics, film-lovers. Walking from Hungerford Bridge to the Tate Modern is a delight, and a rare example of a touristy “must do” that many Londoners will also enjoy, fairly regularly, out of choice.

The Northern Line might feel a bit hard done by with this result. It has more unique stops than any other (34, including the echelons of Borough, Hampstead, the Claphams and Camden), enjoys a night tube service and even has 5G coverage in parts. But the Northern line is loud, more crowded than any other (5.9 million people per week), has the worst crime rate, and has five of the 10 longest staircases across the network. Points were also deducted for the clunky branching of the line through central London, a frustration that no other line endures in Zone One.

The narrow, wedge-shaped Chalk Farm Station, designed by architect Leslie Green, has a red-glazed terracotta-tiled facade, flat roof and semi-circular first-floor windows, typical to his style. Green designed the bulk of the central stations across today’s Bakerloo, Piccadilly and Northern lines. At platform level Green often deployed individual tiling patterns and colouring, so passengers could recognise their stop without seeing a sign, something you’ll still see in action at Chalk Farm today.

Just about every car park, train station and football stadium in London has some kind of “street food” offering these days, but Borough Market was the original. The market’s website reads “established in 1756”, but its history spans back to the early days of London Bridge, built in 990AD as a first crossing of the Thames. Medieval markets soon popped up south of the river, and through the centuries food has been sold here, from butchered meats to fruit and veg. Today, you’re more likely to find truffle burgers, English wine and churros.

Despite ranking in the lower half overall, the Central Line topped our survey for connectivity. It is like the equator of London, stretching 46 miles from West Ruislip and Ealing Broadway in the far western suburbs to Epping, Essex, in the east. It is fast (average speed of 37mph) and regular (second only to Victoria). However, the Central Line came bottom for Experience, with its high temperatures, frequent delays, screeching tracks and poor cleanliness. Still, there are some great unique stops to enjoy, embodying the essence of west, central and east London, from Lancaster Gate to Chancery Lane and Bethnal Green.

Loughton’s “brick box” station was part of the 1930s extension of the Underground network – an unlikely Art Deco pleasure in the wilderness of Zone Six. In the airy ticket hall, lighting globes hang down while sunlight beams through the lunette windows. If it reminds you of a New York City railway station, you might be onto something – these had a heavy influence on the architecture of British railway designs before the war.

St Paul’s is a stop unique to the Central Line, although you could easily access the cathedral from Mansion House and Blackfriars. Sir Christopher Wren’s confection is a marvel from the outside. But venture within to find the whispering gallery, right up in the dome, which allows you to quietly communicate with a friend on the other side. There are often art installations at St Paul’s, too: Yoko Ono, Rebecca Horn and Anthony Gormley have exhibited work here, among many others.

Let’s start with the pros. The Piccadilly Line is the only Underground line to connect to an airport (Heathrow, £5.50 one way into central London), although the speedier Elizabeth Line (£12.80) has brought further competition to the overpriced Heathrow Express (£25). The Piccadilly Line also does central London well, with unique stops at tourist stalwarts such as Covent Garden, Knightsbridge and Hyde Park Corner, plus connections to the museum-rich west. But with old rolling stock (1973), lengthy staircases, frequent delays and the most garish seat design on the network (according to our fashion editor) the Piccadilly Line is perfectly serviceable but failed to stand out in any category.

Southgate is part of the Piccadilly Line’s northern extension, along which many of the stations were designed by Charles Holden. Between the wars he embarked on a European tour with London Transport’s then chief executive, Frank Pick, to find inspiration in modernist architecture on the continent. Southgate station shows the results: a round, UFO-like Art Deco station that has Grade II-listed status.

Covent Garden has lived many lives, from the sleepy gardens of a convent, to an exclusive piazza (London’s first) designed by Inigo Jones, to a red-light district filled with brothels and taverns, to a wholesale fruit and veg market. Today, Covent Garden is at the beating heart of London’s tourist map, filled with street performers, restaurants and traditional pubs. Seek out Seven Dials Market for street food and Neal’s Yard for independent shops.

A “poor man’s Circle Line” feels a bit harsh, but it is an accurate summary of the Hammersmith & City Line. This parasitical line (without a single unique stop) fails to get the heart racing, taking a wrong turn at Liverpool Street to ferry passengers east along the District Line to Barking rather than south and west along the Victoria Embankment to the museum district of Kensington. Still, the numbers don’t lie. The line performs well for its low crime, modern carriages and heritage ranking (opened 1864). Unremarkably mid-table, where it belongs.

Probably the finest stop along the line is Great Portland Street, a Grade II-listed ovular station plonked in the middle of a roundabout. A station has existed on this site since 1860s, but the latest iteration opened in 1933 (renamed from Portland Road), originally with a car showroom above the ticket hall.

No unique stops to report, but disembark at the eponymous Hammersmith Station to take a stroll along the Thames – for something a bit different, head west to Chiswick and Barnes rather than east into the busy centre. Stop by the beautiful gardens of Chiswick House and the glorious London Wetlands Centre along the way.

There is a rumour that the aroma from the hot dogs sold at the top of Brixton’s station steps is so potent (notably, even at platform level) that you can smell them all the way up in Walthamstow. True or not, this is one of the most accessible and quickest lines, with trains emerging as regularly as every 100 seconds at peak times and second only to the Metropolitan Line for top speeds. Built in 1968, this isn’t one of the “originals”, but it is zippy, functional, and ties together nine railway hubs. 

One of London’s busiest Underground stops, Kings Cross St Pancras links two of the city’s greatest railway stations. St Pancras is generally considered to be the pinnacle of the Victorian Gothic Revival style, with its red-brick facade the most handsome of any station in the UK. It’s not-particularly-modest architect, George Gilbert Scott, declared it not merely the finest building in London, but “possibly too good for its purpose”. Neighbouring Kings Cross was recently given a complete facelift: Network Rail restored the Victorian facades in the building and introduced a fantastic white “diagrid” roof, reminiscent of the one in the British Museum.

Brixton is not for the faint of heart. Emerge from the station to find candy floss venders and Christian preachers screaming against the backdrop of the traffic-clogged Brixton Road. But dig deeper to find innovative modern dining in Brixton Village and Pop Brixton, independent stalls in Brixton Market, and the expansive Brockwell Park which showcases the best of south London at the funk and soul festival Cross the Tracks every May.

The Circle Line has something of an identity problem. Firstly, since 2009 it has not been a “circle” that can be completed in a full loop (to do so you would have to disembark at Edgware Road). It is also one of the few Underground lines with no unique stops, sharing its platforms with the District Line, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan Lines, and never poking its head outside of Zone Two. But the line scores well for Experience (air-con, few delays), boasts a rolling stock that was updated in 2013 (with walk-through carriages, and all) and has brilliant appeal for tourists, stopping at six of London’s top 10 sights.

A fine example of early architecture on the Underground, Gloucester Road Station opened in 1868 with subsurface platforms. Today the station serves the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines as well, although on the outside of the building you will spot a mosaic sign reading: “Metropolitan & District Railways Gloucester Road Station.” Since 2000, the brick arches on the disused eastbound platform have hosted temporary art exhibitions, orchestrated by Art on the Underground. The 2023 exhibition, by Monster Chetwynd, is a series of giant plaster medallions representing the Amazonian water lily. 

Disembark at South Kensington or High Street Kensington to explore London’s world-beating intellectual quartier, with a menu of museums including the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Design Museum, and many more. This is also where you’ll find the Royal Albert Hall, which hosts live concerts ranging from the London Philharmonic Orchestra to Mercury Prize-winning jazz ensemble Ezra Collective.

Silver, sleek, sexy, the newest line on the Underground charts a course – since it was extended in 1999 – from the suburban north-west to the Docklands. Despite having 27-year-old rolling stock, the Jubilee Line has a modern feel with the newer stations offering automatic platform edge doors, wide passageways and wheelchair accessible access, plus the Bladerunner-esque set-piece stations of Westminster, Southwark and Canary Wharf. Minus points for high passenger count and pollution levels.

Less a “station” in the traditional sense and more a dystopian concrete-and-glass bunker designed for the highest-bidding Bond villain. During the day, Canary Wharf Station’s design draws natural light into its farthest corners, with long escalators seemingly ferrying bankers straight to their desks. Above ground, the station’s roof forms Jubilee Park, a landscaped garden with statues and ponds.

Disembark at Neasden (Zone Three) to find the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple. A monument to London’s multiculturalism, Neasden Temple (which was, when it opened in 1993, the largest Hindu Temple outside of India) is carved entirely out of stone, and is free to enter. A permanent exhibition, Understanding Hinduism, takes visitors through the values of the religion through craftwork, paintings and 3D dioramas.

The District Line is an expansive beast, with the most stops (60) of any line. In the central areas it loses its identity, with dalliances alongside the Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines, but to the west it connects to the delights of Richmond and Wimbledon and to the east it terminates as far away as Upminster. Connecting some of London’s greatest attractions, with modern rolling stock and some beautiful stations along its tracks, the District Line is a deserving runner up.

There is a pleasing dichotomy between the overground and underground experiences at Westminster. Above ground you find Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, three architectural set pieces transporting you to a different era. Underground, Westminster Station resembles R2D2’s brain. It was completely redesigned to accommodate the Jubilee Line extension in 1999, and the result is a futuristic, labyrinthine, austere box of concrete, intersected with giant beams, long escalators and vast steel tubes. 

London’s Garden of Eden, Kew is filled with 40,000 exotic plants from around the world – the planet’s most diverse collection.

London’s first Underground Line remains the best. It is uncrowded (1.5 million weekly users, the second lowest on the network), has forward-facing seats (genius), air-con, good cleanliness, the quickest trains with plenty of seats to choose from (306), has the best seat design on the network (according to our fashion editor) and – crucially – it cuts a memorable line from the heart of the city to the leafy suburbs of Buckinghamshire, via Wembley Stadium no less. The Metropolitan Line’s success might surprise some readers. Indeed, it may have been some time since you boarded it, and as such you may be unfamiliar with its quite unique “fast” and “semi-fast” services. But it is, definitively, the best. Go take a ride. We are sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

The most villagey station on the entire network (30 miles or so from the heart of the city), Chesham looks like it would be better suited to serve steam trains than Underground carriages. Opened in 1889 by the Metropolitan Railway, this Grade II-listed station often ranks as the prettiest on the network, with an intact water tower and signal box adding to the charm. The distance between Chesham and the next stop along, Chalfont & Latimer, is the longest on the network at 3.89 miles; that’s about a quarter of the entire length of the Victoria Line.

The Barbican is London’s carbuncular, agenda-setting home to the arts, theatre, cinema, classical music and dance. Oh, and a tropical conservatory, for good measure. The brutalist architecture of the Barbican divided Londoners when it opened in 1982, but today it is perhaps one of the most adored monuments in the capital – a creative-minded lego-brick among a sea of soulless shards of glass.

We crunched data across 37 categories, split into the subcategories Experience, Connectivity, Modernity, Accessibility and Touristic Appeal. In total, there were 1,000 points up for grabs.

Experience was the biggest category. In this we considered annual passenger numbers, the average temperature of carriages on each line, pollution levels, air-con availability, the cleanliness of each line according to a study of bacteria traces, crime levels on each line, the noisiness of lines (with a decibel count above 105),  the Stressful Index according to a study, the results of a Yougov poll, forward-facing seats, whether the line is completely underground and the number of delayed services per year.

For Connectivity we considered how many railway stations there are along the route, the total number of stops, which Zone the line reaches, the total distance covered, the shortest wait for a train (at peak time in the morning), the average speed of the trains, the number of unique stops, whether it is on the night tube, whether it runs alongside another line and the average distance between stops.

For Modernity we considered the age of the rolling stock, whether the line has sliding doors on platforms and 5G access on the line.

For Accessibility we considered the percentage of wheelchair accessible stops on the line, the number of public loos at stations along the line, whether the trains have walk-through carriages or doors, whether the line has any excessively long staircases to climb, the number of seats per train and the number of cars per train.

For Touristic Appeal we considered how many of London’s top 10 tourist sights appear along the route, the number of standout beautiful stations on the line (according to a article), how easy it is to “go wrong” on the line in a central area, links to airports, the desirability of the seat moquette design (as assessed by Bethan Holt of the ’s fashion desk) and the heritage clout of the line (year it opened).