This article is primarily concerned with accidents on the London Underground network, which carries around a billion passengers a year. Statistically, there is just one fatal accident for every 300 million journeys. There are several

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

warnings given to passengers, such as the traditional '

mind the gap "Mind the gap" () or sometimes "watch the gap" is an audible or visual warning phrase issued to rail passengers to take caution while crossing the horizontal, and in some cases vertical, spatial gap between the train door and the station ...

' announcement and the regular announcements for passengers to keep behind the yellow line. Relatively few accidents are caused by overcrowding on the platforms, and staff monitor platforms and passageways at busy times preventing people entering the system if they become overcrowded.

Suicide

Most fatalities on the network are

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

s. Most platforms at deep tube stations have pits beneath the track, originally constructed to aid drainage of water from the platforms, but they also help prevent death or serious injury when a passenger falls or jumps in front of a train and aid access to the casualty. These pits are officially called "anti-suicide pits", colloquially "suicide pits" or "dead man's trenches". A person jumping or falling in front of a train is sometimes referred to by staff as a "one under". London Underground has a specialist therapy unit to deal with drivers' post-traumatic stress resulting from someone jumping under their train.

Terrorism

Terrorism in the London Underground has been a major concern because the Underground's importance makes it a prime target for attacks. Many warnings and several attacks, some successful, have been made on the Underground. The earliest attack on the network was in 1885, when a bomb exploded on a Metropolitan line train at Euston Square station. The

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

and its predecessors carried out over ten separate attacks between 1939 and 1993. By far the deadliest terrorist attack was the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

, in which 52 people were killed in four coordinated suicide bombings by

Islamic militants ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...

. The most recent attack causing damage was the

Parsons Green bombing On 15 September 2017, at around 08:20 BST (07:20 UTC), an explosion occurred on a District line train at Parsons Green Underground station, in London, England. Thirty people were treated in hospital or an urgent care centre, mostly for burn ...

on 15 September 2017, when a man detonated a homemade bomb on a District line train at Parsons Green station.

Tobacco and alcohol

Various regulations aim to improve safety on the Tube.

Smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

was allowed in certain carriages in trains until 9 July 1984. In the middle of 1987 smoking was banned for a six-month trial period in all parts of the Underground, and the ban was made permanent after the major

King's Cross fire The King's Cross fire was a 1987 fire in a London Underground station with 31 fatalities, after a fire under a wooden escalator suddenly spread into the underground ticket hall in a flashover. The fire began at approximately 19:30 on 18 Novembe ...

in November 1987. From 1 June 2008 an

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

ban was introduced on all TfL services. This change in policy was made by

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

soon after he was elected

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...

in May 2008. He claimed that a public transport drinking ban would reduce crime.

Fire risk

Following the 1987

as well as the permanent smoking ban on all London Underground premises, the programme of wooden escalator replacement was sped up, and stricter controls on the storage of materials were introduced.

Photography

Photography for private use is permitted in public areas of the Underground at the discretion of the station, but the use of

tripods A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...

and other supports is forbidden as it poses a danger in the often cramped spaces and crowds found underground.

Flash photography A flash is a device used in photography that produces a brief burst of light (typically lasting 1/1000 to 1/200 of a second) at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene. A major purpose of a flash is to illuminate a ...

is also forbidden as it may distract drivers and disrupt fire-detection equipment. For the same reason bright auto-focus assist lights should be switched off or covered when photographing in the Underground.

Criticism

The Underground's staff safety regimen has drawn criticism. In January 2002 it was fined £225,000 for breaching safety standards for workers. In court, the judge reprimanded the company for ''"sacrificing safety"'' to keep trains running ''"at all costs."'' Workers had been instructed to work in the dark with the power rails live, even during rainstorms. Several workers had received electric shocks as a result.

Staff safety training facility

A special staff training facility was opened at

West Ashfield tube station 'West Ashfield' is a staff training facility for the London Underground on the third floor of Ashfield House in West Kensington. It was opened in 2010 at a cost of £800,000. Facilities Designed by Reyneke Designs and completed in 2009, the faci ...

in TFL's Ashfield House,

West Kensington West Kensington, formerly North End, is an area in the ancient parish of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Charing Cross. It covers most of the London postal area of W14, includin ...

in 2010 at a cost of £800,000. Meanwhile, London Mayor,

, decided it should be demolished along with the

Earls Court Exhibition Centre Earls Court Exhibition Centre was a major international exhibition and events venue just west of central London. At its peak it is said to have generated a £2 billion turnover for the economy. It replaced exhibition and entertainment grounds, ...

as part of Europe's biggest regeneration scheme.

References

{{Reflist Part or all of this article has been copied from the article on

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

. London Underground