The Best & Worst Tube Lines To Move On

No matter where you live in the country, moving house has often been referred to as one of the most stressful life experiences. And moving day takes the cake as the peak of that process. From doing last minute cleaning and taking utility meter readings, to loading up a moving van, there’s a whole checklist of things to consider when moving house.

The cost of moving isn’t cheap, and while some people opt to move the majority of their belongings in the car, others choose to use public transport if they can’t drive. In the nation’s capital, many people who are moving to a different area of London are transporting their most treasured personal items in several journeys via the tube.

But the London Underground system is famously overcrowded, and not all tube lines are designed to make transporting luggage easy. So it begs the question, which tube lines are really the easiest to move on?

To work out which lines would provide movers and travellers with the smoothest moving journey, we analysed each TfL tube line using a number of different factors including average temperature, number of passengers, number of delayed journeys and percentage of stations with a lift.

The Most Stressful Tube Lines To Move On

1. Central line - 32/100

2. Victoria line - 32/100

3. Bakerloo line - 33/100

4. Northern line - 34/100

5. Piccadilly line - 37/100

Our research revealed the most stressful line to move on or travel with luggage is the Victoria or Central line, both of which hit the lowest score of 32 out of 100.

The Victoria line, which services stations including Euston, Kings Cross St Pancras, Victoria and Brixton, sees over 15.1 million passengers per mile of its track each year, making it the most serviced line of all of the lines analysed. Temperatures on the Victoria line sit at around 27.6 degrees on average, which could make for a cramped and sweaty journey if you were having to travel with all your belongings. Not only this, but with regular delays and only half the line’s stations offering lift access, the Victoria line might be one to avoid if possible when moving house via public transport.

Despite the Central Line offering popular stations such as Stratford, Liverpool Street and Bank, it ranks joint first as the worst tube line to move on. In terms of temperate, the Central Line doesn’t fall far behind Victoria, hitting over 26 degrees in the summer months. The line also experiences a particularly high number of delays (or lost customer hours per passengers per mile), making it for a stressful and uncomfortable journey.

Following behind and making up the top five most stressful tube lines to travel and move belongings are the Bakerloo line (33/100), Northern line (34/100) and Piccadilly line (37/100).

The Least Stressful Tube Lines To Move On

1. Waterloo and City line - 78/100
2. Metropolitan line - 57/100
3. Circle, Hammersmith and City lines - 43/100
4. Jubilee line - 42/100
5. District line - 41/100

The Waterloo and City Line, colloquially known as ‘The Drain’, ranks top as the easiest tube line to travel. Servicing Bank and Waterloo stations only, this tube line offers a very smooth journey. Offering cool temperatures, lifts at either end and minimal delays, it’s no surprise Waterloo and City takes the top spot.

Coming in at second place is the Metropolitan line, scoring 57 out of 100 thanks to its cool temperatures (an average 19.5 degrees) and low number of passengers per mile of track per year (1.6 million). The Metropolitan line services central London stations including Liverpool Street, Farringdon and Kings Cross St Pancras, but also reaches the likes of Chesham and Amersham in Buckinghamshire, providing those moving into London from further afield with the opportunity to travel directly into the capital.

Making up the remaining top five best tube lines to move and travel on are the Circle, and Hammersmith and City lines (43/100), Jubilee line (42/100) and District line (41/100).

Whether moving via tube or not, if you’re thinking of moving to London, find out how much your house could be worth.

Methodology

To calculate the most stressful underground lines to move on the, each tube line was given an index score /100 using a number of factors including:

• Number of passengers per mile of track per year
• Average temperature on the London tube line
• % of stations with a lift for each line
• The most delayed tube lunes, using lost customer hours data and the % of delayed hours per passenger

All data correct as of July 2023