Noisy Tube trains in a London neighbourhood are stopping people from being able to chat in their own back gardens, a City Hall politician has said.
Screeching sounds coming from the so-called 'Kingsbury Curve' - a sharp bend in the Jubilee line between Wembley Park and Kingsbury stations - are causing misery and sleep deprivation, said local London Assembly Member (AM) Krupesh Hirani.
The Labour AM for Brent and Harrow said the sounds were so piercing that they were stopping people from being able to hold conversations in the gardens of homes that back onto the line.
Mr Hirani said: “The impact on people is severe. I think particularly now, as it starts to warm up, I can only imagine that complaints to TfL, and to myself, will increase because residents want to enjoy the outdoors and time in their gardens.”
He added that the noise was causing residents to lose sleep, made worse by the fact that the Jubilee line, as part of the Night Tube, runs all through the night on Fridays and Saturdays.
In a written question to Mayor Sadiq Khan, Mr Hirani asked what steps were being taken to tackle the problem.
Mr Khan replied: “Tube noise is a priority both for me and for Transport for London (TfL).
“TfL expects to carry out rail grinding on the northbound track in this area in spring 2023. Also on the northbound track, TfL plans to trial running daytime trains at a higher speed in summer 2023, which may benefit noise levels. This is due to the cant of the rails, where a higher speed could reduce the amount of unwanted friction which causes noise.”
The rail grinding process involves grinding the tracks to remove corrosion and deformations, ensuring that the rails are as smooth as possible.
Mr Khan added: “The entire Jubilee line fleet is undergoing an overhaul which will include the installation of new on-train lubricators. This is scheduled to be complete by summer 2024. TfL is confident that the new lubricators will help to manage noise levels in this area.”
After being raised as a problem for several years, Mr Hirani said he was glad TfL seemed now to “absolutely recognise it as an issue” by trialling different solutions.
“The priority for me is to stop any delay and really try and seek to address this,” he said.
