Tube Travel Only Intimacy For Most Londoners

Travelling On Underground Is Only Form Of Intimate Physical Contact For 80% Of Londoners

A new survey has found that for 80% of Londoners, being crushed against the
body of a complete stranger on a packed underground train is the only time they
get to experience any intimate, physical contact.

"It's the closest I get to a meaningful relationship," said one female commuter.
"I touched the elbow of a really nice guy two weeks ago. But it didn't last. He
had to get off at Tottenham Court Road."

The pressure of modern city life has made forming relationships increasingly
difficult. With alternative methods of meeting people such as personal ads and
dating agencies still stigmatised, many Londoners remain frustratingly single.
For them, travelling on an overcrowded tube train represents the only time they
can be physically close to another person.

"What we are seeing is an evolution in human interaction," says Professor John
Lister, lecturer in Social Sciences at Cambridge University. "Instead of seeing
relationships in terms of months or years, people are now seeing them in terms
of minutes, or the number of stops on their tube journey."

Jackie (not her real name) has had numerous underground affairs: "The first time
was on the Bakerloo line, between Kilburn Park and Maida Vale. He was older
than me, mid-forties I'd say. The train lurched forward and I felt his briefcase
dig into my thigh. Well, one thing led to another and soon our shoulders were
rubbing. We parted company without saying a word. I did see him again some
time later inside a Pret a Manger, but somehow it wasn't the same."

The frequency of her tube journeys and the variety of fellow travellers means
Jackie has had the opportunity to experiment: "My first experience with another
woman was on the District Line. We were sitting next to each other and as the
train stopped at Earl's Court, her handbag just rubbed against my left forearm.
It was exhilerating. It takes another woman to know how to do that, I think."

But these 'wham, bam, mind-the-gap' relationships can be dangerously
addictive: "Once I took a morning off and went in to work on a half empty
train," says Jackie. "The nearest person was four seats away. I felt so lonely,
I actually cried."

London Underground have so far declined to comment.