London Underground: Grim video shows just how dirty seats on the Tube are
TfL has said that the Underground trains are deep-cleaned every 28 days
A rank video that went viral on social media reveals just how dirty the seats are on the London Underground.
Be warned after watching this, you might think twice about taking a seat next time you’re on the Tube.
The video, shared by SWNS, shows buckets of filthy water coming from the seats during a cleaning.
Cleaner Steven James, 55, started posting cleaning videos from “high traffic areas” on his Instagram in 2020 - including a theatre.
The light-hearted content was intended to promote his carpet cleaning business, Mr Carpet Clean, which he has been running for seven years.
Now, the Hertfordshire dad-of-five has gone viral over a clip of him and his team steam-cleaning seats on a moving Northern Line tube.
Mr James said: “I have got quite a good following on Instagram, and they like seeing the dirty buckets and results of what we clean. The dirtier the better.
“We thought of lots of very high traffic areas such as buses, cinemas, theatres, doctors surgeries etc. and decided tubes were the best.
“We do this every day but that dirt was excessive. It is definitely up there with one of the worst we have seen.”
The grandad-of-three says he was really shocked by how many people watched and loved the video.
The company's Instagram page alone now has more than 26k followers.
The cleaning team says they will definitely be doing more videos in the future, but will not reveal where they are planning to hit next.
Mr James added: “My kids begged me to join Instagram and against all my kicking and screaming I joined in 2020. People enjoyed watching me work and it developed from there.
“It takes time, but before you know it you put one post out and everybody loves it and shares it. My followers just kept going up. It really caught me off guard. Before you knew it everybody jumped on it.
“Across all platforms we got in excess of ten million, which is just phenomenal. A good reaction to any video is nice to see. It was great to know that people enjoyed what we did.”
After some discussions with TfL, Mr James decided to take down the video, which he says was in everyone’s best interests.
He said: “It is not for me to judge another organisation or company on their cleaning regime.”
A TfL spokesperson has said that the actions taken in this viral video were dangerous to the cleaners and train passengers.
They said: "Our cleaning schedule for Tube trains consists of two different levels of cleaning: pre-service cleans (daily), and a deep clean of the interior and exterior of the train around every 28 days.
“All floors and surfaces are cleaned daily on every train as part of the pre-service clean. Seats are inspected and cleaned as required during this pre-service clean, with further cleaning as part of the deep clean.”