Euston station is piloting the ‘Cooling the Tube’ project, which channels cool air into the ticket office, supervisor’s office, some of the platforms and the gateline. Whoever designed it allowed it to be turned off in Winter for all areas – except the gateline. So the gateline staff froze. A thermometer was installed. Temperatures got as low as -3 degrees! When this happened, the supervisor threatened to close the station until the system was disabled. After weeks of complaining, this did the trick and staff are now back to their normal temperature. But this goes to show the conditions they will make us work in unless we do something about it. It’s also further evidence that refurbishments don’t consider staff well-being. Often a shiny new station will leave the staff with the same minimal facilities.
