London Underground: Male/Female Passenger Percentages

RMT has obtained the following statistics showing how what proportion of London Underground's passengers are male and female:

  • Commuters (59.7%): 59.14 % male / 40.86% female
  • Leisure (35.8%): 54.36% male / 45.64% female
  • Tourists (04.5%): 56.44% male / 43.56% female
  • Total (100%): 57.31% male / 42.69% female

These figures show that significantly more men travel on London Underground than women, which reflects a continuing gender division and inequality in our society.

There are no doubt several reasons for this. The gap is at its widest in the 'commuter' category, which may reflect that women are more likely to work nearer home and walk or use the bus to get to work, and men more likely to 'commute' further distances and use the Tube. The higher number of men in the other categories may well reflect the fact that men still have higher wages and more economic independence than women do, and may also have more 'spare time' as women are more likely to have caring responsibilities for children and other family members. These are social causes over which London Underground Ltd specifically has some, but little, influence.

However, there may well be factors over which London Underground Ltd has significant control, and which could well see its proposed cuts in station staffing make this gender inequality even worse.

  • Women are more likely to travel with children and/or shopping. They may therefore find London Underground less accessible and harder to travel on than men do, particuarly if there are few staff available to assist.
  • Women may be more fearful for their safety and personal security when travelling on the Tube, particularly late at night and particular through stations which lack visible staff.

On both these issues, the availability of station staff is essential in ensuring that women can travel with ease and confident of their safety. The removal of 800 staff from stations will therefore make travelling more difficult and stressful for many women passengers, and may lead to a widening of the inequalities between men's and women's travel that already exist.

This is yet another reason to resist London Underground's proposals to cut station staff.