The World united for the 10th annual No Trousers Tube Ride this week, as commuters got half naked on the tube networks all around the globe. If you weren’t aware of 2019’s instalment – make sure you strip off next year.
The London Underground was part of the action. Crowds met outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square before heading underground, boarding trains on different Tube lines across the capital. More than 100 people piled on to the Piccadilly Line, where they struggled to remove their trousers due to the large crowds.
Regular Sunday passengers were left wondering WTF, as men and women sat in their bold underwear, talking, reading and taking pictures of each other. After changing to the Jubilee Line at Green Park, the group got off at Canary Wharf to do some aerobics on the platform (like you do) before jumping on another train. Other groups set off for London landmarks, including an almost obligatory visit to Parliament.
One participant said “I quite like the sentiment behind it, instead of a stiff upper lip, it’s having a bit of a laugh. I did especially pick out my pants, you have got to pick out a nice opaque pair. You don’t want to provide too much of a spectacle.”
The event is part of the worldwide No Pants Subway Ride, which began in New York in 2002 and has since spread to over 60 cities around the globe, including Tokyo, Jerusalem, Berlin, Amsterdam and Moscow. The London event was organised by the Stiff Upper Lip Society, who instructed participants to ‘avoid thongs/budgie-smugglers/anything see-through though, as we aim to amuse, not offend, fellow Underground users’.
Is it in aid of charity, I hear you ask? Nope.
One of the organisers commented: ‘There is no point to it, we are not campaigning or raising awareness of anything. People just have fun doing it, it’s a bit of a nonsense day out. You very rarely get people who are offended..’
With the shitshow that is Brexit right now, what a breath of fresh air for Londoners.
