What is it like to get up in the morning and get on the subway in London on your way to work?

It can get tiring especially when you have to get the first train at 5am. In that case no, I don't get a coffee. I go have breakfast just before we open at 7 and I make my own hot chocolate. If I am running late, then I will go to the nearest shop that is open at that time in the morning and get my drink and a pain au chocolat or something. Generally sainsbury's is open, it opens at 7 so I am the first customer there. Travelling by tube can get stressful when you turn up at 5 in the morning to find that the station has shut due to signal failures or engineering works. That makes you late for work and it just seems like a typical excuse to the manager. Otherwise it's a very fast method of travelling though it can be expensive. 20 years ago, there weren't that many people using the tube but these days its a very common use of transports with billions using it, including tourists, locals and commuters. This is probably due to the increase in tourism and jobs that are available that people need to get to from afar.

It is simply awful - hot, overcrowded etc. The Underground has become so much busier in the last 20 years, which is why when I lived in London I took the bus. The journey took 30 minutes longer but I could always sit and there was some ventilation

it tends to be a time to disappear within yourself be it via book/newspaper; mp3 player; merely switching off your brain. it is a means to an end. depending on your starting point/destination it can be uncomfortably busy too.

I really enjoy my journey in to work, of course the underground does have its downsides. I am at an advantage because I get on at Kennington (in zone 2, 1 stop from zone 1) and I have thankfully learnt that every other tube on the Northbound via Charring Cross is totally empty having come from no other stations, so I time it and get on that one, ensuring a seat, I also laugh to myself and breath the word 'idiots' at all the fools getting on a packed train when in 45 seconds, another comes along totally empty. I get off at Camden Town, zone 2, by which point all the business has also died down! The downsides are people who are slow and unprepared, i.e the IDIOTS who get to the ticket barrier, and then begin opening their bag for their ticket - you need to have it in hand, ready to go and act fast. The same goes for people stood on the left on the escalators, serious no-go and nothing annoys me more than people stood on the left who then get uppity with you for asking them to move, especially when there are signs everywhere informing people to stand on the right. Once out at Camen Town I get a coffee in starbucks and walk in to work, nice and calm, having sat for the length of my journey giving me time to read/play angry birds!!

No. People don't have time for a doughnut. It's just a slog to work. If you commute by tube (subways are pedestrian tunnels in UK) or any public transport, it's better outside rush hours. I worked in Central London for a while. I had to carry survey equipment in crowded trains. It was no fun. I caught every cold under the sun until I built up an immunity.

We don't call it the Subway, It's the Underground or getting on the Tube.

depressing, crowded, no chance of a seat

Its so much fun!