Tube Mice & New Infra

[MasterYoda]

How long before tube Mice spread into the Elizabeth line infra?
Are they there already?
Have heavy works up till now scared them off?
Can they even spread on new infra or do the new fire break elements such as platform screen doors stop them getting too far?
Are they being monitored for any sort of scientific curiosity?

 

[LowLevel]

Rats and mice can get pretty much anywhere. They're all over the railway and I'd be shocked if they weren't down there.

 

[busestrains]

I have already seen them on the Elizabeth Line platforms at both Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road in the late evening. So they are already there. They have probably been there ever since construction work started. There are thousands and thousands of mice and rats on the London Underground network so it would be incredibly difficult to stop them spreading to the Elizabeth Line network.

 

[Mikey C]

I would have assumed that the new and slightly austere Liz Line platform and passageway walls have fewer of the gaps that tube mice use to get to and from their shelter though?

 

[O L Leigh]

There was a fox living on the 72nd floor of The Shard while the building was still under construction, so rats and mice in the "Lizzie" would hardly be a surprise.

 

[alxndr]

I would have assumed that the new and slightly austere Liz Line platform and passageway walls have fewer of the gaps that tube mice use to get to and from their shelter though?

I’ve not been down the Elizabeth line, but unless it’s completely sealed mice will find a way. I’ve personally seen droppings in a transformer sealed except for a 22mm hole and young/small mice can certainly get in much smaller than that.

 

[pdeaves]

Mice can, I believe, collapse their rib cages, allowing them to squeeze through insanely small holes.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Mice can, I believe, collapse their rib cages, allowing them to squeeze through insanely small holes.

They can squeeze themselves through a gap of just over 3mm...

 

[birchesgreen]

Having battled a mouse incursion in the past i can confirm their ability to get through the tiniest of gaps is true.

 

[Mordac]

Time to get a flock of station cats for the Liz Line.

 

[Mikey C]

Time to get a flock of station cats for the Liz Line.

It would be a weird life for a cat that far below the surface, but quite safe with the platform edge doors. And if they board a train when the doors are open, they can hop off at the next station and catch the mice there

 

[ScottGallagher]

Does the Underground / Network Rail have a dedicated pest control team that bait the tunnels and lineside to deal with rats and mice or is it outsourced to say Rentokil?

 

[swt_passenger]

It would be a weird life for a cat that far below the surface, but quite safe with the platform edge doors. And if they board a train when the doors are open, they can hop off at the next station and catch the mice there

They could maybe have a wireless operated platform edge catflap?

 

[DarloRich]

There must be more rate and mice than people in London. They will already have colonised the EL tunnels.

It would be a weird life for a cat that far below the surface, but quite safe with the platform edge doors. And if they board a train when the doors are open, they can hop off at the next station and catch the mice there

they will need a season ticket - or would that class as duty travel?

 

[Evelynm]

Time to get a flock of station cats for the Liz Line.

Can't see that CATching on

 

[Howardh]

There must be more rate and mice than people in London. They will already have colonised the EL tunnels.

they will need a season ticket - or would that class as duty travel?

Just a Mousester Card!


I'll get my coat...

 

[DustyBin]

Does the Underground / Network Rail have a dedicated pest control team that bait the tunnels and lineside to deal with rats and mice or is it outsourced to say Rentokil?

In the past they had their own team, they used to use ferrets and small terriers to hunt rats and mice. There are photos online. I’m not sure about now though.

 

[Trackman]

In the past they had their own team, they used to use ferrets and small terriers to hunt rats and mice. There are photos online. I’m not sure about now though.

TfL reckon there are over half a million mice in the tube network.

 

[alxndr]

Does the Underground / Network Rail have a dedicated pest control team that bait the tunnels and lineside to deal with rats and mice or is it outsourced to say Rentokil?

Network Rail use Mitie. They don't bait as standard, just if there's an issue as there's no way you can keep the whole network rodent free. Rat brush, expanding foam, and shingle are all variously deployed to make it harder/less attractive for them to get in to problem places.

 

[ijmad]

It's not like a platform is someone's home where children might be touching the floors. They should be considered 'outside' surfaces, as dirty as pavements, which are caked in plenty of nasty stuff. Don't really see that the mice as much of a hazard so long as they don't start multiplying out of control and take over down there, but it's not like there's unlimited food.

 

[WesternBiker]

I wonder if the Elizabeth Line will eventually develop a distinct genetic population of mice, as found on the other deep level lines?

I recall seeing mice running around the deep level sections of Westminster Station very soon after the Jubilee line was opened. So I'm sure they will rapidly breed and spread on the Elizabeth line. As others have said, they can squeeze through very small gaps – 5mm (a pencil width) - and they can also jump up to 24cm. So I don't suppose platform doors are going to slow their progress...

 

[pdeaves]

So I don't suppose platform doors are going to slow their progress...

Even if a platform door was enough, they would slip through when they open for a train anyway.

 

[Dave W]

There was a fox living on the 72nd floor of The Shard while the building was still under construction, so rats and mice in the "Lizzie" would hardly be a surprise.

Then the sods forced out the original occupier with their £20 glasses of champagne. Gentrification eh?

I've seen quite a few people lose the plot at the sight of the LU mice - but they're pretty entertaining to follow on a quiet platform. I'd be less enamoured if an example of the vicious demon-rats of the London underworld popped up on to the platform, mind.