Tube chat… London’s new badge draws attention

‘Tube chat’ badges are being handed out in London urging commuters to speak to one another on the London Underground.

Credit: @tube_chat/Twitter

The ‘Tube chat?’ badges, which are not endorsed by Transport for London (TfL), are part of a scheme encouraging passengers to talk to each other on the Tube. According to BBC News, an information card issued with the badge tells people they will “benefit from a daily chat”.

So far there has been a mixed reaction to the ‘Tube chat’ badges distributed on the London Underground network.

Tube chat badge not endorsed by TfL

The initiative is an unrelated offshoot of TfL’s ‘Baby on Board’ badge, and the recent ‘Please offer me a seat’ trial badge for people with hidden disabilities. Currently, 1,000 people are taking part in this month-long trial which will determine if the badge can help people access a seat and understand the reactions of other customers.

If successful, the ‘Please offer me a seat’ trial badge will become more widely available later this year from TfL.

Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, a TfL spokesperson said: “It’s definitely not something we have created. We are trying to get in touch with the people behind them as we never allow people to use our branding unless they have our permission.

“This sort of stuff is quite dangerous; we don’t want people to get confused.

“While it is an interesting idea, we don’t want people using our branding.”