Fluffer (London Underground)

This article is about the London underground. For other uses, see Fluffing (disambiguation).

On the London Underground, fluffer is the name given to a person employed to clean the tracks in the tunnels.[1] The passage of the trains through the tunnels draws in dust and rubbish. Removing this debris is essential to maintain the safety of the Underground, as it would otherwise create a fire hazard.[2]

The work is done at night during Engineering Hours, when the trains have finished running, and the electricity is switched off. Cleaning the tunnels is a heavy and dirty job, which has traditionally been a role carried out by teams of women.[3] In 1947, a newsreel made by British Pathé captured the fluffers on film carrying carbide lamps, long brushes and scraping tools. The rubbish was removed in dustbins, loaded onto a trolley that was drawn along the rails.[2]

In 1989, documentary filmmaker Molly Dineen chronicled the work of a team of fluffers at Angel station in Islington for a TV documentary called The Heart of the Angel.

These days, the fluffers have electric torches and protective clothing, and collect the dust in plastic bags.[1][4] Fluffer teams still tend to be mainly made up of women.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Science & Society Picture Library". National Railway Museum. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  2. 1 2 "A city sleeps" (B/W Newsreel). British Pathe. 1947. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  3. ↑ ""Mind The Gap" the story of Evelyn Roberts". St Andrew's Fulham. 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Hogg, Chris (1996). "Fluffer, Whitechapel Station, London, 1996.". National Railway Museum. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  5. ↑ "A team of 'fluffers', Whitechapel Station, London, November 1994.". National Railway Museum. 1994. Retrieved 20 September 2011.


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