The No Trousers Tube Ride 2024 Returns To London This Weekend

For the uninitiated, the event is exactly what it sounds like: people getting together to ride the tube with no trousers on. In the interest of keeping things legal, underwear with decent coverage IS required.
It started in 2002, with New York's No Pants Subway Ride (steady on: 'pants' in the USA are, of course, what we call trousers), and it's since become an international event. Last year, it took place on the Elizabeth line for the first time.

Why? Fun. Nothing more, nothing less. We went along for the ride in 2019, and spoke to our trouserless co-commuters to find out why they were taking part.

How to take part in the No Trousers Tube Ride

Anyone can take part in the No Trousers Tube Ride. To join in, head to the meeting point in Chinatown by by 2.45pm on 7 January, for a 3pm departure (trews and all other clothes still firmly on at this point, please, and remember a bag to carry your trousers in later on).

Here, the event organisers will split partici-pants into groups, and you'll follow a group leader into a nearby station. Only once you're inside the tube station are trousers removed, and people board a tube train. Here's where it gets fun — the point is to act nonchalant about your detrousered state. Read a newspaper, scroll through your phone, just do whatever you'd normally do on the tube.

The exact route isn't advertised ahead of time, as organisers are keen that only people willing to remove their trousers and take part turn up. So only go along if you're willing to bear some flesh. Not too much though — no thongs, banana hammocks or mankinis. Someone's got to sit on that tube seat after you, you know.

The No Trousers Tube Ride takes place on 7 January 2024. It's free to take part (except for the tube fare), no booking required.

A woman standing outside Canary Wharf station in a jumper, coat, socks, shoes and pants - but no trousers. Image: Samantha Rea/Londonist

What’s different for 2024
It should be noted that while the spirit of the ride remains the same, this is not the same No Trousers Tube Ride that has been dropping trous since 2009. The original organisers, The Stiff Upper Lip Society, have chosen to cease all future No Trousers Tube Rides. They decided to stop because the American iteration (and other events worldwide) have also stopped taking place.

a photograph of trouserless tube ridersCredit: The Stiff Upper Lip Society, via Facebook
Last year, two separate No Trousers Tube Ride events took place simultaneously. One was organised by the Stiff Upper Lip Society, while the other was organised by a prior member of the group, Dave Selkirk. This year’s No Trousers Tube Ride is the second event from Selkirk, with no event this year from prior organisers.

Said organiser Dave Selkirk:
It’s been a popular event for so many years because it’s an event just for the sake of fun. It’s a very welcoming crowd and pictures over the years show what a great time everyone has. With all the sadness or seriousness out there in the world today, it’s a privilege to live in London and have an event such as this where we can just let go and have fun.

I’ve been involved for 6 years as a group leader and organiser, and when Stuff Upper Lip said they weren’t doing it this year I decided I’d like it to still go ahead.

Stiff Upper Lip felt it had run it’s course, I feel there’s still a huge demand for it, and that there is still a huge benefit to holding it.

Oh, and by the way – there are also Tube strike to contend with this year! With Tube services expected to end earlier than usual on Saturday, customers have been advised by TfL to complete their tube journeys by 5:30pm. Nonetheless, the event is going ahead – clearly not past 5:30pm though…

The No Trousers Tube Ride deets
The event starts at 3:00pm in Chinatown opposite the Canton Restaurant (use postcode WC2H 7JR to find it). Participants are asked to arrive at 2:45pm before the horde splits off into smaller groups to catch the tube. Participants are told to arrive in ordinary clothes—it is pretty nippy out there, after all—and they’ll be given the signal to discard their britches once they’ve boarded the train.

And no you can’t cheat by wearing a long skirt or a dress. That defies the whole point! It’s about the silliness inherent in someone wearing no trousers and acting nonchalant about it all! Previous years have seen participants wearing OTT undies (including Tube-themed examples) but this year’s organiser has a different idea.

This year’s No Trousers riders are asked to “keep the (under)pants as normal or low-key as possible, so it looks like you’ve just forgotten your trousers.”

a trouserless group of people posing for a photo after the no trousers tube ride 2023Credit: Dave Selkirk – via Official No Trousers Tube Ride 2024
Following the trouserless journey, the event description promises a (presumably also trouserless?) after-party as everyone meets up for a drink to discuss the event.

NB: In America, it may be called the no PANTS ride, but please remember to keep your pants (UK) firmly around your tooshie. And yes, one of the requirements is pants with sufficient coverage. Let’s keep it relatively PG here, eh folks?

Source：By Laura Reynolds， https://londonist.com/london/latest-news/no-trousers-tube-ride-2024；https://secretldn.com/no-trousers-on-the-tube-london/