IELTS Speaking Part 1

Underground trains: questions and Band 8 answers

The examiner asks three to five short questions on two or three everyday topics in the first four to five minutes. Here are 5 questions about underground trains written by BandLadder in the examiner's style, each with a Band 8 sample answer. Aim for two or three sentences each: answer, reason, one detail.
  • 5 questions
  • 5 Band 8 answers
  • 4 to 5 minutes

5 answers

Sample answers

1

Do you often travel by underground train?

Yes, pretty much every weekday. I take the underground to get to my workplace in the city centre because the roads are always gridlocked during the morning rush hour. It only takes about twenty minutes door to door, which saves me a massive amount of time.

2

What do you usually do while travelling on the underground?

To be honest, I mostly listen to podcasts on my mobile phone. Because mobile reception can be a bit patchy beneath the surface, I always download an episode or two before I leave my flat. It helps the journey fly by, especially when carriages are packed.

3

Do you prefer underground trains or buses?

I definitely lean towards underground trains. Buses are nice if you want to look out the window and take in the scenery, but they get held up in traffic far too often. The metro system is just way more punctual and reliable, in my experience.

4

Did you use underground trains much when you were a child?

Hardly ever, actually. I grew up in a fairly small coastal town where we didn't have an underground rail network at all. The first time I ever rode one was on a school holiday trip to London when I was about twelve, and I found it fascinating.

5

Do you think underground transport in your area could be improved?

I suppose so, yes. While the trains run regularly, the air conditioning often struggles during the hotter summer months, making the commute quite stifling. Extending the lines to cover more outlying suburbs would also be a great step forward for commuters.

Details are invented. Use the shape, not the sentences: examiners mark memorised answers down.

Answer out loud and get a band

The AI examiner asks Part 1 questions like these, listens, and scores fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, with the words that cost you.

Log in to practise this with AI scoring — free →

8 words

Useful vocabulary

  • gridlocked

    completely blocked with stationary traffic

  • rush hour

    the busy times when people travel to or from work

  • patchy

    inconsistent or unreliable in quality

  • fly by

    to pass very quickly, referring to time

  • held up

    delayed or prevented from moving forward

  • punctual

    arriving or happening at the scheduled time

  • stifling

    uncomfortably warm and lacking fresh air

  • outlying suburbs

    residential areas located far from the city centre

  • →Use specific transit vocabulary like 'commute', 'rush hour', or 'punctual' rather than just repeating simple words like 'fast' or 'busy'.
  • →Contrast underground transport with road travel, such as buses or taxis, to demonstrate grammatical range and clear reasoning.
  • →If you grew up in a place without a subway system, state that naturally and talk about your first experience visiting a major city.

Keep practising

More Part 1 topics

© 2026 BandLadder. Written and checked by the BandLadder team. You may quote or cite this page with credit to BandLadder and a link to it; republishing it in full needs our written permission. Content use policy

Log in to practise free