London’s Tube map is going to get a big change, with the orange London Overground lines being given individual names and colors, in a bid to make it less confusing for tourists and locals to navigate the network.
London’s iconic Tube map is set for a significant change as Transport for London (TfL) unveiled new names and colors for the six Overground lines. The move comes after TfL announced last August that it wanted to give the routes distinct identities to make it easier for passengers to navigate the network.
The six lines will now be known as the Lioness Line, the Mildmay Line, the Windrush Line, the Weaver Line, the Suffragette Line, and the Liberty Line. Each of them will have a unique color, replacing the existing orange line.
The new names and colors, designed to simplify the maps and routes for commuters, were developed after working with customers, stakeholders, historians, industry experts, and local communities, with the names representing the areas the lines travel through while marking London’s history and cultural diversity.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said the new names were “honoring and celebrating different parts of London’s unique local history and culture.” However, the new design has received criticism from conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall, who called the rebranding “stuff of nonsense,” adding that Mr. Khan has “so many serious issues he needs to get to grip with.”
Personally, Londontopia is happy to see this change as it will make the map easier to understand for us visitors. The massive blob of orange on the map never made particular sense at first glance. This will give each line a distinct identity and make it easier to navigate for tourists, more in line with what Harry Beck intended when he designed the famous diagram Tube Map in the 1930s.
TfL’s designers hope that the new design will improve the travel experience for commuters. The current Overground network is shown as a complicated network of orange, which can be confusing for passengers less familiar with the network. The new names and line colors will simplify the maps and routes for customers, and it is hoped that it will encourage more people to make the most of the services.
The Tube map has become a London and global icon with a simple and easy design. However, with the introduction of the Thameslink route and Elizabeth line, critics say the map is getting too busy. TfL has assured that the new design will make it easier for passengers to navigate the network.
Work to rebrand the lines will start immediately, with the main rollout of the new names and colors planned to take place across a week in the autumn. TfL said it hoped to complete the revamp by the end of the year (2024).
The new names and colors will give the Overground lines a unique identity and make it easier for commuters to navigate the network. The new design will also celebrate London’s unique history and culture while simplifying the maps and routes for customers.
There is already a chorus of people who hate the names and people who are making their own parody list of names. As if there has never been controversy before when it comes to naming things like this. Either way – this is the list. I don’t expect it to change, even if there’s a new mayor.
What the New London Overground Line names mean
Lioness line
Yellow parallel lines: Running through Wembley, the name to honor the achievements of the England women’s football team.
Mildmay line
Blue parallel lines: It has been named after the small charitable hospital in Shoreditch, which played an important role during the HIV/Aids crisis in the 1980s.
Windrush line
Red parallel lines: Running through several areas with strong ties to Caribbean communities, including Dalston Junction, Peckham Rye, and West Croydon, it has been named to honor the Windrush community.
Weaver line
Maroon parallel lines: With stops including Liverpool Street, Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, and Hackney, the route travels through several areas of London known for their importance in the textile trade.
Suffragette line
Green parallel lines: Named to celebrate how London’s East End working-class community fought for women’s rights, the line also runs to Barking, home of the longest-surviving suffragette, Annie Huggett, who died aged 103.
Liberty line
Grey parallel lines: According to TfL, it is named “to reference the historical independence of the people of the borough of Havering”, through which it runs, as well as the celebrating “a defining feature of London.”
What the new London Overground Map Looks Like from Autumn 2024
Transport for London has released a new map of the Overground with the new lines and names. This is what it looks like (click to view a larger version):
What the new Tube Map Looks Like from Autumn 2024
They have also released what the new Tube map will look like with the new lines and colors integrated into it this fall. This is probably the biggest change to the Tube map since the addition of the Elizabeth Line.
Author: jonathan
Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile who launched Anglotopia.net in 2007 to channel his passion for Britain. Londontopia is its sister publication dedicated to everything London.