London’s world famous Tube map will undergo a radical change with six new line names unveiled that will feature alongside the likes of the long established Piccadilly, Jubilee and Victoria Underground lines.
One of those new lines will be named after an English soccer team, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.
But the change has been slammed by some due to the $11.6 million price tag to change signage at hundreds of stations.
The new names have also been criticised as “woke” and “virtue signalling nonsense” as several are a nod to either women’s rights, London’s racial diversity or the battle against HIV/AIDS.
The grumbles mirror gripes in Sydney when Transport for NSW announced a new Metro station would be named Gadigal after the local Indigenous owners,
Transport for London (TfL), which runs the UK capital’s transport services, has announced a plan to make the London Overground network simpler for Londoners and tourist by giving each of its lines proper names.
The London Overground is a suburban rail network which, as the name suggests, runs mostly at surface level. It complements the London Underground network which is known around the world.
The Overground began operating in 2007 and was added to the classic Tube map with the line coloured orange.
But as the network has increased in disparate parts of London, more and more orange lines have appeared on the map. TfL has said the 200 million users of the system are getting confused with multiple links all over London all of which are simply called “Overground”.
New line names
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said six new line names and colours would be introduced this year.
“Giving each of the Overground lines distinct colours and identities will make it simpler and easier for passengers to get around,” he said.
“In re-imagining London’s tube map, we are also honouring and celebrating different parts of London’s unique local history and culture.”
One line runs from central Londion to Watford via Wembley where the famous football stadium is located.
It will be coloured yellow and known as the Lioness line, which “honours the historic achievements and lasting legacy created by the England women’s football team,” TfL stated.
“We’re so pleased to see recognition of the historic achievements of our England women’s team with the newly named Lioness line,” said Football Association CEO Mark Bullingham.
The route that runs from Islington in north London to swathes of south London will be coloured red and called the Windrush line.
The Empire Windrush was a boat that in 1948 brought 800 immigrants from the Caribbean to London which is seen as a landmark in modern multiculturalism in Britain.
“The Windrush line runs through areas with strong ties to Caribbean communities today, such as Dalston, Peckham and Croydon and honours the Windrush generation who continue to shape and enrich London’s cultural and social identity today,” TfL said.
The Suffragette line is named in remembrance of the women’s rights movement with the longest surviving Suffragette Annie Hugget, who died aged 103, living close to the route.
The Mildmay line celebrates the Mildmay Hospital which opened in 1860 severing the working class of London’s East End and played a pivotal role in caring for people who had HIV/AIDS in the 1980s.
The Weaver line runs through areas of London known for their links to the textile trade while the Liberty line “celebrates the freedom that is a defining feature of London”.
The Overground branding and orange colour will remain on trains and stations in the same way tube line names exist alongside the famous London Underground name and logo.
But signage to platforms and on maps – including the famous Tube map – will change to reflect the new names and colours.
$11.6 million price tag
That process is expected to cost £6.3 million ($11.6m) and will take until the end of the year to complete.
A number of people online questioned whether millions should be spent on rebranding a pre-existing transport network during a cost of living crisis and on the day the UK slid into recession.
“What a waste of money. We need a service that runs to timetable first and has more drivers,” said passenger Ann Smith on TfL’s own post about the project.
“I thought TfL was in a financial crisis? Clearly not if there is six million to spare to re-name a few train lines,” said another.
‘Virtue signalling nonsense’
Labour’s Mr Khan is up for re-election this year as London Mayor. His opponent from the Conservative Party, Susan Hall, rubbished the changes saying he should be more focused on solving issues such as knife crime in the city which has led to scores of deaths.
“1000 people have been killed under his Mayoralty, and yet Sadiq Khan is only interested in this virtue signalling nonsense,” Ms Hall told the Daily Mail.
“The only surprise from today’s announcement is that he hasn’t named one of them the Sadiq line”.
Conservative MP Bob Blackman said it was “another woke idea from a mayor who becomes more ridiculous every day”.
But others has broadly welcomed the new line names – both for bringing some sense to the burgeoning Overground network and because of the associations of the new names to London’s history.
“Good move – especially the new colour for each line,” said Ari Georgiou.
“Makes it easier to identify and navigate the Overground”.
The Elizabeth line, which opened in 2022, is part of TfL but is separate to both the Underground and Overground.
It’s an express metro service in central London and commuter train in the suburbs.
Since it opened, the Elizabeth line has become the UK’s single busiest rail line with around 60 million passengers every three months.
It was named after Queen Elizabeth II, reportedly on the orders of former UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
The Queen opened the new line – which has a royal purple colour scheme – just months before her death.