This one is quite elegantWhat are people's favourite unofficial maps?
This one is quite elegantWhat are people's favourite unofficial maps?
Farringdon (east end - Barbican) has a connection to Barbican station‘s westbound platform only, but IIRC from a recent discussion it’s not designed as a high capacity link. The main Crossrail Barbican entrance building is completely separate to Barbican‘s street entrance, they’re about 150m apart along Long Lane, the Crossrail entrance being on the corner with Lindsey St, across from the SE corner of the main Smithfield Market building.Does Farringdon EL station have an exit through Barbican? Neither map linked above shows it.
While the tube map does show Moorgate and Liverpool Street joined, the NR/LU joint map doesn't.
It’s a single lift from the West end of the Westbound platform. Not really suitable for masses of flows.Does Farringdon EL station have an exit through Barbican?
This entrance would probably have been no more than fifty metres from the eastern entrance to Farringdon!Maybe they should have moved Barbican LU‘s entrance to it’s west end, but I guess that would have changed the old station’s centre of gravity completely.
In the interests of the passenger / customer ??Why would TfL advertise a service they don’t operate?
That's what the Tube and Rail map is for......In the interests of the passenger / customer ??
I don't know those places but I do know at Abbey wood thameslink is pretty much useless if you needed to use that day to day.Amersham, Chesham, Enfield Town, Southbury, Turkey Street, Theobalds Grove, Cheshunt, and Emerson Park are on the tube map and get 2tph for some or all of the day, and Roding Valley, Chigwell and Grange Hill only get 3tph.
Liverpool Street Crossrail station is technically Moorgate Underground, but it goes to both stations, and they are probably both a similar distance from the gateline to platform level. They both have two sets of escalators to reach the platform; Moorgate has an intermediate level concourse that is straight between the two escalators, whereas Liverpool Street one has a slight curve in it.I think Liverpool St looks very odd. I understand the EL platforms connect to Moorgate too but on the map it’s unclear which station the Elizabeth line serves
I do like that. So much clearer and cleaner than the official map, but shows much more. There's a few tweaks needed (it probably should be wider) but overThis one is quite elegant
I wonder whether things will be complicated further when Old Oak Common is opened. Going to be a very busy section of the map!There is also the anomaly that Acton (Main Line) is shown to the north of North Acton (Central Line) which is geographically incorrect. (I believe this was also shown on earlier versions). That area (which includes the Elizabeth Line, the Central Line and the North London Line) is very congested. To take the Elizabeth Line south of the Central Line would be very messy and it would only be until the Central Line terminates at Ealing Broadway anyway. But it is, of course, a diagram and not a map.
I don't know those places but I do know at Abbey wood thameslink is pretty much useless if you needed to use that day to day.
For me as a rail enthusiast to get people out of cars you need regular, reliable services. It would take someone just 2 or 3 cancellations of a 2 tph service where they are stranded at station pissing down with rain (for a brand spanking new station I can't believe abbey wood doesn't keep you covered from the elements) before you think 'screw this im getting a car'
He who pays the piper calls the tune. AFAIK people who get the SWR from Waterloo to Vauxhall do not contribute to the coffers of TfL, so the cartographer will be professionally obliged to ignore them. A free map can never be expected to serve the interest of the viewer.That's what the Tube and Rail map is for......
A sensible business would probably include them anyway, as even if they are not customers on that particular journey, they would be on other journeys. TfL isn't a commercial business, so it should be servicing the best interests of London in general, not just the income of TfLHe who pays the piper calls the tune. AFAIK people who get the SWR from Waterloo to Vauxhall do not contribute to the coffers of TfL, so the cartographer will be professionally obliged to ignore them. A free map can never be expected to serve the interest of the viewer.
Given they pay taxes, then of course they doHe who pays the piper calls the tune. AFAIK people who get the SWR from Waterloo to Vauxhall do not contribute to the coffers of TfL, so the cartographer will be professionally obliged to ignore them. A free map can never be expected to serve the interest of the viewer.
What are people's favourite unofficial maps?
Excellent. Having produced quite a few small rail maps, I can imagine how much work went into it.This one - a project I've worked on for a while and I'm still working on it...
Very interesting, good job!This one - a project I've worked on for a while and I'm still working on it...
Whose bright idea was it that five IKEA locations are featured ?
I‘ve never seen anyone carrying a flat pack wardrobe on the tube !
On the next map issue, will we see B & Q, Homebase and Wickes added ?
I agree, but doubt it will happen for very many years, if ever. Too much is (in)vested in the current tube map by too many, including the Mayor.Personally I think the tube map has become too cluttered. I'd have two maps:
1. Showing the Central London areas - say everying operating in zones 1 and 2
2. Showing everything in London - basically the London Connections map
If anything, I think that splitting it would improve the investment. Each tweak to the map takes it further away from the iconic design that can be printed on mugs and cushions. Dialing the main map back to zone 1+2 would probably restore its iconic status.I agree, but doubt it will happen for very many years, if ever. Too much is (in)vested in the current tube map by too many, including the Mayor.
Excellent. Having produced quite a few small rail maps, I can imagine how much work went into it.
I disagree with your decision to show the reversal at Bourne End on a geometric map. I know you are not alone in doing that, but hear me out! Look at your portrayal of the Southern services at London Bridge, and the Anglia services at Liverpool Street, and see that you have the same visual metaphor at Bourne End. But the Anglia services from Hackney Downs do not bounce out to Stratford, and the Southern services from South Bermondsey do not bounce out to New Cross Gate, so when you see Bourne End on your map differently to Liverpool Street or London Bridge, you are bringing your prior knowledge of how these stations work to the table without it actually being in the image. To reiterate, a lot of cartographers do this, but I think that reversals should never be shown as such.
On a related matter, there are hourly services between Waterloo and Kingston on a Sunday which run via Hounslow and reverse at Twickenham. I've never seen any map try to show that, but IMO Twickenham should be shown as a triangle with blobs on all three sides.
BTW, your map shows that there are no services from Crayford to Barnehurst. 10/10 for showing that, rather than going for the more geographic portrayal of that area which fails to make that clear, but when was the one train a day from Crayford to Barnehurst abolished?
Very interesting, good job!
This is super work. I love it. I really like the way you've included so much detail including parks and waterways. I think the official maps put too much weight on the lines, which cramps their style - and your approach looks fresh and more successful at dealing with the complexity.I don't think in principle there are too many lines on the tube map (Paris has what, 20ish lines on a tiny map), but the pocket size tube map isn't fit for purpose. Maybe consider having only a larger size and redraw some parts, especially Thameslink so it's neater. I don't know if it's true, but I've heard the Wimbledon Loop is actually busier on a weekend than pre-Covid. If it's a result of the Tube Map, then it can only be a good thing.
This one - a project I've worked on for a while and I'm still working on it...
Thanks for those comparison gifs - really interesting. I know the poster version has been criticised but in some areas it’s superior to the web version. Firstly because the Farringdon area looks neater (Thameslink straighter, Elizabeth crosses Piccadilly at 90°, Farringdon connector shorter). Secondly because the Northern line has one fewer kink at Elephant and Castle.So the web version of the Tube Map linked to at the start of this thread is basically the same as the old (pre-Elizabeth-Line) version (as can be found on Project Mapping), but with adjustments to fit in the new Crossrail core and Ikea logos, rerouting the Thames to Barking Riverside, etc.:
However, on a Tube station wall I saw a poster version of the Tube Map that had the lines laid out very differently despite containing the exact same information. I think it's identical to the Tube Map tweeted by TfL on 19th May (as linked to in the Crossrail Construction thread before discussion was split off to here), which I've aligned with the web version using Gloucester Road and Warren Street for comparison:
The poster/Twitter version received some criticism in the other thread, much of which not applying to the web version (e.g. the weirdness around Mile End, the Reading "outside fare zones" region appearing to be an island inside Zone 6, the Jubilee Line meandering unnecessarily between Waterloo and North Greenwich), so I wonder why the map part of the poster version was not just made to be identical to the web version (but with slightly smaller text and symbols, so that they're a sensible size on the poster)?
Or have I misunderstood and the "poster" version was really a first attempt at adding the Elizabeth Line, and the "web" version is a last-minute fix to address the criticism that just hasn't yet made it onto the station wall I was looking at?
(And apparently according to a random Twitter post, the pocket version, which I did not know still existed, is yet different again, but that's understandable as it's attempting to squeeze everything onto a smaller map.)
It seems to me that the 'Twitter version' is a first attempt at altering some proportions in order to make Barking Riverside make more sense, they've also managed to undo a little bit of the Thameslink weirdness (though a lot remains). Perhaps we will see an evolution of it, that addresses some of the mentioned faults without the pressure to rush back to the older design.The poster/Twitter version received some criticism in the other thread, much of which not applying to the web version (e.g. the weirdness around Mile End, the Reading "outside fare zones" region appearing to be an island inside Zone 6, the Jubilee Line meandering unnecessarily between Waterloo and North Greenwich), so I wonder why the map part of the poster version was not just made to be identical to the web version (but with slightly smaller text and symbols, so that they're a sensible size on the poster)?
Or have I misunderstood and the "poster" version was really a first attempt at adding the Elizabeth Line, and the "web" version is a last-minute fix to address the criticism that just hasn't yet made it onto the station wall I was looking at?
Indeed.Thanks for those comparison gifs - really interesting. I know the poster version has been criticised but in some areas it’s superior to the web version. Firstly because the Farringdon area looks neater (Thameslink straighter, Elizabeth crosses Piccadilly at 90°, Farringdon connector shorter). Secondly because the Northern line has one fewer kink at Elephant and Castle.
So what! It's a map of services to help those travelling. Compartmentalising services based on who operates them is the antithesis of being part of a world-class city public transport system. Every service shown in the centre of Londonon that map is accessible to those using a travelcard that includes Zone1 validity, Oyster card of contactless card. The Thameslink core is every bit as valid in zone 1 as Crossrail is and to pretend otherwise based on who runs it (which is invisible to an ordinary passenger) has no value in presenting a coherent transport system.