London Overground line names announced

[yorksrob]

I'm a touch confused by a couple of these.

Lioness - Isn't it considered misogynistic to add the "ess" nowadays". When was the last time you referred to your boss as your "manageress". Actresses are all Actors nowadays.

Liberty - This one goes nowhere near the American Embassy?

Windrush, absolutely fine. But shouldn't we also place equal status to other generations who migrated to London. None of the lines are named after the Irish navvies who built much of Britain's railways, or the Scots or Welsh who moved to London to work on the railways. Then there's the Indian, Pakistan & Chinese who make London such a great place to live and work. Not forgetting people of South Asian heritage who are the pillars of the NHS in London.

Weaver line is great and makes absolute sense. Weren't there lots of Thatchers in London putting the roofs on in olden days too though?

I agree it would be nice to commemorate the navvies who built the things in the first place.

 

[WelshBluebird]

No I think most people would be happy with useful geographical names. It is you that is creating the polarisation but saying if you don't agree with X you must be Y. A common trait of the extremist left-wing I'm afraid; sometimes a mirror has to be held up this sort of stuff. It's just as bad a the Farage line, equally wrong.

Yet I take it you have no problem with the Jubilee line, the Metropolitan line, the District line etc etc.

 

[BlueLeanie]

I assume you don't follow womens' football? Because if you're aware of it this makes total sense. The Lions are the mens' team.

Never watched a game of football in my life.

A Lion line and a Unicorn line would have been fun, maybe along with a Daffodil, a Thistle and a Shamrock.

 

[Bletchleyite]

One runs every 5 minutes outside a few far flung branches. The others can have frequencies as low as 2ph

The Metropolitan Line is 2tph west of Chalfont and Latimer. The Circle is only every ten minutes at quiet times (unless that has changed).

 

[WelshBluebird]

Thanks for posting but I must admit this looks all over the place. The London Overground name barely features other than when it's spoken as it's too small to see in the roundel in many instances and it all looks quite confusing. Looking at just one instance here:

Just glance at the sign below. If you're using colour to navigate the first thing I'm seeing is a clash of orange and line colour on both signs. It's not immediately apparent that both of these are Overground lines, the line identifier at the top of the sign is a double line when it should be solid when on that particular mode (they seem to have got this right on the actual line diagram however)

View attachment 152347

Overall going down this route in my mind removes the Overground branding almost entirely and these will begin to be seen as tube lines. Except the experience can be very different.

Had they used letters for example a lot of this would be solved. A quick mockup:

View attachment 152349

How is your mockup any different really? The official one has the underground roundal, so there's essentially no difference in them.

 

[thomalex]

How, for a normal passenger? They're all trains. DLR too.

Disagree. Mode plays an important part of what to expect as a passenger. For Overground you are expecting mostly suburban, larger trains, less frequency that run 'Overground' and you plan your journey accordingly. I will always allow more time if I'm travelling on the Overground for example.

 

[Horizon22]

Pretty much, got no problem with Thatcher or Churchill being chosen. Major would be a weird choice in the same way a Gordon Brown line would be.

Londoners generally might have an issue with Thatcher I would suggest!

 

[renegademaster]

Yet I take it you have no problem with the Jubilee line, the Metropolitan line, the District line etc etc.

What excatly is political about district and metropolitan?
Yes they arent geographical but they also among the oldest and first tube lines so people have had time to learn them. Bit different when naming the 20th line

 

[Mikey C]

Splitting the lines out is a very good thing for clarity. I'm disappointed there is no Goblin Line, but acknowledging the suffragettes is a fine substitute. Lionness name is a bit of a reach though...

Nice that the names acknowledge local history rather than the pomposity of Elizabeth/Victoria/Jubilee etc.

Do they really celebrate local history though?

What connection does the Suffragette movement have with the Goblin line? If anything a Manchester Metrolink line would be more appropriate.

Mildmay hospital isn't on the Mildmay line, whereas Hampstead Heath and the Royal Free hospital are.

The Brunel Line would have been a fitting tribute to the legendary engineers who built the tunnel it runs through. European immigrant family too, so even ticks those boxes!

 

[WelshBluebird]

I'm a touch confused by a couple of these.

Lioness - Isn't it considered misogynistic to add the "ess" nowadays".

No. Especially when that is the teams nickname

 

[jon81uk]

Thanks for posting but I must admit this looks all over the place. The London Overground name barely features other than when it's spoken as it's too small to see in the roundel in many instances and it all looks quite confusing. Looking at just one instance here:

Just glance at the sign below. If you're using colour to navigate the first thing I'm seeing is a clash of orange and line colour on both signs. It's not immediately apparent that both of these are Overground lines, the line identifier at the top of the sign is a double line when it should be solid when on that particular mode (they seem to have got this right on the actual line diagram however)

View attachment 152347

Overall going down this route in my mind removes the Overground branding almost entirely and these will begin to be seen as tube lines. Except the experience can be very different.

Had they used letters for example a lot of this would be solved. A quick mockup:

View attachment 152349

Once you've got into the station you don't need to know its the Overground, you entered an Overground station!

 

[norbitonflyer]

Liberty - This one goes nowhere near the American Embassy?

What has the third world jingoistic fundamentalist basket case across the Atlantic got to do with Liberty?

It is named after the "Royal Liberty of Havering". The manor was granted certain freedoms by Edward IV.

 

[TRAX]

Well that was quick

 

[WelshBluebird]

What excatly is political about district and metropolitan?
Yes they arent geographical but they also among the oldest and first tube lines so people have had time to learn them. Bit different when naming the 20th liney point is they arent geographical which is one of your main complaints.

I was replying to your first line about geographical names.

As for political - again Jubilee line is fine for most people, even republicans like myself.

 

[gnolife]

Jackie Weaver?

That would be the name for the Mancheter - Stockport - Crewe line, surely?

 

[kristiang85]

How is naming it after a national team divisive?

Because it's singling out one national team. "The Wembley Line" is both a lot more neutral and geographically useful, especially to visitors from outside London.

 

[telstarbox]

Well that was quick

View attachment 152350View attachment 152351

Where are these please?

 

[renegademaster]

If we won the world cup we could have ended up with a Southgate line, going nowhere near Southgate

 

[stuu]

Where are these please?

Highbury and Islington. The blue box around the station name shows where the map is

 

[thomalex]

Once you've got into the station you don't need to know its the Overground, you entered an Overground station!

There are many stations when there are different modes

 

[Unixman]

The new names for the six London Overground lines have been announced by the Mayor of London.

They will all appear on the Underground map as parallel lines but on different colours, replacing the swathe of orange that currently appears.

The new names are:

Lioness - Euston to Watford Junction (yellow)
Mildmay - Stratford to Richmond/Clapham Jun (blue)
Windrush - Highbury & I to Clapham Jun/New Cross/Crystal Palace/West Croydon (red)
Weaver - Liverpool Street to Enfield Town/Cheshunt/Chingford (maroon)
Suffragette - Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside (green)
Liberty - Romford to Upminster (grey)

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/...ansport-for-london-elizabeth-ii-b1139254.html

THC

I really don't mind the names at all since they reflect a lot of the culture and heritage of London but, as a non-Londoner, it is the breaking of the geographical link with the line that will confuse me. Lea Valley, Watford etc all give an idea as to where you will be going (remember we are talking about the Overground here) something that Mildmay, Windrush just doesn't (Possible exception is Lioness but as a non-footie fan I had to think about that - the link didn't leap out at me).

 

[sh24]

Where are these please?

Highbury & Islington

 

[reddragon]

As a childhood resident of Havering, I’m pleased with the Liberty Line. Definitely a consolation prize for the ‘other side’, which will be well received locally!

It was once known as the Liberty of Havering and as a result we have the Liberty shopping centre so the name is actually very fitting & well known locally

 

[jon81uk]

I really don't mind the names at all since they reflect a lot of the culture and heritage of London but, as a non-Londoner, it is the breaking of the geographical link with the line that will confuse me. Lea Valley, Watford etc all give an idea as to where you will be going (remember we are talking about the Overground here) something that Mildmay, Windrush just doesn't (Possible exception is Lioness but as a non-footie fan I had to think about that - the link didn't leap out at me).

But Jubilee line or Victoria line doesn't tell you wear it is going either.
You look for the line name and the destination, so Lioness line to Watford Junction.

 

[birchesgreen]

Where are these please?

Highbury & Islington, current station is inverted at the top of the diagrams.

 

[reddragon]

From DiamondGeezer

The Mildmay line goes nowhere near the Mildmay Hospital. The Windrush line passes within 150m (and the Weaver line within 500m)

https://twitter.com/diamondgeezer/status/1758065468324122967/photo/1

But it does go through Mildmay Park which once had a station of that name

 

[Mikey C]

I'm a touch confused by a couple of these.

Lioness - Isn't it considered misogynistic to add the "ess" nowadays". When was the last time you referred to your boss as your "manageress". Actresses are all Actors nowadays.

Liberty - This one goes nowhere near the American Embassy?

Windrush, absolutely fine. But shouldn't we also place equal status to other generations who migrated to London. None of the lines are named after the Irish navvies who built much of Britain's railways, or the Scots or Welsh who moved to London to work on the railways. Then there's the Indian, Pakistan & Chinese who make London such a great place to live and work. Not forgetting people of South Asian heritage who are the pillars of the NHS in London.

Weaver line is great and makes absolute sense. Weren't there lots of Thatchers in London putting the roofs on in olden days too though?

Indeed the Windrush line passes through Shoreditch and Whitechapel, areas with a diverse history of immigration, and historically a major Jewish area.

But it does go through Mildmay Park which once had a station of that name

It's not named after the park though. Otherwise you'd name it after Hampstead Heath or the Olympic Park.

 

[reddragon]

So with pages of quick whataboutry & why that name, I instead referred to the TfL website

Naming the London Overground Lines

We’re naming the six London Overground lines to make journeys simpler and brighter. Find out about the changes

madeby.tfl.gov.uk

Please can we read this before making uninformed comments!

 

[renegademaster]

People keeping making points about how various tube lines dont have geographic names. Yes but they are decades old and got named when the map was a lot more sparse. Its different nowdays when you have so many different lines on the TfL map

 

[alholmes]

But it does go through Mildmay Park which once had a station of that name

However the TfL blurb explaining each name only talks about Mildmay Hospital. It makes no reference to Mildmay Park as the reason for the naming of the line.

TfL blurb here: https://madeby.tfl.gov.uk/2024/02/15/overground_line_names/?intcmp=75213