Despite being used by more than 500,000 people on average every weekday, the six lines of London Overground have not previously had their own names, causing confusion for travelers and creating confusion between them and other routes. Grooves often formed.
After an extensive consultation process (and a reported outlay of £6 million), Transport for London (TfL) has revealed the new names for all six lines due to be in place by the end of the year: Mildmay, Liberty and Suffragette. , Weaver, Windrush. The entire Overground network will maintain its orange-accented branding, but a secondary color system has also been introduced by TfL, meaning each route will have its own individual hue.
The new name closely matches the root. For example, according to TfL, the Windrush line passes through areas of London that “today have strong links with Caribbean communities”, while the Suffragette line lived, died and worked for the women’s rights movement. It was chosen in memory of Annie Huggett. Despite being a resident of Barking, which is one end of that route.
The Mildmay Line is named after Mildmay NHS Hospital, which first opened in the 1860s and became Europe’s first hospital specializing in the treatment of HIV and AIDS patients. The Weaver line celebrates East and North London’s long-standing links with the textile trade, while the Lionesses line runs across Wembley, where the England women’s football team won their 2022 Women’s Euro.
Finally, the Liberty Line was chosen to emphasize the ‘freedom’ that generally defines London, after several locations within the borough of Havering that have Liberty in their names, such as schools and shopping centres. . This is the tenuousest of the geographical connections, but certainly the most easily forgotten.
As the name suggests, this process was taken as an opportunity to explore London, England, and British history. “Our city has many fascinating but often forgotten stories that need to be told and remembered,” said Mayor Sadiq Khan. “Naming our lines not only helps visitors find out about our great city and its amazing history, but also helps people who live, work or are visiting London to It also makes it easier to get around the city.”
The name was devised in partnership with creative studio Dnco, which specializes in creating brands for UK and international destinations. The studio has a strong history in place-naming, having previously led the naming of Brent Cross Town and the street name home to the new London City Hall. However, this project was unlike anything the team had done before.
Simon Udall, strategy director at Dnco, said: “This brief is truly the first of its kind and is an opportunity to open up the naming of public infrastructure across the city and reflect London’s diverse history and stories. I hope that it will be used.” This will set the standard for how much such important naming projects will be carried out in the future.
While many other cities’ underground systems use a numerical system for signals on different lines, London’s network uses names. This meant that there was little precedent for this type of exercise, so the team had to establish its own robust process. “Part of his challenge was how to frame the challenge and also how to communicate the benefits of the line name,” Udall explains. “We had no previous examples or references to guide us, so we had to think of creative ways to structure our questions and workshop exercises.”
This was particularly important given the wide range of people consulted. Through a variety of interviews, workshops and research, the team heard from Overground staff and the wider TfL network, academics, historians, transport experts, writers, poets and wordsmiths.
The project will expand beyond updating maps and signage, and Dnco will share more stories unearthed along the way.
Udall said it was an opportunity to put the city’s cultural and historical identity front and center. “The time has come for a name that celebrates the importance of workers’ and women’s rights, queer history and the incredible positive impact of immigration on London’s culture, food, music, fashion, healthcare and innovation. This is an opportunity to remember what we have achieved and reflect on what we can achieve as Londoners.”
dnco.com