Public transport in London may soon be a little easier to use.
London’s Overground train network, which primarily serves people from areas outside of central London that are not reachable by London’s Underground network, will be renamed.
Lines on the map will also have new colors, replacing the current system marked entirely with orange lines on the map.
Although the Overground is technically a different system from the Underground, commonly known as the Tube, the same payment methods apply to both and multiple stations connect the two systems.
The new names are: The Lionesses are named after the British women’s soccer team. Mr Mildmay praises a small east London hospital that played a vital role in caring for patients during the AIDS crisis. The Windrush was named after the ship that brought the first immigrants from the Caribbean to England. A weaver travels through a region once known for its textile trade. After the movement that fought for women’s suffrage, women’s right to vote. and “Liberty,” a reference to the historic independence of the people of Havering Borough.
The new name and map are expected to take effect later this year. The project will cost around 6.3 million pounds ($7.9 million), according to Transport for London, the city’s transport authority.
Most of that cost will go toward updating signage and reference information in the system, including redesigned maps for the 113 surface and map-displayed underground stations, digital screens and rerecording of the public address system.
Transport for London, the city’s transport authority, said in a statement that the names and colors should make it easier for passengers to navigate the system.
Susan Hall, the Conservative mayoral candidate for London’s May election, expressed a common sentiment on the right about the rebranding, telling the Daily Mail that it was “virtue suggesting nonsense”. But some riders said they welcomed the change. Lucia Florin, who uses Overground to commute to work, said the new name would give the system more personality.
“I don’t think people really know the name Overground,” she said Thursday at London Fields station in east London.
Currently, according to Transport for London’s style guide, different routes are referenced by destination. “All directional references should be referred to as the destination to which the line is heading.”
To get to work, Florin takes what will soon be known as the Weaver Line. This is an essential part of her daily commute. “I work in fashion,” Florin said. “Maybe I’ll remember it.”
Hundreds of thousands of people use Overground every day. Arriva Rail, the company that manages the system on behalf of Transport for London, operates around 1,600 services on 111 trains each day, carrying more than 520,000 passengers, according to its website.
Transport for London says the system pales in comparison to London’s Underground system, which transports up to five million passengers a day.
London Overground opened in 2007 when Transport for London took over four suburban rail lines “to improve connections between areas outside central London”. Since then, the network has grown, resulting in a system “represented by orange spaghetti on subway maps,” according to the transit agency.
“The deadline has passed,” Oliver Carden said as he stood outside London Fields station on Thursday. He said that while the current system may make sense for Londoners, visitors would benefit from the new name and colors.
Mr Carden also said he appreciated that the name reflected the history and heritage of the city rather than the number of founders, adding: “Reflecting more of its cultural heritage would be a great idea to simply name it in honor of the Queen. “It’s much better than naming it,” Carden said.
Not all morning commuters expressed support.
At Dalston Kingsland station in north London, Lewis Fulford-Smith, 27, said he thought the new name sounded “woke”. He said the worst of the new names was Liberty, adding that it was “very American” and felt like “scraping the bottom of the barrel.”
Flora Fletcher, 20, who was waiting for a train at Highbury and Islington station in north London, said the new name would not affect her journey. But she said the money spent on renaming the Overground line could be used for “other things”, such as improving train reliability and increasing wages for transit workers who are planning to go on strike next week. I thought it was supposed to be.
“I don’t really care what they’re called,” she said.