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London Overground - new line names revealed.

SporadicAddick
SporadicAddick Posts: 6,858
edited February 2024 in General Charlton
I'm amazed that there is no discussion on what purports to be a railway enthusiasts forum.

Anyway - new names for London Overground train lines.


'The Lioness line, which runs through Wembley, honours the historic achievements and lasting legacy created by the England women's football team that continues to inspire and empower the next generation of women and girls in sport. It will be yellow parallel lines on the map.'

The Mildmay line: Stratford to Richmond/Clapham Junction

'The Mildmay line, which runs through Dalston, honours the small charitable hospital in Shoreditch that has cared for Londoners over many years, notably its pivotal role in the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, which made it the valued and respected place it is for the LGBTQ+ community today. It will be blue parallel lines on the map.'

The Windrush line: Highbury & Islington to Clapham Junction/New Cross/Crystal Palace/West Croydon

'The Windrush line runs through areas with strong ties to Caribbean communities today, such as Dalston Junction, Peckham Rye and West Croydon and honours the Windrush generation who continue to shape and enrich London's cultural and social identity today. It will be red parallel lines on the map.'

The Weaver line: Liverpool Street to Cheshunt/Enfield Town/Chingford

'The Weaver line runs through Liverpool Street, Spitalfields, Bethnal Green and Hackney - areas of London known for their textile trade, shaped over the centuries by diverse migrant communities and individuals. It will be maroon parallel lines on the map.'

The Suffragette line: Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside

'The Suffragette line celebrates how the working-class movement in the East End, fought for votes for woman and paved the way for women's rights. The line runs to Barking, home of the longest surviving Suffragette Annie Huggett, who died at 103. It will be green parallel lines on the map.'

The Liberty line: Romford to Upminster

'The Liberty line celebrates the freedom that is a defining feature of London and references the historical independence of the people of Havering, through which it runs. It will be grey parallel lines on the map.'


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Comments

  • msomerton
    msomerton Posts: 2,973
    If you want a comment. Then the name changes not helpfull. Even Elizabeth and Jubilee have the same problem. They give no idea where the line runs and if that is aroute that might be useful. It took me quite a while to remember the areas covered by the jubilee when first open. The same with the Elizabeth line. For example central line or circle line mean some thing give some idea of what they do.
  • se9addick
    se9addick Posts: 32,037
    I live a couple of mins walk from Peckham Rye and think naming our line after the Windrush is a great idea! 
  • SporadicAddick
    SporadicAddick Posts: 6,858
    edited February 2024
    msomerton said:
    If you want a comment. Then the name changes not helpfull. Even Elizabeth and Jubilee have the same problem. They give no idea where the line runs and if that is aroute that might be useful. It took me quite a while to remember the areas covered by the jubilee when first open. The same with the Elizabeth line. For example central line or circle line mean some thing give some idea of what they do.
    Of course I want a comment - that's why I posted it...it's the nature of forums.

    Why is The Circle line more geographically descriptive than The Windrush Line? Neither mention a place and "the circle" could be anywhere. 
  • Algarveaddick
    Algarveaddick Posts: 21,156
    edited February 2024
    msomerton said:
    If you want a comment. Then the name changes not helpfull. Even Elizabeth and Jubilee have the same problem. They give no idea where the line runs and if that is aroute that might be useful. It took me quite a while to remember the areas covered by the jubilee when first open. The same with the Elizabeth line. For example central line or circle line mean some thing give some idea of what they do.
    What shortish, easy to recall names would you suggest? Bearing in mind we have a Northern Line that starts in Merton...
  • msomerton
    msomerton Posts: 2,973
    msomerton said:
    If you want a comment. Then the name changes not helpfull. Even Elizabeth and Jubilee have the same problem. They give no idea where the line runs and if that is aroute that might be useful. It took me quite a while to remember the areas covered by the jubilee when first open. The same with the Elizabeth line. For example central line or circle line mean some thing give some idea of what they do.
    Of course I want a comment - that's why I posted it...it's the nature of forums.

    Why is The Circle line more geographically descriptive than The Windrush Line? Neither mention a place and "the circle" could be anywhere. 
    Because it tell you what it does. It circles central london.
  • Don’t see a problem with them. 
  • msomerton
    msomerton Posts: 2,973
    Ģood examples are railway companies names. Greater Anglia, Chiltern line, East Midland etc . They give you a good idea what areas of the country they go to. Why can we not have some thing similar for London.
  • Makes sense to give the lines different names and colours as calling them all the overground could confuse people.

    Pretty obvious why they've turned the comments off on their social media posts on it. I would've given them numbers or letters due to how easily offended people are in this day and age.
  • msomerton said:
    Ģood examples are railway companies names. Greater Anglia, Chiltern line, East Midland etc . They give you a good idea what areas of the country they go to. Why can we not have some thing similar for London.
    Picadilly, Northern, Victoria, District... You are very selective with your London examples.

    I ask again, what do you suggest that would be specific and easy to recall? 
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  • Makes sense to give the lines different names and colours as calling them all the overground could confuse people.

    Pretty obvious why they've turned the comments off on their social media posts on it. I would've given them numbers or letters due to how easily offended people are in this day and age.
    Then some people would have been offended that we didn't continue the tradition of giving the lines names instead of numbers...  :D
  • Like the sound of the Windrush and Weaver Lines...

    The Liberty Line... Sounds like it would be better off being in New York
  • MarcusH26
    MarcusH26 Posts: 8,035
    Like the sound of the Windrush and Weaver Lines...

    The Liberty Line... Sounds like it would be better off being in New York

    Liberty line is the only one I really have issue with because as you say it could be absolutely anywhere even with the explanation from TfL 
  • Lincsaddick
    Lincsaddick Posts: 32,355
    msomerton said:
    If you want a comment. Then the name changes not helpfull. Even Elizabeth and Jubilee have the same problem. They give no idea where the line runs and if that is aroute that might be useful. It took me quite a while to remember the areas covered by the jubilee when first open. The same with the Elizabeth line. For example central line or circle line mean some thing give some idea of what they do.
    What shortish, easy to recall names would you suggest? Bearing in mind we have a Northern Line that starts in Merton...
    and then terminates in north London .. does the Elizabeth Line terminate at Buckingham Palace ? :*
  • se9addick
    se9addick Posts: 32,037
    msomerton said:
    Ģood examples are railway companies names. Greater Anglia, Chiltern line, East Midland etc . They give you a good idea what areas of the country they go to. Why can we not have some thing similar for London.
    Most Tube lines cross multiple areas of London though? Even the Northern line is pretty misleading given that it covers south, central and north London. 
  • msomerton said:
    If you want a comment. Then the name changes not helpfull. Even Elizabeth and Jubilee have the same problem. They give no idea where the line runs and if that is aroute that might be useful. It took me quite a while to remember the areas covered by the jubilee when first open. The same with the Elizabeth line. For example central line or circle line mean some thing give some idea of what they do.
    What shortish, easy to recall names would you suggest? Bearing in mind we have a Northern Line that starts in Merton...
    and then terminates in north London .. does the Elizabeth Line terminate at Buckingham Palace ? :*
    I fear you are playing devil's adovcaat young Lincs... I shall not bite.  ;):#
  • Lincsaddick
    Lincsaddick Posts: 32,355
    edited February 2024
    msomerton said:
    If you want a comment. Then the name changes not helpfull. Even Elizabeth and Jubilee have the same problem. They give no idea where the line runs and if that is aroute that might be useful. It took me quite a while to remember the areas covered by the jubilee when first open. The same with the Elizabeth line. For example central line or circle line mean some thing give some idea of what they do.
    What shortish, easy to recall names would you suggest? Bearing in mind we have a Northern Line that starts in Merton...
    and then terminates in north London .. does the Elizabeth Line terminate at Buckingham Palace ? :*
    I fear you are playing devil's adovcaat young Lincs... I shall not bite.  ;):#
    many thanks for the 'young' lol
  • seth plum
    seth plum Posts: 53,448
    Until recent years, to South East Londoners a lot of these lines were kind of another country.
    Yes there was the Elephant, and the dangly bit going to New Cross and New Cross Gate, but for us it was all about overground, still is to a large extent. The Jubilee line touching a couple of places altered things a bit, and the DLR came in as quite a game changer, and now the Elizabeth line deigns to give us a couple of stops.
    So the colours and name changes have less impact in South East London.
    However if the map is good at highlighting merging points, like Lewisham overground with the DLR, or Woolwich Arsenal with the Elizabeth Line it will be great.
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  • sam3110
    sam3110 Posts: 21,270
    But the circle line isn't even a circle?

    We have too many lines, most places with loads of lines have them numbered or lettered and it just works better.

    You don't see a line running from Coney Island to Jamaica 179st in New York called the Jamaiconey line for instance, or the Flushing Meadows to Hudson Yards line called the Tennis line

    Similarly in Paris you don't have the 5 line (running from Place D'Italie to Bobigny Pablo Picasso) called the Artiste line, or the 2 lines running through Arc De Triomphe to Nation, one to the north of the city and one to the South called the Ying and Yang lines or some such nonsense 
  • Henry Irving
    Henry Irving Posts: 85,227
    Oh, boy, some so called Anti-"woke" warrior snowflakes just want something to be offended/upset about and boy do they love having a moan about nothing.   Almost as if we weren't in a recession.

    Giving the lines names makes perfect sense, the names are just names, don't really any objection to any of them.  Liberty is a bit weak but it's just a name and there's nothing to get offended by unless that it what you always do whenever something new comes along.

    The no descriptive line falls down with Jubilee, Elizabeth, District and Circle anyway.  Bakerloo line doesn't start of end at either Baker St or Waterloo anymore.   Piccadilly line does go through Piccadilly but otherwise it's not very descriptive. 
  • £6.3 Million well spent (hahahaha) .. Sadiq Khan and his phoney crew are an absolute waste of space .. more P C tosh ..
    Lioness Line through Wembley ? .. I suggest the Clive Mendonca Line or the Bobby Moore Line
    What a complete waste of money and time thinking this one up. 
    Nothing better else to do no doubt?

    How about The Dartford loop you .
  • It's not the renaming that's the problem. It's spending over £6 million to do it. 
  • Chizz
    Chizz Posts: 28,338
    The new naming convention makes sense, is easy to follow, celebrates some great London themes and covers a thousand years of the world's greatest city.  

    The Lioness line runs through Wembley, where England won their first ever European championship title.  The Mildmay line sheds light on a hospital charity which has served the poorest people in east London since the 1860s.  The Weaver line celebrates the east London textile industry.  The Suffragette line pays tribute to women.  The Liberty line celebrates the Royal Liberty of Havering.  

    Before today, I knew nothing of Mildmay, very little of the Worshipful Company of Weavers and had never heard of a "Royal Liberty".  If I can learn something more about the history and importance of London and the people who have called it home, then that's good for me.  And if other people in future can learn more about women's football, universal suffrage and the Windrush, then that's great for everyone.  

    If you don't like the names - and, remember, running the transport infrastructure of the world's greatest city isn't a democracy: we don't all get to pick and choose which names, colours and numbers we like best - then, sadly, you will have to put up with them.  In the same way we've had to put up with "the Metropolitan line" since January 1863 and the Elizabethe line since May 2022. 

    And, for those who are nervous, scared or insulted by names that don't seem to be entirely congruent with a map of London, do you really think that "Overground" - as these lines have been known since 2007 - adequately helps people decide where and when the services run?
  • £6.3m isn't a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, far more is spent repairing traffic lights.
  • Perpetuating the myth that the Suffragettes won votes for women. Parliament passed a Bill to give women the vote before 1910 but the government fell before it could be enacted. The Suffragettes then began their criminal activities, including arson, planting bombs and damage to property, which lost support for women to have the vote. What won it in the end were the efforts of women working during the Great War. 
  • msomerton said:
    msomerton said:
    If you want a comment. Then the name changes not helpfull. Even Elizabeth and Jubilee have the same problem. They give no idea where the line runs and if that is aroute that might be useful. It took me quite a while to remember the areas covered by the jubilee when first open. The same with the Elizabeth line. For example central line or circle line mean some thing give some idea of what they do.
    Of course I want a comment - that's why I posted it...it's the nature of forums.

    Why is The Circle line more geographically descriptive than The Windrush Line? Neither mention a place and "the circle" could be anywhere. 
    Because it tell you what it does. It circles central london.
    But the name doesn't tell you it circles Central London. It tells you it is possibly in the shape of a circle. It's no more descriptive in terms of the destinations it serves than the Windrush is in describing where it goes. 
  • Chizz
    Chizz Posts: 28,338
    It's not the renaming that's the problem. It's spending over £6 million to do it. 
    70p each.