London Overground new line names begin to appear on network
The first signs have been installed showing recently announced new line names across the London Overground network.
One sign shown above with Windrush line branding has been installed at Canada Water station as the roll-out begins.
A total of six names have been chosen with each set to seee their own colour scheme on signage:
Liberty line – Romford to Upminster
Lionness line – Euston to Watford
Mildmay line – Richmond and Clapham Junction to Stratford
Suffragette line – Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside
Weaver line – Liverpool Street to Enfield Town/Cheshunt/Chingford
Windrush line – Highbury & Islington to New Cross/Clapham Junction/Crystal Palace/West Croydon
According to Transport for London the new look and names should be in place by the end of 2024.
London Overground improvements
New names aren’t the extent of changes on this stretch of the Windrush line.
Service frequency is set to increase with power upgrades currently underway. In 2023 TfL stated an intention to increase trains to 18 per hour on the stretch via Canada Water by 2025, and then increase to 20 trains per hour in following years.
Surrey Quays station is also seeing a new entrance built as part of upgrade work given thousands of homes are proposed nearby.
A new entrance is under construction on the north side of Lower Road while a larger ticket office is planned.
Rotherhithe is a major growth area with Surrey Quays shopping centre due for demolition. The Tesco supermarket is set to move to a mixed-use site which housed an Odeon cinema and Hollywood Bowl until recent closure.
The London Overground network as a whole has bounced back well and now sees passenger levels around the same as pre-pandemic – despite the Elizabeth line commencing.
A little aside is that pictures showing the new sign was taken on the exact 25th anniversary of Canada Water station.
Like other Jubilee line stations it’s a very impressive space and piece of engineering – though has suffered from being too popular over it’s life.
Running a site alone takes time and a fair bit of money. Adverts are far from enough to cover it and my living costs as a private renter.
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I still don’t see the point in allowing the 6 London Overground lines to be renamed. Be better off keeping as they currently are. It’s only going to cause more confusion for people who commute on those lines across London.
Indeed and the names dont mean anything to the line, just woke names to please the PC brigade.
Absolutely Fred I totally agree with you.
I cannot help but think how much money has been wasted on this. Which could have been put to better use elsewhere.
I have to agree with you Graham. They could have used the money to improve staffing at stations. Making sure stations are safer for everyone to use.
I like those names but it cost money and people won’t remember any of those names. They’re harder to remember. I prefer original names like central line, Elizabeth line, district line , they are easier to remember and speak. If they build a new line then they could add those new names like windrush. Doesn’t matter where.
Besides we’ve been saying all these original names and it sticks with us. We just automatically remember those names like green line , that’s district. Oh purple line , that’s metropolitan etc.
I just think it is so stupid to rename all 6 lines on the London Overground. Why not keep it as they currently are. People will see it as a joke.
These names are absolutely ridiculous and haven’t been thought out properly, the idea of the naming of all 6 lines was too keep it more London theme like naming ‘The Windrush Line’ as ‘The East London Line’ as most Londoners would remember and understand that, all 6 Line now make no sence whatsoever and they should have stuck with the original proposed names.
A lot of negativity in the comments. People saying “It costs money.”. Well, obviously! Nothing is free; money needs to be spent on publicity, consultations, changing all the ticketing software etc. And it makes sense to name the lines because tourists and day-trippers might get confused easily. If someone wants to get somewhere from Highbury & Islington, Willesden Junction, Stratford or Clapham Junction (for example) and they ask which train to get, and someone says “Get the Overground”, they might not know which line to take, or they might confuse ‘Overground’ with National Rail, as some people still colloquially refer to it as that.
My only issue is some of the names. I think that the Liberty line is a good, but I’m not too keen on some of the others. I think that the Liverpool Street to Enfield/Cheshunt/Chingford line route should be called the Lea Valley line as that’s the area it serves and is easier to remember. I’ll certainly be referring to it that way.
I agree with Greg – I know the Overground to be massively confusing to out-of-towners, mainly because it’s presented as if it’s one line, but it really isn’t. Breaking it up into sections in a sensible way makes a lot of sense. And to counter previous comments, nobody’s talking about renaming the long-established lines (although personally I with they would with the Northern Line, which is clearly two different lines).
As for the actual names of the lines – what’s the problem? Nobody here seems to like them, but I’m not clear why. Our current line names have no consistency. There’s:
• a geographical direction (Northern)
• two monarchs and a royal event (Elizabeth, Victoria and Jubilee)
• some that relate to the end points of the line (Hammersmith and City, Bakerloo)
• the mid-point of the line (Piccadilly)
• the line’s shape (Circle)
• vague geographical concepts (District, Metropolitan)
So, it’s not like these new names break any long-established tradition.
What don’t people like about them?
Why not keep the ‘Goblin’ line name which at least was known and well used and also democratically applied to that bit of the network.
Essex Line
North Western Line
East London Line
Richmond Stratford Line
Barking Gospel Line
North Eastern Line
East London Line
Let’s rename District, Circle, Central, Northern, Bakerloo and Jubilee lines to ‘Underground’, would be much simpler. Sorry, that’s tongue in cheek. People often don’t like change, but it’s often for the better.
Why these names and why these stations? As far as I am aware the names have no association with the station and as such are best meaningless and at worst confusing.