New London Train Line Names

[ScoldsBridal]

Just announced. Definitely a Feminist vibe to them. Love that the line that goes through Wembley has been named the Lioness Line. There’s also:
The Suffragette Line
The Windrush Line
The Liberty Line
The Weaver Line
The Mildmay Line

I laughed as Twitter are making out the Weaver Line is named after Jackie Weaver 😂 It’s actually honouring the textile industries it passes through in areas like Spitalfields and Hackney.

Windrush is fantastic too. Serving areas with people that have strong connections to the Caribbean. Symbolically powerful.

The Mildmay Line - is such a lovely word and honouring a small, charitable hospital that was at the forefront of AIDS/HIV treatment. Also had a tradition for treating Jewish immigrants in the East End.

The Liberty Line - again just a great name - it goes to Havering which was historically a ‘Liberty’ town.

And finally The Suffragette Line which goes to Barking were Annie Huggett lived - the longest surviving Suffragette who lived to 103. And also the spirit of the East End working classes who fought for Women’s Rights.

I know people will moan about it being ‘woke’ (yawn) but I think they’ve balanced out honouring London’s varied communities with some strong branding. I like how they haven’t chosen named people - but have emphasised social history, achievement and recognition of real contribution to the Metropolis of London.

I’m sure there will be some imaginative re-naming by passengers - suffering on the Suffragette line - Stuck in the ‘rush’ hour on the Windrush etc…

But I like them.

No, it was a the North London line. Silverlink was the name of the company that ran it, among a bunch of other services.

@PrimitivePerson thanks !
I was getting really curious about it.

Is this how he’s spending the ULEZ fines money? He’s run London into the ground with all the bike lanes, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, cameras, fines for being half an inch into a box junction and flooding the capital with Uber mini cabs

Crossrail tells you nothing about where the line goes, though. All the tube, DLR and Overground lines cross London and use rails.

Neither does Elizabeth line!

It should be pointed out that what we have so far is Crossrail 1, with Crossrail 2 following later. It's similar in concept to the RER in Paris, which uses numbers and not names.

I work in transport and have a transport planning degree so I'm very well informed on this.

You might be well informed but you aren't moving with the times. Do you still refer to British Rail rather than Southeastern, Thameslink etc?

£6 million spent on this, to give six names to train lines which already had a name. It was called the London Overground, what was wrong with that? Are we going to give each individual train line around the country a name? What a stupid waste of money.

No, of course I don't refer to British Rail. I use the correct train company names.

I just happen to know quite a lot about the history of branding. I generally don't have a problem with it but I absolutely hate "Elizabeth line" as a name. It was an absolutely blatantly political act from Boris Johnson, one of the most disgustingly dishonest and incompetent politicians in history.

I lived in Islington then & if someone was late for something, all they had to say was ‘I came by Silverlink.’

It was an absolutely blatantly political act from Boris Johnson, one of the most disgustingly dishonest and incompetent politicians in history.

Well there's an opinion I can definitely get on board with!

£6m is an absolutely tiny amount of money in terms of the London transport budget. In fact, TfL bring in that sort of money in fares in just a few hours.

Also, the Overground network is now large enough that different parts of it need identifying. If you see a display that says "disruption on London Overground" it's too vague, because that could mean there's no trains from Romford to Upminster, and that's completely irrelevant if you're travelling from Richmond to Acton.

It all operated much more efficiently as British Rail

You've got to be kidding!!! Did you ever use the Gospel Oak to Barking line 30 years ago? It was appallingly bad!

I like the names. hey have some history behind them.

Maybe one day someone will ask themselves the question "why is it called that?" and go away and find out and perhaps learn something.

@HoHoHoliday most lines do have names already.
East Coast Mainline
West Coast Mainline
Great Western Mainline
etc

Really?

This is what he does? Stupid names and millions wasted when there is a strike on the looming next week?

And new colours? Why what the orange-y one not good enough? It was unifying across the Overground and now the transport map bets even more crowded and difficult to see.

An act of wanton wankery.

It needs doing because the Overground is now so big it needs to be easier to identify parts of it.

"Disruption on the Central line" is much more useful as a piece of information than "disruption on the Underground".

£6m is also less than TfL's fares income during a single morning rush hour.

I'm sorry but "immune suppressed line" made me choke with laughter. I agree, it's a bit try-hard, and they don't fit with the other line names. Lioness line, really?

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat but it was all orange yet actually several separate lines.
Can you imagine if the Underground lines were all the same colour on the map?

"Lioness line" is the only one I really don't like, because it's a mouthful and it feels excessively trivial. I don't think it has the historical clout to be remembered. I also hate football, regardless of whether it's men or women playing it.

The others seem good, though.

Exactly!!!

The point was that it was markedly different from the Underground.

It still needs dividing up, though. It's now a lot of different services and making them distinct lines makes it much easier to navigate, and provide information.

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat yes but...
Underground = several different lines but under one banner of "underground" so identified by different colours to make it easier.
Overground = several different lines but under one banner of "overground" but identified by....just one colour 🤷

What's wrong with Disruption on the Overground between Stratford and Clapham Junction?

It's clear. No need to waste millions on it.

Why concentrate on the optic and not on the performance? It's diabolical. Why not fix that, instead of attaching pretty new names on it?

And well timed, with the strikes next week, so that PEOPLE,e can see what their money is spent on. Frippery.

Sorry. I use it a lot, and all I want is better service. Not a ridiculous colouring in exercise, that will only confuse the already overloaded transport map.