London Overground map doesn't show Zones

[ert47]

[thnx mods ]

The other day when travelling on the LO, I had a thought as to why the Network map didnt have zones indicated on it as seen on London Underground maps.

With the orbital system in place, I can see it being one legible nightmare trying to mark the zones in especially with stations such as Euston and Shoreditch High Street being in zone 1 and Watford Junction located beyond Zone 8.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone tried to zone the LO map? (ignoring London Connection/Tube maps)

 

[465fan]

[thnx mods ]

The other day when travelling on the LO, I had a thought as to why the Network map didnt have zones indicated on it as seen on London Underground maps.

With the orbital system in place, I can see it being one legible nightmare trying to mark the zones in especially with stations such as Euston and Shoreditch High Street being in zone 1 and Watford Junction located beyond Zone 8.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone tried to zone the LO map? (ignoring London Connection/Tube maps)

I think the layout of that map precludes sensible or legible zoning.

I would however suggest that they install (if they don't have them anyway) a London Connections map with Zones to their trains, so people can understand where the Zones are. I would also put up notices explaining the way the Pink "validators" work.

 

[Class377/5]

Yes I have. This was an early version.


Overground Line Map v2 by Sparkyscrum, on Flickr

How've doesn't appear I've put the full LO one on my Flickr but had it sorted with the completed loop but cheated a tad with zone 1. Will have a look later to see if I can post.

 

[greatkingrat]

The problem with that is some passengers might think the NLL passes through zone 1 and their ticket isn't valid.

 

[Clip]

Its a tough one to sort out but they seem to be able to manage the complexity of it on the DLR to some extent with thin grey lines separating all the southern/eastern zones so its not impossible.

 

[bronzeonion]

I think the layout of that map precludes sensible or legible zoning.

I would however suggest that they install (if they don't have them anyway) a London Connections map with Zones to their trains, so people can understand where the Zones are. I would also put up notices explaining the way the Pink "validators" work.

The trains carry the standard Tube map (just like the little fold up ones but bigger and stuck to the wall) rather than a London Connections map already.

I can agree on the whole pink reader business, one of the few things TfL did not promote to such an extent!

 

[ert47]

The trains carry the standard Tube map (just like the little fold up ones but bigger and stuck to the wall) rather than a London Connections map already.

I can agree on the whole pink reader business, one of the few things TfL did not promote to such an extent!

Would have thought the connections map would have made more sense due to the shared track with NR in parts.

Otherwise when it comes to zonal sign posting, could they put stickers on station signs with the zone number much like other TOCs have done?

 

[Class377/5]

The problem with that is some passengers might think the NLL passes through zone 1 and their ticket isn't valid.

That's why my second map solved this. Just not found it yet!

 

[leytongabriel]

Its also been printed in special fading ink so that at outdoor stations (like most of them)
the orangey LO lines become almost invisible where exposed to sunlight. Good thinking guys.

 

[NSE]

Using that map from Flickr, I personally would just put a small circle around Euston and one round Shoreditch.

 

[Monty]

Its also been printed in special fading ink so that at outdoor stations (like most of them)
the orangey LO lines become almost invisible where exposed to sunlight. Good thinking guys.

I don't think that's a problem that is exclusive to LOROL really, most posters displayed outdoors for anything length of time appear to suffer from fading from exposure to the sun.

 

[Class377/5]

Using that map from Flickr, I personally would just put a small circle around Euston and one round Shoreditch.

That's kinda what I did. Just can't find the map.

 

[PR1Berske]

. I would also put up notices explaining the way the Pink "validators" work.

Even those who put them up don't know how the Pink validators work.....

 

[leytongabriel]

I don't think that's a problem that is exclusive to LOROL really, most posters displayed outdoors for anything length of time appear to suffer from fading from exposure to the sun.

Sure but the ironic thing I was trying to point out is that on the LO maps its the red/orange colours that fade the fastest so the rest of the map is still legible but you can't follow the the LO routes at all.

 

[ert47]

Sure but the ironic thing I was trying to point out is that on the LO maps its the red/orange colours that fade the fastest so the rest of the map is still legible but you can't follow the the LO routes at all.

Its worse when you cant even see what station you're at because of the yellow lights in the station that make Orange and White appear to be the same colour...

 

[colchesterken]

C2C have a super clear diagram in each coach showing where you can go with the zones

dont see why L O could not do the same thing

 

[ert47]

C2C have a super clear diagram in each coach showing where you can go with the zones

dont see why L O could not do the same thing

The problem is the shape of the route - the C2C route is fairly linear in comparison so the zones only go from 1-6. With LO, there is an orbital network with both Euston and Shoreditch High Street in Zone 1 and then theres Watford Junction, Barking, West Croydon and Richmond in opposite directions

 

[Waddon]

The Overground maps could definitely do with a redesign, especially the on-train ones... it seems like every time a new bit of alignment was added, it was just squeezed in wherever it would fit on the map, resulting in all the east and south London bits being crammed effectively into one corner.

Similar thing with the maps on Southern trains, which due to all the folds and twists give the impression that somewhere like Southampton Airport is nearer to Horsham than Battersea Park is to Victoria...

Because the classic underground map is so highly regarded, the designers seem reluctant to tinker with the format, but it just isn't suitable for all routes, they should have an open design competition to see what people can come up with.