Which London Underground lines would you rename?

[Cdd89]

Apart from none of them, because it would be stupid - so let’s assume every line had to be renamed for some reason. Maybe a condition of the next TfL bailout.

I would tentatively offer a rename of the District to the Embankment Line, due to the stop on the line and the embarrassment of riverside stops it has.

The Central line hasnever made much sense to me, but I’m struggling on an alternative name. The Oxford Line is the best I’ve got.

W&C => Waterbank, and EAL => The Cable Car, obviously.

Interested in others, especially if they’re more creative than mine!

 

[SteelWeelApeal]

You could name them all after their colours, but that would be a bit boring. So I'd suggest naming each one after the colour of another line. That should cause some confusion.

 

[PTR 444]

How about renaming Hammersmith & City to just HammerCity?

 

[Class465pacer]

Elizabeth line to Cross line

 

[WideRanger]

I would give the underground, overground and the suburban national rail routes into London numbers and/or letters. And where there are multiple destinations, subnumbers. So, for example, if the Metropolitan Line were Line 1, then trains towards Uxbridge might be Line 1a, Trains towards Amersham 1b and Watford 1c. It would make things significantly simpler, especially for visitors.

Even if it were felt necessary to retain traditional line names for existing lines (to avoid upsetting people), the two systems could coexist - as they now do in Tokyo.

 

[AM9]

Elizabeth line to Cross line

Or 'Crosslink' as it has a similar function to Thameslink.

 

[NorthKent1989]

I’d merge the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines into the Hammersmith & Circle line, the Circle line hasn’t been a Circle for years and the H&C line could be interchangeable between the Metropolitan line and District line.

Once the Northern line split has happened both branches should be renamed into the Hampstead & West End and City & South London

 

[londonteacher]

Quite simply though the general public don't really care about the names. They just need to know what stops and interchanges they are using. A German U-Bahn numbered system would work just as well, like in Paris and New York and most cities around the world.

 

[Ianno87]

Quite simply though the general public don't really care about the names. They just need to know what stops and interchanges they are using. A German U-Bahn numbered system would work just as well, like in Paris and New York and most cities around the world.

I've heard visitors (UK or otherwise) approaching London on trains looking at the tube map and saying "OK so we need to get the Blue Line then the Red Line" rather than refer to the actual names.

The beauty about the Paris and German systems is differentiating between U Bahn / Metro from S Bahn / RER.

 

[PeterC]

I would leave the Underground as it is and upset the Express and the Mail by changing Elizabeth Line back to Crossrail.

Overground and DLR would get letters or numbers although I wouldn't worry about branches too much, so Overground line A could be Stratford to Richmond / Clapham Junction.

 

[Ianno87]

I would leave the Underground as it is and upset the Express and the Mail by changing Elizabeth Line back to Crossrail.

Nah, call it the "Brussels Line" if you want to do it properly.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Best for each to have two names at least
No colours please, I might get on the wrong line for I am 'colour blind'
..
Transport 2000 kept its name for several years after 2000, not sure what it is called now. Some motoring organisation suggested it could be called Transport 1848

 

[yorksrob]

Nah, call it the "Brussels Line" if you want to do it properly.

Well, we have a Waterloo station, and that's named after somewhere in Belgium (via a bridge of course).

 

[Ianno87]

Best for each to have two names at least
No colours please, I might get on the wrong line for I am 'colour blind'
..
Transport 2000 kept its name for several years after 2000, not sure what it is called now. Some motoring organisation suggested it could be called Transport 1848

Colours are fine provided they are duplicated with text that says "Red Line" / "Green Line" etc.

 

[Purple Orange]

How about renaming Hammersmith & City to just HammerCity?

Or even better... Hammer-line!

You can’t touch this.

 

[xotGD]

Go the same way as football grounds and sell the naming rights. TfL need the cash, after all.

If a well known insurance company stepped in, we'd have the Direct Line Line.

 

[Whistler40145]

Piccadilly Line to Heathrow I'd call it The Heathrow line

 

[PTR 444]

Or even better... Hammer-line!

You can’t touch this.

Love it!

 

[YorksLad12]

Or even better... Hammer-line!

You can’t touch this.

Winner!

The Circle is more of a Spiral Line now. We could rename the Elizabeth Line to the Jubilee Line, if it doesn't look likely to open until 2022. Not sure what to do with the Northern; the western branch doesn't have a simple name to hang on it, unlike Northern City (I know it's the West End, but it's quite central on the map).

The Emirates Air Line should be renamed "Yes! We know it's as not an Underground Line as anything could possibly be, but we were ordered to include it."

 

[bramling]

Apart from none of them, because it would be stupid - so let’s assume every line had to be renamed for some reason. Maybe a condition of the next TfL bailout.

I would tentatively offer a rename of the District to the Embankment Line, due to the stop on the line and the embarrassment of riverside stops it has.

The Central line hasnever made much sense to me, but I’m struggling on an alternative name. The Oxford Line is the best I’ve got.

W&C => Waterbank, and EAL => The Cable Car, obviously.

Interested in others, especially if they’re more creative than mine!

There would definitely be scope for looking at the Northern Line were it to get properly separated. To keep things simple I’d simply make Barnet to Morden via Bank the “City Line”, and perhaps to reduce scope for confusion rename the H&C the “Hammersmith Line”.

Apart from that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Elizabeth Line is okay in itself, but I tend to side with the view that the roundels at the stations should show “CROSSRAIL” as a brand name, which could then apply to further such lines in the future. Over time something will probably have to happen with Overground as well.

 

[Cdd89]

Crossrail and Thameslink might be better described as “East West Express” and “North South Express” respectively.

The Victoria and Jubilee lines almost needs an express designation too, though they’re not the same sort of thing. Perhaps “West End Rapid” and “North West Ra”.

I’d suggest “Local Line” for Piccadilly on the basis that it stops everywhere and takes forever.

Circle Line should be “Zone 1 Orbital”, and Overground “Zone 2 Orbital” (splitting off the bits that don’t conform to that, and ignoring Shoreditch HS).

 

[londonteacher]

What about something like this? The numbers could be changed.



London Underground
U1 - Bakerloo
U2 - Circle
U3 - Circle
U4 - District
U5 - Hammersmith and City
U7 - Metropolitan
U8 - Northern (Possibly split so one would become U9 and other lines move one number)
U9 - Piccadily
U10 - Victoria
U11 - Waterloo and City

DLR
D1 - Bank to Lewisham
D2 - Bank to Woolwich Arsenal
D3 - Tower Gateway to Beckton
D4 - Canary Wharf to Stratford
D5 - Woolwich Arsenal to Stratford International

London Overground
LO1 - Highbury and Islington to Crystal Palace
LO2 - Highbury and Islington to West Croydon
LO3 - Highbury and Islington to New Cross
LO4 - Highbury and Islington to Clapham Junction
LO5 - Stratford to Richmond
LO5 - Stratford to Clapham Junction
LO6 - Euston to Watford Junction
LO7 - Gospel Oak to Barking
LO8 - Upminster to Romford
LO9 - Liverpool Street to Enfield Town
LO10 - Liverpool Street to Cheshunt
LO11 - Liverpool Street to Chingford

Crossrail/Elizabeth Line
E1 - Abbey Wood to Reading
E2 - Abbey Wood to Heathrow
E3 - Shenfield to Reading
E4 - Shenfield to Heathrow

 

[swt_passenger]

I’d make the H&C, Met, and the north side of the circle all Metropolitan, shown as a conventional branched network like the District. Then the District would be the name for all the District and the south side of the current Circle.

Line colour would change at Aldgate East for through trains passing between District and Met. Platform displays and on train announcements for eastbound District trains along the embankment would deal with them heading towards Met stations after Aldgate East. Eg “this is a District line train via Aldgate East towards Kings Cross. Once through Aldgate East “this is now a Metropolitan train to Hammersmith”.

Likewise, eastbound Metroplitan trains heading towards and due to pass through Aldgate East would be announced and displayed as becoming Districts, eg “ this is a Metropolitan train via Aldgate East towards Victoria, then “ this is now a District line train to Edgware Rd”.

So the only colours needed for the SSL would be the existing Metropolitan magenta? and District green

 

[Irascible]

I think I'd rename what's left of the Circle as the Snail. The rest are fine, the map is frankly fantastic even with the confusing maze & you don't need to know what they're called. I did always think the Bakerloo brown suited the line when I used it, just like the Northern's black they were not the ah, most modernised at the time...

Elizabeth line is a bit daft but then you can't call it SuperCentral, can you, and Crossrail is far too open to satire there'll be enough satire without actively encouraging it.

 

[swt_passenger]

What about something like this? The numbers could be changed.

London Overground
LO1 - Highbury and Islington to Crystal Palace
LO2 - Highbury and Islington to West Croydon
LO3 - Highbury and Islington to New Cross
LO4 - Highbury and Islington to Clapham Junction


Crossrail/Elizabeth Line
E1 - Abbey Wood to Reading
E2 - Abbey Wood to Heathrow
E3 - Shenfield to Reading
E4 - Shenfield to Heathrow

two of your DLR routes only run to Dalston Junction

Crossrail cannot operate a balanced “four route” timetable. It’s a limitation of any route with a core and 2 branches at each end.

 

[43096]

I think I'd rename what's left of the Circle as the Snail. The rest are fine, the map is frankly fantastic even with the confusing maze & you don't need to know what they're called. I did always think the Bakerloo brown suited the line when I used it, just like the Northern's black they were not the ah, most modernised at the time...

Elizabeth line is a bit daft but then you can't call it SuperCentral, can you, and Crossrail is far too open to satire there'll be enough satire without actively encouraging it.

If the "Elizabeth line" is a bit daft, then doesn't the same apply to the Victoria line?

Perhaps the Circle line could be renamed the Teacup - the handle being on the left to Hammersmith.

 

[Irascible]

If the "Elizabeth line" is a bit daft, then doesn't the same apply to the Victoria line?

Perhaps the Circle line could be renamed the Teacup - the handle being on the left to Hammersmith.

The Victoria line goes to Victoria, though. There's no Central station but the Central does go to Central London...

The Jubilee kinda falls down, I'll give you that.

 

[YorksLad12]

I’d make the H&C, Met, and the north side of the circle all Metropolitan, shown as a conventional branched network like the District. Then the District would be the name for all the District and the south side of the current Circle.

Line colour would change at Aldgate East for through trains passing between District and Met. Platform displays and on train announcements for eastbound District trains along the embankment would deal with them heading towards Met stations after Aldgate East. Eg “this is a District line train via Aldgate East towards Kings Cross. Once through Aldgate East “this is now a Metropolitan train to Hammersmith”.

Likewise, eastbound Metroplitan trains heading towards and due to pass through Aldgate East would be announced and displayed as becoming Districts, eg “ this is a Metropolitan train via Aldgate East towards Victoria, then “ this is now a District line train to Edgware Rd”.

So the only colours needed for the SSL would be the existing Metropolitan magenta? and District green

That's close to how it used to be before 1949, when the Metropolitan and Circle lines got their own colours. But what colour would you do the Circle Line section from Tower Hill to Aldgate, which is nether Met nor District?

 

[PTR 444]

A few years ago, I had a random idea for numbering the deep level "Tube" lines in a similar manner to how the US road network is numbered. North-south lines would be allocated odd numbers with 1 being the furthest east, and even numbers for east-west lines with 2 being the furthest north. Here's what I came up with:

Line 1 - Northern Line (Bank Branch)
Line 2 - Central Line
Line 3 - Bakerloo Line
Line 4 - Piccadilly Line
Line 5 - Northern Line (Charing Cross Branch)
Line 6 - Waterloo & City Line
Line 7 - Victoria Line
Line 8 - Jubilee Line

A coincidence I found with this plan is that with the exception of the W&C, the numerical order of above lines would be the same as the order they were constructed:

Line 1 - 1890
Line 2 - 1900
Line 3 - 1906
Line 4 - 1906
Line 5 - 1907
Line 6 - 1898 (the anomaly)
Line 7 - 1967
Line 8 - 1979

I also had a plan for a lettered system for sub-surface lines. Coincidentally believe it or not, three of these used to be operated using rolling stock which shared the same letter!

Line A - Metropolitan Line
Line B - Hammersmith & City Line
Line C - Circle Line
Line D - District Line
Line E - East London Line

 

[swt_passenger]

That's close to how it used to be before 1949, when the Metropolitan and Circle lines got their own colours. But what colour would you do the Circle Line section from Tower Hill to Aldgate, which is nether Met nor District?

I think it would either gradually change, or it would have an interchange circle with one colour each side? Good question though...