please empty your brain below
I agree your design is infinitely more pleasing to the eye.

fishislandskin | 08.01.22 - 7:34 a.m. | #

I wouldn’t have written this blog post like that.

Geofftech | 08.01.22 - 7:47 a.m. | #

When the East London line was closed, which is the last major closure I recall, they changed it from orange to alternating orange and white, and I think that was a better decision

Ian | 08.01.22 - 8:15 a.m. | #

As this is a specific map for the closure, to be replaced when the line re-opens, why show the closed section at all? Omitting it would have made the closure and the need to find alternate routes crystal clear.

NLW | 08.01.22 - 8:48 a.m. | #

I can’t be alone in reading this morning’s post in the voice of that Harry Enfield character….

Phil | 08.01.22 - 9:12 a.m. | #

So no mention of the 733 bus replacement nor the 133 which covers the Oval-Monument section.

For the able bodied, all stations bar Borough are available with one change.

Why the loss in the enthusiasm for walking, Borough isn't that far from London Bridge - but the map doesn't tell you that, yet it does for Manor House - Harringay Green Lanes because its a walk of less than 10 minutes.

Still Anon | 08.01.22 - 9:32 a.m. | #

When the closed section of the Northern line reopens, another tube map will obviously be required. However, looming ever closer is the planned opening of the Elizabeth line - which will definitely necessitate the issue of a new tube map. Unless the two events neatly coincide, time-wise, we could well be in for a glut of new tube maps during 2022.

Carllo | 08.01.22 - 9:35 a.m. | #

Yes, I agree your version is far better. I'm confused though by the yellow and black line between Oval and Kennington on the TFL version, which makes it look as if Northern Line is closed between those two stations, with Kennington only serving a detached setion between there and Battersea.

There could be a horizonatal dotted line between the current Kennington circle and Elephant to indicate the Bank Branch, in which case the present Oval to Elephant line could be deleted along the the anomalous "walkway" lines between the two Kenningtion circles, and the Bank Branch Kennington circle itself.

cau1khead | 08.01.22 - 9:48 a.m. | #

TFL have confirmed it’s a 3-tube-map year.

1) January
2) whenever Crossrail opens
3) whenever Barking Riverside opens

diamond geezer | Homepage | 08.01.22 - 10:04 a.m. | #

So they have missed out 'whenever the Northern line reopens'.

kev | 08.01.22 - 10:13 a.m. | #

Presumably the intention is that each of the 3 maps can still be used when the Northern line reopens (as long as you know it has of course). They haven't though taken a similar approach by showing the Elizabeth line "Under construction" as used to be done, which would have removed the urgency for a new map at that still nebulous date.

Andrew S | 08.01.22 - 10:34 a.m. | #

I was always sorry for the people at TfL responsible for producing their maps. They get little recognition and a whole army of armchair map designers telling them how their doing their job wrong. It must be quite demoralising.

Jon Jones | 08.01.22 - 10:41 a.m. | #

" So they have missed out 'whenever the Northern line reopens'. "

Northern Line and Crossrail together, perhaps.

Karl, Dover | 08.01.22 - 10:46 a.m. | #

Black and White stripes would have been a more obvious choice for the closed Northern Line section...

Mikey C | 08.01.22 - 11:26 a.m. | #

The treatment of riverbus stops is curious - most now have blobs on the river, which makes it more legible as an actual 'route' on the map. This should in principle allow stops that aren't close to tube stations to be added as stand alone blobs. But Battersea only has an off-river symbol despite similar connection walk to Waterloo (and Millbank is completely absent).

dg writes: since 2019

David | Homepage | 08.01.22 - 11:46 a.m. | #

I was also going to ask about river piers. Putney Bridge and Canary Wharf also have the boat symbols next to the station name rather than shown as a connection yet a station like Woolwich Arsenal which is a long walk away from the pier (I'd have thought a longer walk away too) is shown as an interchange.

Sean | 08.01.22 - 11:51 a.m. | #

Tube maps: lacking the sustained interest of any B-road, or the eccentricity of a bus stop labelled M. That said, I wouldn't have done it like that either.

Frank F | 08.01.22 - 12:03 p.m. | #

Of course there's usually a good reason why someone has done it like that. But it doesn't mean the outcome is good. In this case, I have to agree it's shite.

E | 08.01.22 - 1:23 p.m. | #

The TfL map is getting way too complicated, especially as I suspect tourists and newcomers to London are the only ones who look at it!
The rest of us probably just put the start/end destinations in and let a journey planning app figure it out for us.
I carry a 2012 version in a pocket in my bag but haven't looked at it in at least 8 years!

But I guess there must be a demand or they wouldn't be churning 3 out in a year they're trying to claw back any savings they can!

Cornish Cockney | 08.01.22 - 1:31 p.m. | #

I don't need a paper map either, but I'm not sure it follows that if I don't need one, there is no need for one at all. There is still a sizeable minority who do not have access to the internet.

JohnC | 08.01.22 - 1:49 p.m. | #

Even with data charges, I imagine lots of tourists and visitors use apps over maps these days, at least at first. They may consult the map at the station or on the train just to be sure, especially once they lose signal. I’m thinking of those poor people bewildered by the Circle and H&C line maps when they’re sat on a District line service - and vice versa. Whether they bother downloading TfL’s app is another matter, but they’re likely to have some of the mainstream mapping apps on their phones.

finlay | 08.01.22 - 2:47 p.m. | #

I'm hoping there is a major redesign of the map planned for the opening of Crossrail, which will not only show the new line but also sort out all the awkward bits like the very wiggly Thameslink and kinked NLE that have been caused by recent more "interim" updates.
I can but hope...

Paul | Homepage | 08.01.22 - 3:02 p.m. | #

If they’re still planning to run Crossrail as three (I think) separate lines at the start, then I fear we may be in for more interchange symbols and confusing maps at first. Perhaps they’ll give the map a major redesign when it’s all joined up as it’s meant to.

finlay again | 08.01.22 - 4:28 p.m. | #

It's a truly inspired piece of cartography, shared by the old, the new and the DG versions, to show the pedestrian link between Vauxhall and the river passing *under* the Northern Line.

HTFB | 08.01.22 - 5:08 p.m. | #

Has anyone got a link to a copy of the 1990s map when it was one-way only during a similar closure?

dg writes: yes.

Anon | 08.01.22 - 5:29 p.m. | #

That was quick. Thanks.

I remembered a site full of such things and alternative tube maps but can’t find it today.

Anon | 08.01.22 - 5:36 p.m. | #

I wonder what MrMappy (Andrew Smithers) take is on this, whether he would have done it like that.

dg writes: stop wondering, check Twitter.

MilesT | 08.01.22 - 6:36 p.m. | #

I imagine those Londoners who use the tube frequently know the tube well enough that they do not need to use a map for most of their journeys. Those Londoners who use the tube less frequently I suspect will end up using online route planning tools. The map is probably most used by tourists.

Phil | 08.01.22 - 7:24 p.m. | #

HTFB: That problem is caused by the maps putting the Northern Line Extension to the north of Vauxhall station, whereas in fact it runs to the east and south. The Victoria Line platforms at Vauxhall end just about at the river bank! The two lines cross south of Vauxhall station.

Moving Vauxhall north of the NLE, right next to the river, would fix the problem, but then you'd have to move Battersea Power Station down, which moves it away from the river, necessitating a dotted walking line to BPS quay. (Although it looks like marginally a longer walk from BPS station to the BPS quay, than it is from Vauxhall station to Vauxhall quay.) Also, you'd then need to move the Overground down as well, to fit in the station names.

Perhaps we could move the Thames (from Putney to Vauxhall) a bit further up the map? There is a bit of wasted space between the Circle Line and the Thames, but the stations in that area are fairly well spaced. There's room for West Brompton and Fulham Broadway to move up a bit towards Earls Court, and frankly the distance shown between Vauxhall and Pimlico is far greater than in reality (Pimlico is only just the other side of the river).

Having done that, we can put the NLE station names above the line rather than below.

Obviously this makes the Zone 1/2 boundary even more crazy, but that's caused by the NLE being in Zone 1 when it should really be Zone 2.

dg writes: as previously discussed.

Mike Dimmick | 08.01.22 - 7:53 p.m. | #

It's not the distance that bothers me, or even the topography of it, it's that the Victoria line is on top of the Northern line, but the pedestrian link goes underneath. That is going to be a lot of steps.

HTFB | 10.01.22 - 1:47 p.m. | #











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