please empty your brain below
That Finsbury Park connector is abhorrent. It looks like a mistake.

Liam | 06.01.21 - 7:04 a.m. | #

I can excuse the Blackfriars connector, given that the station does span the river I can understand TfL wanting to depict that.

Everything else is a mess though and I feel sorry for the graphic designer(s) forced to fit this in using existing rules!

Jamesthegill | 06.01.21 - 7:13 a.m. | #

I'm thinking about the psychological here, that TfL putting an incredibly twisty Thameslink line on the map may dissuade passengers from taking it and use the tube instead. Same reason why it's in such a washed out pink compared to the rail and tube map.

TheLupineOne | 06.01.21 - 7:27 a.m. | #

But why is a digital downloadable map restricted by the format used by the paper pocket map, why not make the poster version the default download?

Still Anon | 06.01.21 - 7:31 a.m. | #

I would guess that the average passenger assumes that a long connector on the map indicates a long walk in reality, which makes some of these (eg Farringdon) even more egregious.

Alan | 06.01.21 - 7:35 a.m. | #

Harry Beck must be spinning in his grave with the way TfL have ruined the diagram in recent times.

If it was up to me, I'd get rid of the Dangleway and Trams, most of London Overground, cut Thameslink back to just the "core" and reinstate the GN&C.

Barry S | 06.01.21 - 7:45 a.m. | #

Nunhead is still on the wrong side of the Overground (it should be to the West). Thameslink should also pass to the south of Brockley. Correcting those two would sort out the whole Peckham Rye/Queens Road Peckham issue.

The Embankment label is also in a really awkward place but the map is so crowded there doesn't look to be a better place for it. Potentially moving Temple to the right a bit would help.

Adrian | 06.01.21 - 8:27 a.m. | #

One thing TfL has got right is the connector blob at Finsbury Park.

The ridiculous one-way system in place at the station requires a 7 minute brisk walk round the local streets when changing from National Rail to the Underground. At least the map reflects this!

Hadders | 06.01.21 - 8:28 a.m. | #

No. No. No. Curves? No.

Scott | Homepage | 06.01.21 - 8:47 a.m. | #

This is hideous. Any previous blemishes are just that, blemishes, but this is the tube map equivalent of psoriasis!

daveid76 | 06.01.21 - 9:01 a.m. | #

With my now lockdown limited rare trips to the big city I am sure I can manage with my old version for the rest of this year.

davews | 06.01.21 - 9:09 a.m. | #

The new format still has enough space for Farringdon, Cannon Street & Mansion House to remain as they were so that's no excuse. There was no need to swap Embankment and Temple. Genuine confusion is likely (on both versions) where DLR and Northern appear to go to Monument rather than Bank. Crossrail will be just about impossible to fit in. You are being rather generous suggesting the designers did their best, there are many improvements possible without breaking the rules.

kev | 06.01.21 - 9:09 a.m. | #

It seems that the addition of the grid may be related to some of the changes -for example Mansion House tick mark was basically right underneath St Pauls interchange symbol before, however now the station is on the left, with an intervening gridline. The station tick mark is now closer to the kink in the river so less space on the right hand side for the name.

Further research may of course elucidate how this was displayed on previous versions of both maps and whether any change in the relative locations of stations or gridlines is new.

Messiah | 06.01.21 - 9:10 a.m. | #

Further research suggests the location of stations has nothing whatsoever to with the overlay of gridlines.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 06.01.21 - 9:15 a.m. | #

My word what a jack job with this map.

Drawing metro maps myself I try my best to avoid as many bends as possible, otherwise it looks unsightly.

And it’s quite clear to me that you don’t even need to bend the line that much in the core section. Straight down at King’s Cross (before the interchange) instead of bending, only bending before Blackfriars. Mansion House/Cannon Street moved further up the District/Circle, St. Paul’s on top of the Central line

Might have to have a crack at this tube map to improve it.

GreenKitten | 06.01.21 - 9:37 a.m. | #

I'm with TheLupineOne. This must be a attempt to suggest subliminally that (a) Thameslink is the slow, roundabout route and (b) it really can't be fitted sensibly onto the 'Tube' map, so let's leave it off next time.
There is no justification for the kinks on the most important link, that between City Thameslink and Blackfriars. If Cannon Street can occupy 2 lines on the poster, and Mansion House be to the right of the lines why not here?

RogerB | 06.01.21 - 10:41 a.m. | #

Well, I think Thameslink looks fun. Like a slalom. Whee!

Jonathan Wadman | 06.01.21 - 11:13 a.m. | #

TfL have made it clear that Thameslink on the tube map is strictly a one year trial.

This dogs dinner of a implementation makes it pretty clear which side TfL will come down on at the end of the year!

ADS | Homepage | 06.01.21 - 11:19 a.m. | #

Sacrilegious it may be, but I can't help wondering if the Beck map has run its course and a totally clean sheet approach is needed.

Always been a big fan of the jug cerovic design.

E | 06.01.21 - 11:19 a.m. | #

The kerfuffle at Bank does now give the idea that the DLR doesn't start/terminate from there. As DG says, the map designer(s) must have tried their best, but they surely can't see this as part of their portfolio of best work!

Stuart R | 06.01.21 - 12:20 p.m. | #

My view:

The pocket map should be simplified Z1/2 only with maybe a few key interchanges beyond that (and TL and GN&C shown), and, on the reverse, a "teaser" for the the full rail and tube map (shrunk down to be unreadable but with calls to action "available from stations and online", and also a teaser to the TFLGo app)

And the current rail/tube map (in the current large format--which is something between A3 and A2 size?) should be enhanced to have a Bus map on the reverse for the central area with some key longer journeys indicated (some textually), and calls to action to where to find outer zone bus information online.

MilesT | 06.01.21 - 12:30 p.m. | #

TfL produced a "pocket map simplified Z1/2 only with maybe a few key interchanges beyond that" in 2019. It was the worst tube map they have ever published.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 06.01.21 - 1:03 p.m. | #

People really care about this stuff, don't they? I find it astonishing, especially in 2021.

Frank F | 06.01.21 - 1:41 p.m. | #

How did City Thameslink migrate to the north of the Central line?

AlanBG | 06.01.21 - 2:53 p.m. | #

I've often wondered if it would be possible to convert each station's name into a three, four or five lettered code or abbreviation similar to airports. Quite an undertaking to retain clarity but would allow the map to look cleaner and tidier. A job for someone with more time on their hands than me.

Wild Edric | 06.01.21 - 3:38 p.m. | #

Was always going to be a compromise. TfL kinda had their arm twisted to include Thameslink. They should have kept it to just the central area. KT and FP to EC and LB. That's all that was needed. With a short arrow to indicate it continued on.
But do Tfl care? Thameslink is not theres' and they'll have as many curves as you like, so as not to compromise their own lines!

Dave | 06.01.21 - 3:50 p.m. | #

Why don't TfL admit defeat and make the pocket map bigger?

mclm | 06.01.21 - 4:55 p.m. | #

We should count ourselves lucky that a dashed purple line denoting an under construction Elizabeth line hasn’t appeared. But not as lucky as if the real thing had appeared!

What also stood out to me in your second image DG is how close the Central line comes to touching the S in Shoreditch. I hadn’t noticed that before.

BD | 06.01.21 - 5:15 p.m. | #

Alan BG - The northern entrance to City Thameslink - which has the most straightforward walking route to St Pauls underground - is north of the Central Line station, if not the actual line itself.

Vectisian | 06.01.21 - 6:23 p.m. | #

The Thameslink route from London Bridge to Norwood Junction is down the Sussex fast line, and next to the Overground south of New Cross Gate. It's drawn that way on the (much more useful) Tube and Rail map so you'd think they could simply have copied that.

Nick L | 06.01.21 - 11:06 p.m. | #

Lewisham shown in zone 3 rather than 2/3.

aha | 06.01.21 - 11:57 p.m. | #

Atrocious addition of the Thameslink line. TfL gets its revenge. Someone start a Change.org petition to have them straighten out the line!

Long Branch Mike | Homepage | 08.01.21 - 6:21 p.m. | #

Odd that the Northern line extension is still not shown.

SW8guy | 11.01.21 - 9:10 a.m. | #

Designer clearly given a brief to make it look incongruous so they can take it off again!

Paul | 11.01.21 - 4:03 p.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy