UK: Transport for London began rolling out new line names and colours on the London Overground network on November 20. This will replace the previous system where the various routes on the complex inner-suburban rail network were not distinguished with individual branding.
The names and colours will initially appear on customer information channels and at a small number of stations, with the majority being updated from November 25.
The roll-out requires updating around 6 000 station wayfinding signs, network maps, digital screens, onboard train information, as well as audio and visual announcements. Digital channel updates, including the TfL website and TfL Go app will be updated in two phases which will be fully completed by mid-December.
The passenger information system on the Class 378 trains will be updated first, with the Class 710 trains to follow by January.
‘Millions of customer journeys on the London Overground will be transformed by making it simpler to navigate’, said London’s Transport Commissioner Andy Lord. ‘Individual line colours and names have helped customers navigate the Tube for more than a hundred years, so we wanted to take a similar approach on the London Overground. These changes will help improve customer confidence when travelling and encourage more to use our services.’
London Overground services are operated by Arriva Rail London under a concession under which TfL takes the revenue risk, while the operator receives a fixed payment with performance-based adjustments.
| Name | Route | Background | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lioness Line | Euston to Watford Junction | The England women’s national football team is nicknamed the Lionesses. The line runs through Wembley, home of the eponymous football stadium, and the name ’honours the historic achievements and lasting legacy created by the England women’s football team that continues to inspire and empower the next generation of women and girls in sport’. | Yellow |
| Mildmay Line | Stratford to Richmond/Clapham Junction. | Honours the charitable Mildmay Mission Hospital in Shoreditch that had a ’pivotal role in the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, which made it the valued and respected place it is for the LGBTQ+ community today’. | Blue |
| Windrush Line | Highbury & Islington to Clapham Junction/New Cross/Crystal Palace/West Croydon | Empire Windrush was a ship which brought some of the first post-war migrants from the Caribbean to Britain, as well as Polish refugees and others. The line runs through areas with ties to Caribbean communities, and ‘honours the Windrush generation who continue to shape and enrich London’s cultural and social identity’ | Red |
| Weaver Line | Liverpool Street to Cheshunt/Enfield Town/Chingford | The line runs through Liverpool Street, Spitalfields, Bethnal Green and Hackney which were ’known for their textile trade, shaped over the centuries by diverse migrant communities and individuals’. | Maroon |
| Suffragette Line | Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside | The name commemorates the militant wing of the suffragist movement which campaigned for votes for women. It ’celebrates how the working-class movement in the East End fought for votes for woman and paved the way for women’s rights’. Barking was the home of the longest surviving suffragette, Annie Huggett. | Green |
| Liberty Line | Romford to Upminster | The line ‘celebrates the freedom that is a defining feature of London’ and ‘the historic independence of the people of Havering and its status as a Royal Liberty, an area that traditionally had more self-governance and autonomy’. | Grey |
