Post by Chris M on Jul 25, 2022 19:33:20 GMT
There is a new digital tube map out for the Barking Riverside extension opening, but that is far from the only change. The diagram has been vertically compressed so that there is empty space top and bottom - except the key is anchored to the bottom left corner meaning there is empty white space between the top of that and the map content. Either this is a map designed for a different aspect ratio to the page it's on or space is being made to add a lot more lines (South Eastern metro?). The font size for the station names is also smaller than previously. I have no idea if there is or will be a new printed map.
The most significant changes I've spotted are:
Barking Riverside has opened. The line now approaches the station from the west rather than northwest.
The Richmond branch now runs in a straight line southwest from the junction at Turnham Green rather than making a right angle to turn south. The Overground now runs to the right of the District rather than vice versa. The west end of the North London line now turns south after Willesden Junction to make an even split just above the Elizabeth line rather than the Clapham branch diverging from a northeast-southwest Richmond branch further north.
Thameslink has far fewer kinks and curves than it previously had, particularly Cricklewood to Norwood Junction.
Rather than running due north all the way from shortly after Stratford to Epping, the Central line now kinks north between Leyton and Leytonstone, and then northeast from just before Buckhurst Hill.
The eastern end of the Elizabeth line used to run in a straight line northeast from before Stratford all the way to Shenfield, but now it turns right shortly before Forest Gate and then turns again after Seven Kings. Probably in consequence of this, Wanstead Park is now south of Forest Gate rather than northwest of it.
The Romford Upminster line has lost its only curve from just before Barking, the whole line now straight.
The Hammersmith & City line now runs due east from Moorgate all the way to Barking, rather than turning at Aldgate East, Stepney Green and West Ham. This means the District line turns three corners (90° and two 45°) between Tower Hill and Aldgate East rather than one of each. There is now a much greater distance between Liverpool Street and the next stations east than there was. This means that the Central line now has to kink down to serve Mile End rather than running straight.
The Elizabeth line to Shenfield now runs due east from Liverpool Street rather than following London Overground, meaning Shoreditch High Street is now between the two rather than south of both and the Central line.
Shadwell LO has moved from south (as it is in reality) to north of the DLR, which no longer has an equal split between Tower Gateway and Bank branches just east of the Circle line. Instead the Bank branch diverges northwest from the east-west Tower Gateway branch on top of the Overground (this is poor design imo). Tower Gateway is now approached from the southeast rather than northeast.
London Overground no longer has a three way junction south of Surrey Quays, rather the Clapham Junction line diverges first, followed by New Cross branch shortly afterwards (the latter now straight northwest-southeast rather than curving to parallel the West Croydon line) - both junctions are south of Thameslink, the old one was north.
The river has gained an extra bend in Zone 1 - it continues further north before turning east south of Cannon Street rather than east of Mansion House, it kinks back to its original line between Tower Hill and Wapping. Consequently London Bridge has also moved north a bit and so the Jubilee line has gained kinks before and after Bermondsey. The Isle of Dogs is now asymmetrical, with the corner at Limehouse being further north than that at North Greenwich. This means North Greenwich moves south and the Jubilee line gets another two additional kinks, this time either side of Canary Wharf.
At Paddington the two sections of Elizabeth line now vertically aligned ready for through running, passing south rather than north of Royal Oak. The Hammersmith and City line runs northeast-southwest for much longer - south of Latimer Road to just after Paddington Bishops Road rather than from north of Ladbroke Grove to midway between Royal Oak and Paddington.
Hanger Lane moves northeast of Park Royal rather than west of it, meaning the Central and Piccadilly lines cross after rather than before the stations when heading outbound. Shepherd's Bush LU has moved east to be northeast rather than north of it's LO namesake.
Also gaining kinks is the south end of the Watford DC - previously it turned a right angle south of Queen's Park and ran due east until it turned southwest to reach Euston. Now it (and the Bakerloo) turn southeast south of Kensal Green, before the DC turns east at Kilburn Park (making it less clear there is no LO station there). This means it needs to turn northeast and then east to avoid crashing into Swiss Cottage, before turning southeast and then turning again to arrive into Euston from the East.
King's Cross has given one of it's blobs to Euston - at the latter the Northern, Victora and Piccadilly lines all now share one blob where they cross northeast of the SSR blob and southwest of the Thameslink one. Before they were in a vertical line (from top to bottom: Thameslink, Vic and Picc, Northern, SSR) east of the crossing. The Victoria line is now below the northern line (the latter gaining a kink to run northwest-southeast for a short way rather than east-west). However this means that at Euston, the Victoria line has falln out with the City branch of the Northern and they have separate blobs (the former south of the latter) however, the Victoria line blob is linked to the Charing Cross branch blob - this is silly as it has cross-platform interchange with the City branch and a long walk to the Charing Cross branch.
In a far more sensible change, the Jubilee line now runs due north from Canning Town into Stratford, while the DLR kinks before the latter station to run straight through the interchange towards International rather than waiting until after the interchange to do so.
Other changes include:
The grey used for the even numbered zones is slightly darker than on the May map - it's now e9e9e9 rather than the previous f4f4f4. Basically every zone number label is in a different position to previously, some (e.g. the 3 between the northern branches of the Northern line) have only moved slightly, others have moved a long way (e.g. the southernmost 1 has crossed the river from northwest of Pimlico to south of Waterloo), zone boundary lines are also radically different in many places.
The Elizabeth line west of Hayes & Harlington is now more spread out - the "Outside fare zones" label has shrunk, gained "Oyster not valid" and moved above Hayes & Harlington rather than above Reading - the NR double arrows are now right of the station names not below (permitted by the reduced font size).
The double arrows for Amersham and Chalfont & Latimer have moved so these labels are now 1 (previously 2) and 3 (previously 2) lines. The label for Harrow on the Hill has moved from above to below the line, the labels for the Overground stations north of Harrow & Wealdstone have all moved from right to left of the line, the label for Greenford has done the opposite.
Rayners Lane label changes from 1 to 2 lines, that for South Ruislip from 2 to 3 (or 1 to 2 excluding the double arrow). Labels for South Harrow to Alperton and North Ealing gave moved from left to right of the line, the labels for North Ealing, Park Royal and Sudbury Hill going from 1 to 2 lines (Sudbury Town is unchanged at 1)
Heathrow Terminal 4 has lost its dagger and the label for Terminals 2 & 3 now spans three lines rather than two. The labels on the Piccadilly line Heathrow brnach were all right of the line from Boston Manor to Hatton Cross, with Northfields left and South Ealing above, but now South Ealing has moved away from Acton Town and is now left of the line, Northfields is right, Boston Manor left, and then as before to Hatton Cross.
The labels for Limehouse and Westferry have swapped sides of the line, with the latter going from below to above, moving the riverboat symbol further from the river.
The "for maritime Greenwich" part of Cutty Sark's label has shrunk even more than the rest of the text. This is not a map for the visually impaired. West India Quay's label has moved from west of the line to east of it and from three lines to two - while this is much better spatially, it does mean that Elizabeth line blob is more closely associated with that label than the Canary Wharf one. Royal Victoria's label moves from 2 lines to 1 and the Royal Docks dangleway station moves up slightly but it is now southeast rather than south of Royal Victoria.
Tottenham Court Road's label is now on three rather than two lines, with the Goodge Street tick in the gap between the first and second words. This is not particularly more or less confusing than previously but its still not great.
London Bridge is now arranged on a southwest-northeast axis rather than north-south, and Blackfriars Thameslink is southeast rather than south of Blackfriars LU. Bond Street's label is now west rather than east of the Jubilee line.
Queensway's label is now below the box for Notting Hill Gate rather than right of it, meaning the box could logically apply to either Central line station.
The West Hampstead label alignments have changed - the LO/Jubilee label was centre aligned filling the gap betwee the Jubilee, Thameslink and LO lines. Thameslink is now further away so the TfL stations' label is now right aligned above the LO blob, while the Thameslink label is now centred above the middle of it's blob rather than left-aligned to its left edge.
Old Street is now on a northwest-southeast diagonal, smoothing the previous 90° corner.
LO's labels in the Seven Sisters-Leyton-Hackney area have been rearranged to be mostly neater. Rectory Road to Stamford Hill move left of the line, given Tottenham Hale and Walthamstow Queens Road more breathing space. Leyton Midland Road has moved west a bit and it's label is now left aligned and well clear of Leytonstone High Road's (which has moved above the line). St James Street has changed from three to two lines. Stratford International's double arrow has moved onto a third line from the start of the first.
Canning Town's label has moved from northeast of the International branch blob to southeast of the JLE/DLR mainline blob. West Ham's has move from southeast of the LU/DLR blob to northwest of the JLE one.
The labels for Kenton and Northwick Park have made friends, moving left and above their lines respectively to be next to each other.
Finally, the positioning of the F grid row label by the key has been fixed.
The most significant changes I've spotted are:
Barking Riverside has opened. The line now approaches the station from the west rather than northwest.
The Richmond branch now runs in a straight line southwest from the junction at Turnham Green rather than making a right angle to turn south. The Overground now runs to the right of the District rather than vice versa. The west end of the North London line now turns south after Willesden Junction to make an even split just above the Elizabeth line rather than the Clapham branch diverging from a northeast-southwest Richmond branch further north.
Thameslink has far fewer kinks and curves than it previously had, particularly Cricklewood to Norwood Junction.
Rather than running due north all the way from shortly after Stratford to Epping, the Central line now kinks north between Leyton and Leytonstone, and then northeast from just before Buckhurst Hill.
The eastern end of the Elizabeth line used to run in a straight line northeast from before Stratford all the way to Shenfield, but now it turns right shortly before Forest Gate and then turns again after Seven Kings. Probably in consequence of this, Wanstead Park is now south of Forest Gate rather than northwest of it.
The Romford Upminster line has lost its only curve from just before Barking, the whole line now straight.
The Hammersmith & City line now runs due east from Moorgate all the way to Barking, rather than turning at Aldgate East, Stepney Green and West Ham. This means the District line turns three corners (90° and two 45°) between Tower Hill and Aldgate East rather than one of each. There is now a much greater distance between Liverpool Street and the next stations east than there was. This means that the Central line now has to kink down to serve Mile End rather than running straight.
The Elizabeth line to Shenfield now runs due east from Liverpool Street rather than following London Overground, meaning Shoreditch High Street is now between the two rather than south of both and the Central line.
Shadwell LO has moved from south (as it is in reality) to north of the DLR, which no longer has an equal split between Tower Gateway and Bank branches just east of the Circle line. Instead the Bank branch diverges northwest from the east-west Tower Gateway branch on top of the Overground (this is poor design imo). Tower Gateway is now approached from the southeast rather than northeast.
London Overground no longer has a three way junction south of Surrey Quays, rather the Clapham Junction line diverges first, followed by New Cross branch shortly afterwards (the latter now straight northwest-southeast rather than curving to parallel the West Croydon line) - both junctions are south of Thameslink, the old one was north.
The river has gained an extra bend in Zone 1 - it continues further north before turning east south of Cannon Street rather than east of Mansion House, it kinks back to its original line between Tower Hill and Wapping. Consequently London Bridge has also moved north a bit and so the Jubilee line has gained kinks before and after Bermondsey. The Isle of Dogs is now asymmetrical, with the corner at Limehouse being further north than that at North Greenwich. This means North Greenwich moves south and the Jubilee line gets another two additional kinks, this time either side of Canary Wharf.
At Paddington the two sections of Elizabeth line now vertically aligned ready for through running, passing south rather than north of Royal Oak. The Hammersmith and City line runs northeast-southwest for much longer - south of Latimer Road to just after Paddington Bishops Road rather than from north of Ladbroke Grove to midway between Royal Oak and Paddington.
Hanger Lane moves northeast of Park Royal rather than west of it, meaning the Central and Piccadilly lines cross after rather than before the stations when heading outbound. Shepherd's Bush LU has moved east to be northeast rather than north of it's LO namesake.
Also gaining kinks is the south end of the Watford DC - previously it turned a right angle south of Queen's Park and ran due east until it turned southwest to reach Euston. Now it (and the Bakerloo) turn southeast south of Kensal Green, before the DC turns east at Kilburn Park (making it less clear there is no LO station there). This means it needs to turn northeast and then east to avoid crashing into Swiss Cottage, before turning southeast and then turning again to arrive into Euston from the East.
King's Cross has given one of it's blobs to Euston - at the latter the Northern, Victora and Piccadilly lines all now share one blob where they cross northeast of the SSR blob and southwest of the Thameslink one. Before they were in a vertical line (from top to bottom: Thameslink, Vic and Picc, Northern, SSR) east of the crossing. The Victoria line is now below the northern line (the latter gaining a kink to run northwest-southeast for a short way rather than east-west). However this means that at Euston, the Victoria line has falln out with the City branch of the Northern and they have separate blobs (the former south of the latter) however, the Victoria line blob is linked to the Charing Cross branch blob - this is silly as it has cross-platform interchange with the City branch and a long walk to the Charing Cross branch.
In a far more sensible change, the Jubilee line now runs due north from Canning Town into Stratford, while the DLR kinks before the latter station to run straight through the interchange towards International rather than waiting until after the interchange to do so.
Other changes include:
The grey used for the even numbered zones is slightly darker than on the May map - it's now e9e9e9 rather than the previous f4f4f4. Basically every zone number label is in a different position to previously, some (e.g. the 3 between the northern branches of the Northern line) have only moved slightly, others have moved a long way (e.g. the southernmost 1 has crossed the river from northwest of Pimlico to south of Waterloo), zone boundary lines are also radically different in many places.
The Elizabeth line west of Hayes & Harlington is now more spread out - the "Outside fare zones" label has shrunk, gained "Oyster not valid" and moved above Hayes & Harlington rather than above Reading - the NR double arrows are now right of the station names not below (permitted by the reduced font size).
The double arrows for Amersham and Chalfont & Latimer have moved so these labels are now 1 (previously 2) and 3 (previously 2) lines. The label for Harrow on the Hill has moved from above to below the line, the labels for the Overground stations north of Harrow & Wealdstone have all moved from right to left of the line, the label for Greenford has done the opposite.
Rayners Lane label changes from 1 to 2 lines, that for South Ruislip from 2 to 3 (or 1 to 2 excluding the double arrow). Labels for South Harrow to Alperton and North Ealing gave moved from left to right of the line, the labels for North Ealing, Park Royal and Sudbury Hill going from 1 to 2 lines (Sudbury Town is unchanged at 1)
Heathrow Terminal 4 has lost its dagger and the label for Terminals 2 & 3 now spans three lines rather than two. The labels on the Piccadilly line Heathrow brnach were all right of the line from Boston Manor to Hatton Cross, with Northfields left and South Ealing above, but now South Ealing has moved away from Acton Town and is now left of the line, Northfields is right, Boston Manor left, and then as before to Hatton Cross.
The labels for Limehouse and Westferry have swapped sides of the line, with the latter going from below to above, moving the riverboat symbol further from the river.
The "for maritime Greenwich" part of Cutty Sark's label has shrunk even more than the rest of the text. This is not a map for the visually impaired. West India Quay's label has moved from west of the line to east of it and from three lines to two - while this is much better spatially, it does mean that Elizabeth line blob is more closely associated with that label than the Canary Wharf one. Royal Victoria's label moves from 2 lines to 1 and the Royal Docks dangleway station moves up slightly but it is now southeast rather than south of Royal Victoria.
Tottenham Court Road's label is now on three rather than two lines, with the Goodge Street tick in the gap between the first and second words. This is not particularly more or less confusing than previously but its still not great.
London Bridge is now arranged on a southwest-northeast axis rather than north-south, and Blackfriars Thameslink is southeast rather than south of Blackfriars LU. Bond Street's label is now west rather than east of the Jubilee line.
Queensway's label is now below the box for Notting Hill Gate rather than right of it, meaning the box could logically apply to either Central line station.
The West Hampstead label alignments have changed - the LO/Jubilee label was centre aligned filling the gap betwee the Jubilee, Thameslink and LO lines. Thameslink is now further away so the TfL stations' label is now right aligned above the LO blob, while the Thameslink label is now centred above the middle of it's blob rather than left-aligned to its left edge.
Old Street is now on a northwest-southeast diagonal, smoothing the previous 90° corner.
LO's labels in the Seven Sisters-Leyton-Hackney area have been rearranged to be mostly neater. Rectory Road to Stamford Hill move left of the line, given Tottenham Hale and Walthamstow Queens Road more breathing space. Leyton Midland Road has moved west a bit and it's label is now left aligned and well clear of Leytonstone High Road's (which has moved above the line). St James Street has changed from three to two lines. Stratford International's double arrow has moved onto a third line from the start of the first.
Canning Town's label has moved from northeast of the International branch blob to southeast of the JLE/DLR mainline blob. West Ham's has move from southeast of the LU/DLR blob to northwest of the JLE one.
The labels for Kenton and Northwick Park have made friends, moving left and above their lines respectively to be next to each other.
Finally, the positioning of the F grid row label by the key has been fixed.
