Well they've not added that much extra - just a few bits of Silverlink's route that wasn't on there before. But the orange for London Overground is a bit nasty and I don't think it hugely helps. I guess its the same colour as the East London Line, but for me, it's not working. Maybe if it was more subtle.
As for Shoreditch still being there - apparently there is a rail replacement bus service, so the station is technically still open. Despite being closed and (if I heard correctly) turned into a coffee shop 
Surely that can't be a correct, final version?
The position of Heathrow T5 would indicate that the train would have to reverse back down to it...
I guess they left Shoreditch on to emphasise the bus link. And after all the entire line that it's on is going to be shut after December...
Trains can either go Hatton Cross - T123 - T5, and reverse that, or go HX - T4 - T123, thus go around the loop. This is how it's actually set up now.
I don't know why the East London Line orange is slightly different from the Overground one. I sure hope that once the East London Line actually closes it disappears of the map, or goes into 'under construction mode'.
I don't like all the orange either. I was hoping for lilac, or maybe a subtle shade of puce...
It's definitely a bit crowded round the Shepherd's Bush which would suggest an over-provision of services in that particular area. Perhaps Ken and Tim O'Toole have plans to mover there.
Also, the DLR anomoly has been repeated on the Overground. An open or outline line is supposed to represent a section of line where the service frequency is less than 4tph. So DLR and the old North London Line should be solid lines in the relevant colour whilst the Goblin Line, Clapham-Willesden and Euston-Queens park should be shown in outline (as they are).
now that the silverlink services are coiming under tfl, ken livingstone should immediately remove the anomoly of hampstead overground station being in zone 3. everything else around it is in zone 2 and it makes travel from stations either side of it unnecessarily expensive!
There's more stations in Acton than Shepherds Bush
But the problem with Sheps Bush is that there's enough stations, but they're NOT linked together. White City and the new Wood Lane are a mere moments away from each other, but the oppertunity to link them together has just been completely lost.
But then Shepbs Bush overground/underground - surely that's just going to be an interchange station? They're right next to each other!
Once Terminal Five opens, the bit of the Picadilly between T123 and Hatton Cross will be made solid to show that that part of the line will be two way again.
I've come up with an alternative design, showing the transport plans for 2012. It's at http://alex4d.wordpress.com/2007...s-lost-its-way/
I don't mind the new map at all. I just moved here a month ago from a city that only had 4 simple lines for a transit system and I don't find the new Overground difficult to read at all. It doesn't, to me, though, make much sense, since it doesn't make too many useful connections to the Underground. I take it that it wasn't planned for much integration?
Do you remember the "upside down" map, which transposed those lines north of the river to the south? It would be interesting to see a new version.
brian armitage: Hampstead Heath is being moved to zone 2, Willesden Junction and Acton Central to zone 2/3 I think.
IanD: that's never been the rule at all regarding lower frequencies, I think? It certainly isn't at the moment, where the frequency map shows low-frequency services in grey.
Andrew: I don't think you can show it as an interchange station while at the same time showing that one of them is under construction and not open yet.
It does look a bit higgledy-piggledy, but as long as Mornington Crescent still exists I'm happy!
A third link (after Liverpool Street and Mile End) between the Central Line and the Hammersmith and City line at Wood Lane / Shepherd's Bush would have been brilliant.
I still think they'll decide to put a link in quite soon.
I think the colour for Overground had to be the one chosen, since that colour is being vacated by the East London Line.
I love the Shepherd's Bush name being shared between central and overground lines!
Couple of issues that need to be unpacked and separated hare. On the one hand, "is the map sufficiently usable" and on the other, "is this the best design possible".
Usability really needs to be tested directly, but most readers here have the advantage of knowing the London Underground well, which helps them interpret the map. For tourists and visitors, things are probably different. However usable the map is, it is currently breaking a number of psychological principles concerning usability, both with the configuration of the lines (too many kinks) and the amount of information pollution on the map. Overall though, the map is probably still 'sufficiently usable', so no need to panic, at least not until they get going with Crossrail.
But is this the best possible design (If not, then LUL are distributing second-rate designs pretending to be design icons)? To answer this, we need to have some intuitions about what good design is. For many people, it seems, merely using Henry Beck's design principles is sufficient to make the map a good design. This is simply not the case. Good design comes from a clever execution within the constraints imposed by the design rules, not from mere execution of the design rules. It also helps to have some clear and well thought through design principles.
Fundamentally, Henry Beck's original design was outstanding because he turned curves into straight lines. Tuday, LUL turns curves into corners, not so clever, and not so helpful.
I think there's an *error* on the map, shock horror. I'm pretty certain that I saw somewhere that the current Shepherd's Bush (Hamm/City) was going to be renamed Shepherds Bush Market to distinguish it properly from Shepherd's Bush (Central Line)? Yet the "new" map still has both stations listed with the same name (plus the new Shepherd's Bush, hence *more* confusion). In fact, it's confirmed here http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/...entre/
3451.aspx
I also work for the BBC programme linked to in the main post on the blog, so please visit us - we need all the friends we can get!
Maybe I was thinking of the London Connections map. I had a look at one of the big ones at Leytonstone which had already been updated on Saturday and the new lines were shown with a thick outline where frequency was 4+tph and a thin outline for the others.
sweek: that's fantastic news!
Hmmm, not over-impressed. The station names should be written in black, with the diabbled-access stations in green or something, the blue of the map is overwhelming (and it's the same with the zones!) and makes it look like the whole thing is biased towards the Piccadilly line!
Oops, tryping errol, my comment should have said "disabled" not "diabbled"! No edit function!!
what extra transport links has this provided exactly? oh look, the network extends into other counties in north london but is still almost non-existent past zone 2 south of the river!
Don't forget the most important destination in outer London, Heathrow Airport. Its a pain to get to by either NLL or WLL. It might have been useful for a couple of interchange stations in West London to be added so that it would be easier to get from London Overground onto the Piccadilly Line, or even the Heathrow Connect service.
But no, much more important to blow the budget so that people can travel directly from New Cross to Dalston.
The blue circles for disabled access should go. They make interchanges confusing (and the DLR looks silly). I know TfL want to show how many improvements they've made to access, but it ruins the map. The wheelchair symbols are in the station index anyway.
It would be helpful if along with the Tube and Overground it included the National Rail lines which accept Oyster pre-pay, like Kentish Town-Elephant/London Bridge and the Finsbury Park-Moorgate line. I think some used to be on older versions, so it can't be that hard to make them fit.
I guess they're running out of colours, but the two branches of the Northern might be clearer as separate lines.
I see they've given up on the overground station at Imperial Wharf that was supposed to open last year. Never saw any evidence of it being "under construction"...
The map without doubt now has too much information. If you look at the circle line or at Zone 1 in proportion to the whole map, it's tiny, whereas in reality, as we all know by getting on the tube, they're empty near the ends and absolutely heaving in Zone 1. I think they should refocus and make the centre of the map take up more room compared to the map as a whole.
Remember Shepherds Bush is getting the largest inner-city shopping mall in the country next year.. I think thats the main reason for all the new tube station / renaming etc. PLus teh fact that the company building the mall had to pay for all the tube station work - LUL are certainly getting their moneys worth there!
Though, with the future of BBC TVC in so much doubt, it would make two stations on wood lane a little redundant in my opinion.
Busy backgrounds are not dyslexia friendly as they distract the eye.
do you find it ironic that the new London Overground service is Orange, like the East London Line which will be taken over by London Overground when it re-opens???
Not ironic, Wesley, deliberate...
Sssshh!! Don't tell anyone I told you this . . . but Boris is planning to sell off the Thames to the Americans so that they can run it through the Grand Canyon!
And of course really sell off Tower Bridge to go with it! (You need to be about 50 to appreciate this one)
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