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The new London tube map (December 2011 version)

Just in time for Christmas, a new version of the London Underground’s tube map is out. Well, I say “tube map” but with the latest addition to it, that is an increasingly inappropriate name. “Underground” is not much better either, as the main change is an addition which is most certainly not a tube and most certainly not underground. It is, however, in London – namely the cross-Thames cable car which is now being built and will, thanks to an inadequate sponsorship deal, be called the Emirates Air-Line.

Slightly oddly, being built seems to be enough to get it on the map, even though another new one is due anyway before it will be completed.

London Underground map: extract showing Emirates Air-Line cable car across Thames

Other changes are fairly minor, with the DLR spur to Lewisham having been moved slightly to the west to now run due south from Poplar removing a long-standing kink in the line. (Oddly, the online but not the printed version of the previous map also had the kink removed.)

Borough station migrates westward, not for winter but to allow the zone shading near it to be straightened out. Meanwhile, Kennington and Oval stations do a flip; where before Kennington had its name to the west of the Northern Line and Oval to the east, now it is the other way round thanks again to an improvement in the shaded zonal information with an extra number “2 “being introduced in the south London stretch of Zone 2. Zone 3 too gets some extra numbers south of the river. There may be a shortage of tube stations and taxis south of the river, but hey – at least there are now more zonal numbers.

Blackfriars, despite not yet being open again, loses its crossing out whilst Shadwell, despite getting closer to having its step free work completed loses its step free logo and acquires a dagger instead. Like a cautious courting couple, Dalston Junction and Hackney Central shuffle closer to each other, but not touching you understand.

Other changes include the District Line spur to Kensington Olympia going dashed to reflect the limited service, Green Park becoming a partially step free (and, in mapping terms, horribly ugly) station, Heathrow improving its step free statuses and the Northern Line once more stopping at Tottenham Court Road. In slight compensation for Green Park, Wembley Park now no longer looks like it has a mini-section of the Piccadilly Line running between its two parts.

As ever, the online pdf of the London tube map has also been updated.

UPDATE: Oops, things are a bit more complicated than I realised when I wrote this. See The curious case of the two new London Underground maps.

 

One response to “The new London tube map (December 2011 version)”

  1. glad the map symbolically acknowledges the long walk involved in changing at Green Park. As someone who often does tube trips for which a change at Green Park might seem to be the right option, I have long learnt to change at the Circuses instead. Picadilly is a short walk, and Oxford is a cross-platform interchange.

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