To simplify travel around the capital, London‘s overground rail network has been divided into six lines.
The official launch took place at Dalston Junction, which is now on the Windrush Line, on the morning of Thursday, November 28, 2024.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was also in attendance.
The official naming of each line was commissioned before a plaque showing the new lines that operate under the London Overground banner was unveiled.
Up until today, following the London Overground route on the tube and London rail maps had been tricky, as the Overground trains all run on set routes that travel around London.
Today, each of these set routes is now individually coloured, making it easier for passengers to change between Overground trains and the Underground.
The new Tube map has been updated accordingly to show the new colour schemes of the six lines.
In addition to that, over the last 9 days, 6,000 new station signs across the Overground Network have had to be rebranded and renamed at each individual station to reflect each of the lines they are now a part of.
Station and on board train announcements have had to be amended to say the name of the line each train is running on as well as connecting points for trains on other lines.
The TFL website has been updated accordingly, and the six lines now appear on the home screen of the TFL webpage, which shows each line’s operational status.
The new lines names, route and colours are:
- Lioness Line (running from Watford Junction to London Euston) – yellow
- Mildmay Line (running from Richmond and Clapham Junction to Stratford) - blue
- Windrush Line (running from Highbury & Islington to New Cross, Clapham Junction, Crystal Palace and West Croydon) – red
- Weaver Line (running from Liverpool Street to Enfield Town, Cheshunt and Chingford) – maroon
- Suffragette Line (running from Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside) – green
- Liberty Line (running from Romford to Upminster) – grey
Several people including Stakeholders, customers, employees, historians, industry experts, and local communities were instrumental in promoting and selecting of six new names, representatives of which joined the Mayor of London at the launch ceremony today.
London’s rich history and culture have been pivotal in its development, and it was crucial that the names of the lines, which will be in use for many years, embody this heritage.
“I’m delighted to officially launch the six new line names and colours of the London Overground, in an historic change to the capital’s transport network.
These distinct colours and identities will not only make our fantastic London Overground network easier for customers to navigate, they also celebrate the best of London, from the contribution of the Windrush generation to our inspiring England women’s football team, as well as other untold elements of London’s cultural history.
The London Overground is now a reminder that we wouldn’t be the city we are today without the energy and diverse experiences of everyone who lives here.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan
Responses
Many Londoners want Sadiq Khan out because he’s done absolutely nothing to make London lot safer. But he’s also spent huge amounts of money on trying to improve London’s transport and seeing more new buildings built including new homes and apartments and still there are lots of homeless people dotted all over London. It’s time that London needs a new Mayor.
When will the maps on the TfL website be updated to show the new line names and colours?
What another waste of money from our wonderful Mayor of London.
One day I hope someone will take over from him.
Waste of money for a country in debt!
And still many passengers would be confused by the changes to the London Overground rebranding and renaming but they probably would have to get used to it. Also I do think that Alstom could manufacture few more Class 710s especially for the proposed West London Orbital route from Brent Cross West to Brentford via using the electrified Dudding Hill Line and the Spur line south of South Acton to Brentford and Kew Gardens. And a new station to be built close to Brentford Community Stadium.
I’m sorry but who was finding the overground difficult to use, I don’t go into London much there days but I still know what line is what. And I don’t care what th signs says the Gospel Oak To Barking will always be the Goblin Route and London Euston To Watford Will Always be the Watford DC lines and I will always call them that.
You can call them what you like, but don’t be surprised if you get blank looks from other people.
If you were changing from the Victoria Line to “The Overground”, you would understand the confusion. It met 5 of the different Overground lines at different stations, with the Liberty Line being the only one that had no connection. The in-carriage route maps just showed “Overground 🟧” for each of them, with no clue as to which line connected at which station.
Likewise, announcements or reports of problems affecting London Overground often just referred to “Overground” making it more difficult for passengers to find out if their journey would be impacted.
How would you feel about the Bakerloo 🟫, Central 🟥, Jubilee🩶, Northern ⬛, Piccadilly 🟦 and Victoria 🟦 were all just branded as “Underground” with no distinction made between them?
I agree with you.
Here in Dalston, we are suffering from a shortage of buses on the 141 route. The money should have been spent on a few more 141 buses to increase the capacity.
I will also be very surprised if the 141 bus route is the only one in London that needs more buses.
That would be what the next Mayor of London would like to hear once Sadiq Khan has left his job as the current Mayor of London.