Overground map without the bad stuff

It annoys me that the in-train network diagram of the Overground could be much better.

Here is my re-worked diagram concept

It features:

  • no lines cross another (happens 4 times on original)
  • all lines line up on 9 levels
  • all labels on horizontal lines
  • grid layout for ease of reading
  • shows the Southern trains that share tracks and platforms News Cross to Norwood Junction
  • shows the Southern trains that share tracks and platforms Shepherds Bush to Clapham Junction
  • shows the shared tracks and platforms Bakerloo/Overground from H&W to Queens Park
  • out of station interchanges that can be walked
  • no need for daggers to find out Chingford train don’t stop at London Fields and Cambridge Heath
  • no need for 8 stations to be shown on 45 degree lines

It doesn’t yet show

  • the full list of interchanges
  • station labels and station ticks formatted
  • correct sized interchange symbols
  • train frequencies
  • Battersea Park (one train a day)

This is what it looks like today

Diagram concept without the grid visisble

Brian,

I like that, Topgraphically it’s coherent (no crossovers is excellent). As I happen to use those lines a lot I appreciate it.

Not so sure about the arrow to be honest. That could do with some more thought.

Also as someone who knows New Cross and New Cross Gate exceptionally well as I used it daily for a commute to West Croydon, I feel the dagger is very apt :slight_smile:

I expect TfL to license this from you and you roll back to live an life of idle luxury (or not).

Best wishes

Rob

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@rwillett

Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback.

The arrows idea were taken from the TfL timetable for the Richmond and Clapham Junction section -
http://content.tfl.gov.uk/richmond-and-clapham-junction-to-stratford-timetable-december-2019.pdf

image

I’m happy for this to be one of those public domain things, so I would just be happy for thing to be better in the world.

It’s an interesting concept. Whilst I agree that Southern doesn’t share the same platforms at Crystal Palace, you can take Southern trains between New Cross Gate/Sydenham and Crystal Palace. And if we’re being picky, the platforms aren’t shared at Queen’s Park either.

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That’s excellent feedback, thank you.

I have made the “shared lines” smaller: they idea is that if you are on a Overground train already, knowing that you can use the Southern and Bakerloo service “in between” trains is useful, but I think I might have overplayed it. It is only useful to have off-page arrows to show that the alternative trains go somewhere.

I fixed the interchange symbols so they are normal size and added in a few details.

Here’s a proper version, with the right format for the orange Overground lines. I’ve removed the Bakerloo Line as it just looks horrible. Otherwise, it seems to work.

Hi @briantist

Great map. Would it still work if you rolled everything round about 90 degrees clockwise? I’m thinking in terms of having Clapham Junction in the bottom left and everything south of Surrey Quays (ish) running r to l along the bottom. I feel this might help travellers by being a bit closer to standard map orientation.

Thanks, @nickp

I feel this might help travellers by being a bit closer to standard map orientation.

I thought about this and I realised that there are plenty of good maps of the overground that are designed to use the geography such as Overground - Transport for London

However, this is really for the Car Line Diagrams in the train itself. As I looked at Car Line Diagrams - Transport for London I thought that none of them attempt the geography. It’s because it is what’s needed when you’re in a train… you don’t have a compass (or see the sun!)

This all started out because it’s really hard to use the existing on-train diagram on the train, because the botched attempted at adding geography means you can’t follow the train you’re on easily because everything is zig-zags.

So, what I wanted to do was to

  • Show the high-frequency services at the top. That’s Dalston Junction to Surrey Quays first (it’s going to be 24 trains per hour) .
  • This is also the “night tube” at the top.
  • Keep the number of services going around corners to a minimum, so Watford to Willesden Junction is a nice line as is Chingford to Liverpool Street

The idea was to always make it possible to be on a train and just follow a simple line - or at worst a curve if you are on a 2 (Enfield/Cheshunt), 3 (Euston) or 4 (Chingford, Clapham J via Denmark Hill ) tph service.

So, I was really after something that works on the train, rather than works for actual geography.

I hope I’ve not over-thought this.

@nickp I’ve made a change to the Watford Junction to Euston section to remove the overlap with the “to Milton Keynes” line. Also, it restores the angular maths I used to make the diagram in the first place…

Fixed a few things:

  1. Restored the Bakerloo line (WJ now has triple link icon)
  2. Put the District Line Gunnerbury to Richmond
  3. Added in Night Overground icons
  4. Sorted out the key to make it readable
  5. White Heart Lane is accessible
  6. Removed Southern line having any overlaps (and “to” wording)
  7. Moved Stratford so it can have the “to Southend Airport” wording

I think it looks better without the Southern arrows.

This version also marks the 30-min headway service light orange and the 3-min headway core service without a solid line. Not sure if can be understood easily.

(also fixed accessibility for many stations)

Perhaps better styled Night Tube And Overground?

In this version:

  • added in “Also operates” to the night tube description
  • changed Gospel Oak and Clapham junction to have horizontal lines to the in-station joiners
  • added the toilets marker in to all the stations that have them
  • sorted out the stretchy font problem for most of the stations in the bottom half of the diagram
  • shorten the Gospel Oak to Barking line a little
  • moved Romford Upminster out of the way
  • two column Key
  • Moved up the labels on Shepherds Bush to Imperial Wharf so Kensington (O) can have the “weekends and holidays” text
  • Barking riverside dotted AND centre-white