Current tube map as of 27 March 2008

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The tube map is the schematic diagram representing the lines, stations, and zones of London's rapid transit rail system, the London Underground (commonly known as the tube, hence the name). Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The London Underground is a Metro system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire The history of the London Underground is one of gradual evolution The Infrastructure of the London Underground includes 11 lines which serve 268 stations by rail Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This is a list of London Underground stations. The history of London Underground 's rolling stock is as complex as the history of the network itself The London Underground has long provided inspiration in various areas of popular culture A schematic is a diagram that represents the elements of a System using abstract graphic Symbols rather than realistic pictures London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway or metro(politan system is an electric passenger railway "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. The London Underground is a Metro system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire The London Underground is a Metro system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire

As a schematic diagram it shows not the geographic but the relative positions of stations along the lines, stations' connective relations with each other and their fare zone locations. The basic design concepts, especially that of mapping topographically rather than geographically, have been widely adopted for other network maps around the world. Topography ( topo-, "place" and graphia, "writing" is the study of Earth 's Surface features or those of Planets

History

Different underground lines were controlled by different companies and no official unified map was produced until 1906, when Charles Tyson Yerkes unified the railways and operated them under a combined "Underground" brand. Charles Tyson Yerkes ( June 25, 1837 &ndash December 29, 1905) was an American financier born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania A brand is a collection of Images and ideas representing an economic producer more specifically it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a

Early Underground maps were geographically correct, and also showed streets and other local features. ^[1] The lines were not shown with a consistent colour scheme — for example, the Central Line was blue in 1908,^[1] yellow in 1926,^[2] and orange by 1932,^[3] by which time details such as streets had been removed. In Color theory, a color scheme is the choice of Colors used in Design for a range of media The Central line is a line of the London Underground and coloured red on the Tube map.

The 1932 edition was the last geographically-based map to be published, before the now familiar style of map took its place. However Transport for London bus maps show closely the actual routes as coloured lines. Transport for London ( TfL) is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the Transport system in Greater London in England.

Beck's maps

The schematic design of Zone 1 of the tube map. Travelcard Zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London 's zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated inter-modal Travelcard fares within London Locations of stations are not geographically accurate Unofficial map of Zone 1 showing the correct geographic locations of the stations

The first diagrammatic map of the Underground was designed by Harry Beck in 1933. Travelcard Zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London 's zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated inter-modal Travelcard fares within London Henry C Beck (1903&ndash1974 known as Harry Beck, was a graphic designer best known for creating the present London Underground Tube map in 1933 ^[4] Beck was an Underground employee who realised that, because the railway ran mostly underground, the physical locations of the stations were irrelevant to the traveller wanting to know how to get to one station from another — only the topology of the railway mattered. Topology ( Greek topos, "place" and logos, "study" is the branch of Mathematics that studies the properties of This approach is similar to that of electrical circuit diagrams; while these were not the inspiration for Beck's diagram, his colleagues pointed out the similarities and he once produced a joke map with the stations replaced by electrical-circuit symbols and names with terminology, such as "bakelite" for "Bakerloo"^[5]. A circuit diagram (also known as an electrical diagram Wiring diagram, elementary diagram or electronic Schematic) is a simplified conventional pictorial representation Bakelite (ˈbеɪkɨlaɪt is a material based on the thermosetting Phenol formaldehyde resin polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride developed in 1907–1909 by The Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. In fact, Beck based his diagram on a similar mapping system for underground sewage systems.

To this end, he devised a vastly simplified map, consisting of stations, straight line segments connecting them, and the Thames; lines ran only vertically, horizontally, or at 45 degrees. The Thames ( is a major River flowing through southern England. To make the map clearer and to emphasise connections, Beck differentiated between ordinary stations (marked with tick marks) and interchanges (marked with diamonds). A tick (known as a checkmark or check in American English) is a mark (✓ ✔ ☑, etc In Geometry, a rhombus (from Ancient Greek ῥόμβος - rrhombos “rhombus spinning top” (plural rhombi or rhombuses The Underground was initially sceptical of his proposal — it was an uncommissioned spare-time project, and it tentatively introduced it to the public in a small pamphlet. It was immediately popular, and ever since the Underground has used topological maps to illustrate the network.

Despite the complexity of making the map, Beck was paid just five Guineas for the work. The guinea coin of 1663 was the first English machine-struck Gold coin. After its initial success, he continued to design the Underground map until 1960, a single (and unpopular) 1939 edition by Hans Scheger being the exception. ^[6] During this time, as well as accommodating new lines and stations, Beck continually altered the design, for example changing the interchange symbol from diamonds to circles, as well as altering the line colours - the Central Line from orange to red, and the Bakerloo Line from red to brown. Circles are simple Shapes of Euclidean geometry consisting of those points in a plane which are at a constant Distance, called the The Central line is a line of the London Underground and coloured red on the Tube map. The Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. Beck's final design, in 1960, bears a strong resemblance to modern-day maps. ^[7]

After Beck

Beck had by 1960 fallen out with the Underground's publicity officer, Harold Hutchinson. Hutchinson, though not a designer himself, drafted his own version of the Tube map in 1960; it removed the smoothed corners of Beck's design, lines were less straight and created some highly cramped areas (most notably, around Liverpool Street). Liverpool Street station, also called London Liverpool Street, is a major railway station and connected London Underground station in the north eastern ^[8] However, Hutchinson also introduced interchange symbols (circles for Underground-only, squares for interchanges with British Rail) that were black and allowed multiple lines through them, as opposed to Beck who used one circle for each line at an interchange, coloured according to the corresponding line. See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways"

In 1964, the design of the map was taken over by Paul Garbutt, who like Beck had produced a map in his spare time due to his dislike of the current design. Garbutt's map restored curves and bends to the diagram, but retained Hutchinson's black interchange circles (the squares however were replaced with circles with a dot inside). Garbutt continued to produce Underground maps for at least another 20 years — Tube maps stopped bearing the designer's name in 1986, by which time the elements of the map bore a very strong resemblance to today's map. ^[9]

Today

Alterations have been made to the map over the years. Recent designs have incorporated changes to the network, such as the Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee Line Extension. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR is a Light rail system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of East London England. The Jubilee line extension is the extension of the London Underground Jubilee line from Green Park to Stratford, through south and east London In addition, since 2002 the Underground ticket zones have been added, to better help passengers judge the cost of a journey. The London Underground metro system of London, England uses a mix of paper and electronic smart-card ticketing Nevertheless the map remains true to Beck's original scheme, and many other transport systems use schematic maps to represent their services, undoubtedly inspired by Beck. A facsimile of Beck's original design is on display on the southbound platform at his local station, Finchley Central. Finchley Central tube station is a London Underground station in the Church End Finchley area of Finchley North London. The map is currently maintained and updated by Alan Foale, of The LS Company.

Despite there having been many, many versions over the years, somehow the perception of many users is that the current map actually is, more or less, the 1930 Beck version. This is a remarkable testament to the effectiveness of the original design. Beck did actually draw versions with other formats, 22 1/2 degrees rather than 45 (the Paris Metro version uses 22 1/2 degrees as a base); and an unused version for the 1948 London Olympics. The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was held in London

Technical aspects

The designers of the map have tackled a variety of problems in showing information as clearly as possible and have sometimes adopted different solutions.

Line colours

The table below shows the changing use of colours since the first Beck map. The current colours are taken from the TfL Colour Standards guide,^[10] which defines the precise colours and also a colour naming scheme which is particular to TfL. Earlier maps were limited by the number of colours available that could be clearly distinguished in print. Improvements in colour printing technology have reduced this problem and the map has coped with the identification of new lines without great difficulty.

Service information is indicated by the format:

• Solid colour – normal service
• Outline colour – limited service
• Alternating solid and outline colour – under construction or closed for renovation

Station marks

An important symbol that Beck introduced was the 'tick' to indicate stations. See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" Connections The majority of the stations on the line provide connections with one or more Underground or Network Rail lines Finsbury Park This allowed stations to be placed closer together while retaining clarity, because the tick was only on the side of the line nearer the station name (ideally centrally placed, though the arrangement of lines did not always allow this).

From the start, interchange stations were given a special mark to indicate their importance, though its shape changed over the years. In addition, from 1960, marks were used to identify stations that offered convenient interchange with British Railways (now National Rail). See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC The following shapes have been used:

• Empty circle (one for each line or station, where convenient) - standard default mark
• Empty circle (one for each station) - 1938 experimental map
• Empty diamond (one for each line) - early 1930s
• Empty square - interchange with British Railways, 1960-1964
• Circle with dot inside - interchange with British Rail, 1964-1970

Since 1970 the map has used the British Rail 'double arrow' beside the station name to indicate main-line interchanges. See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" Where the main-line station has a different name from the Underground station that it connects with, since 1977 this has been shown in a box.

In recent years, some maps have marked stations offering step-free access suitable for wheelchair users with a blue circle containing a wheelchair symbol in white. A wheelchair is a wheeled Mobility device in which the user sits

Since 2000, stations with a nearby interchange to river bus piers on the Thames have been marked with a small boat symbol, to promote TfL's newly-formed London River Services. London River Services is an arm of Transport for London (TfL which manages passenger transport on the River Thames in London, UK.

Some interchanges are more convenient than others and the map designers have repeatedly rearranged the layout of the map to try to indicate where the interchanges are more complex, such as by making the interchange circles more distant and linking them with thin black lines. Sometimes the need for simplicity overrides this goal; the Bakerloo/Northern Lines interchange at Charing Cross is not very convenient and passengers would be better off changing at Embankment, but the need to simplify the inner London area means that the map seems to indicate that Charing Cross is the easier interchange.

Lines or services

The map aims to make the complicated network of services easy to understand, but there are occasions when it might be useful to have more information about the services that operate on each line.

The District Line is the classic example; it is shown as one line on the map, but comprises services on the main route between Upminster and Ealing/Richmond/Wimbledon; between Edgware Road and Wimbledon; and the High Street Kensington to Olympia shuttle service. For most of its history the map has not distinguished these services, which could be misleading to an unfamiliar user. Recent maps have tried to tackle this problem by separating the different routes at Earl's Court.

Limited-service routes have sometimes been identified with hatched lines (see above), with some complications added to the map to show where peak-only services ran through to branches, such as that to Chesham on the Metropolitan Line. The number of routes with a limited service has declined in recent years as patronage recovered from its early 1980s' low point. As there are now fewer restrictions to show, the remaining ones are now mainly indicated in the accompanying text rather than by special line markings.

Official variations on the tube map

The tube map exists to help people navigate the Underground, and it has been questioned whether it should play a wider role in helping people navigate London itself. The question has been raised as to whether main-line railways should be shown on the map, in particular those in Inner London. The Underground has largely resisted adding additional services to the standard tube map, instead producing separate maps with different information:

• Standard tube map. Underground, DLR, Overground and zone boundaries.
• Central London map. A cropped and enlarged version of the standard map showing only the central area. Some versions show Thameslink and Northern City Line services. Thameslink is a fifty-station line in the British railway system running north to south from Bedford to Brighton through the Snow Hill tunnel Connections The majority of the stations on the line provide connections with one or more Underground or Network Rail lines Finsbury Park
• Travelcard Zones map. Underground, DLR, Overground, National Rail, Tramlink and zone boundaries.
• High Frequency Services map. The same as the Travelcard Zones map except that lines offering services at greater than 15-minute intervals are de-emphasised so that the more frequent routes can be seen easily.
• London Connections map. Produced by the Association of Train Operating Companies, this provides the same information as TfL's Travelcard Zones map but extends a little further beyond zone 6. The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC is a body which represents 26 train operating companies that provide passenger Railway services on the privatised Travelcard Zone 6 is the sixth outward concentric zone of the Transport for London zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated inter-modal Travelcard fares within The National Rail lines are emphasised by thicker lines and coloured according to their Train Operating Company. National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC
• Tube Access Guide. Indicates stations with full or partial step-free access suitable for wheelchair users.
• Bicycle map. Underground and DLR only. Shows in green sections of the network where bicycles are permitted. The bicycle, cycle, or bike is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind
• Real Time Disruption map. Underground, DLR and Overground only. Interactive web-based map with disrupted lines and stations highlighted, others in light grey.
• Interactive journey map. Underground, DLR and Overground only. Interactive web-based map that can be used to access information about each station (e. g. bus connections and disabled access).

The maps showing all the National Rail routes provide useful additional information at the expense of considerably increased complexity, as they contain almost 700 stations. This makes them harder to read, even when A3 size. There have been many standard sizes of Paper at different times and in different countries but today there are two widespread systems in use the international standard (A4

Non-Underground lines on the standard tube map

Some non-Underground lines have appeared on the standard tube map:

• North London Line was added to the Tube map in 1977. The North London Line is a railway line in roughly a circular arc which ran through the inner suburbs of north London, England from Richmond While run by British Rail line, and later by Silverlink, it was shown in British Rail/National Rail colours, although its appearance was intermittent, being omitted from some map editions over the years. See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" Silverlink Train Services Ltd was a Train operating company in the United Kingdom. In November 2007 it was taken over by London Overground and changed to an orange double stripe. The semi-orbital route originally ran from Richmond to Broad Street, then Richmond to North Woolwich; today the line runs from Richmond to Stratford. North Woolwich railway station is a closed railway station in North Woolwich in east London. Stratford station is a Railway station in Stratford, Newham, East London on National Rail, London Underground and The service frequency is less than the Underground and many of the stations do not connect directly with the Underground.
• The West London Line, Watford DC Line and Gospel Oak-Barking line (former British Rail/Silverlink lines) were all added to the standard tube map in 2007 when they were taken over by London Overground (along with the North London line), and all are shown as an orange double stripe. The West London Line is a short railway linking Clapham Junction in the south to Willesden Junction in the north The Watford DC Line is a railway line that runs from London Euston to Watford Junction. The Gospel Oak – Barking Line is a Railway line in north and east London which connects Gospel Oak in North London and Barking in East London
• Northern City Line, originally part of the Underground but transferred to British Rail in the late 1970s for use by inner-suburban electric trains that previously ran to King's Cross. Connections The majority of the stations on the line provide connections with one or more Underground or Network Rail lines Finsbury Park See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways"
• Thameslink, opened in 1988, the line having been closed for many years. Thameslink is a fifty-station line in the British railway system running north to south from Bedford to Brighton through the Snow Hill tunnel It offers some relief to the Northern Line as it connects King's Cross St Pancras to London Bridge. Only the central sections between Kentish Town and London Bridge/Elephant and Castle were shown. Its appearance on Tube maps has been intermittent, having being omitted from some map editions over the years.
• Waterloo and City Line, while run by British Rail and its predecessors. The Waterloo & City line is a short underground Railway line in London, which formally opened on 11 July 1898 See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" The line has appeared on most tube maps, except the earliest Beck examples. In 1994 it was taken over by the Underground and given its own line colour (see above).
• Docklands Light Railway, the automatic light-rail system in the London Docklands area. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR is a Light rail system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of East London England. Docklands is the semi-official name for an area in the east of London, England, comprising parts of several boroughs ( Southwark, Tower Hamlets

Currently the only non-Underground lines shown are the Docklands Light Railway and the London Overground.

When Transport for London expands its London Overground service to include the East London Line in 2010, the East London line will be changed from a solid orange line to a double orange stripe. London Overground (LO is a Commuter rail service in London UK. The East London Line was a line of the London Underground, coloured orange on the Tube map. ^[11] According to 2007 proposals, it is likely that the addition of the South London Line to London Overground will also add the southern loop onto future tube maps in 2010. History Construction It owes its existence to the South London Railway Act 1862 which allowed the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR ^[12]

Cultural references

World Metro Map poster sold by London Transport Museum for launch of a book on subway maps

The design has become so widely known that it is now instantly recognisable as representing London. The London Transport Museum, or LT Museum based in Covent Garden, London, seeks to conserve and explain the transport heritage of Britain It has been featured on T-shirts, postcards, and other memorabilia. In 2006 the design came second in a televised search for the most well known British Design Icon. ^[13] It is widely cited by academics and designers as a 'design classic'^{[14][15][16][17]} and it is due to these cultural associations that London Underground does not usually permit the design to be used or altered for any other purpose. This has only been officially sanctioned on a few occasions:

• In 1987, Paul Middlewick 'discovered' that Animals could be created in the Tube map by linking the lines, stations and interchanges. These Animals on the Underground now feature on their own web site [1]
• In Tate Modern hangs The Great Bear by Simon Patterson, a subtle parody of Beck's original design, first published in 1986, in which the station names on the tube map have been replaced by those of famous historical figures. Animals on the Underground is a collection of over 20 animal characters made using only lines stations and interchange symbols on the London Underground map, created by illustrator The Tate Modern in London is Britain 's national museum of international Modern art and is with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, The Great Bear is an artwork by Simon Patterson produced in 1992. Simon Patterson (born 1967) is an English artist and was born in Leatherhead, Surrey. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar)
• In 2006, The Guardian published a design based on the tube map, purporting to show the relationships between musicians and musical genres in the 20th century. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ^[18]
• On January 11, 2007 Lord Adonis unveiled a depiction of the Tube Map featuring the names of successful schools and students at GCSE level, as part of the London Student Awards 2007. Events 1055 - Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Andrew Adonis Baron Adonis (born 22 February 1963) is a United Kingdom Minister of State in the Department for Transport, a role
• David Booth's The Tate Gallery by Tube 1986 is one of a series of publicity posters for the Underground. Tate is the United Kingdom 's national museum of British and Modern Art and is a network of four art galleries in England: Tate Britain (opened in His work showed the lines of the map squeezed out of tubes of paint and has since been used on the cover of the map itself.
• In 2003, to coincide with the publication of a book, the London Transport Museum released a "World Metro Map" strongly based on the London diagram and approved by TfL. The London Transport Museum, or LT Museum based in Covent Garden, London, seeks to conserve and explain the transport heritage of Britain Transport for London ( TfL) is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the Transport system in Greater London in England.
• The Royal Shakespeare Company produced a map in 2007 linking Shakesperean characters according to their traits in a diagram which resembles the Tube Map for complexity. The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC is a British Theatre company Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Aspects of the London diagram (the line colours and styles, the station ticks or interchange symbols) are often used in advertising. The 'look' of the London Underground map (including 45 degree angles, evenly spaced 'stations', and some geographic distortion) has been emulated by many other subway systems. ^[19][20] While London Underground have been protective of their copyright they have also allowed their concepts to be shared with other transport operators (Amsterdam's GVB even pays tribute to them on their map^[21]) and indeed some other playful references have been permitted. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west The Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf (GVB is the municipal transport company of Amsterdam.

Further reading

• Ken Garland, Mr Beck's Underground Map (Capital Transport, 1994): ISBN 1-85414-168-6
• Mark Ovenden, Metro Maps Of The World (Capital Transport, 2005): ISBN 1-85414-288-7
• Maxwell Roberts, Underground Maps After Beck (Capital Transport, 2005): ISBN 1-85414-286-0
• David Leboff and Tim Demuth, No Need to Ask! (Capital Transport, 1999): ISBN 1-85414-215-1
• Andrew Dow, Telling the Passenger where to get off (Capital Transport, 2005): ISBN 1-85414-291-7
• Douglas Rose, The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (Capital Transport, 2005): ISBN 1-85414-219-4

References

External links

• Tube maps from TfL
• National Rail maps including London Connections
• Geographically Accurate Tube Map
• Trivia, history and facts on the London Underground Tube map contains more history on the tube map plus alternative designs of the map from Dr Who Conventions, and Simon Patterson's The Great Bear
• Interactive animated journey time map
• Mapper's Delight - all kinds of variations and further information on tube maps
• www.mylookout.net/maps/londonTube/ - Satellite Image Tube Map uses Google maps to find tube stations by zone and/or lines
• London quickmap mapmovies - all kinds of variations on tube maps
• Animals on the Underground - A collection of animals discovered in the Tube Map layout
• A history of the London Tube Maps - complete history of the evolution of the map. The Great Bear is an artwork by Simon Patterson produced in 1992.
• H2G2 article on the tube map
• The London Tube Map Archive has a collection of tube maps, showing the growth of the system and the changes in the style of the map
• Robert Reynolds Subway Page - links and photos of most world subway system maps, many of which use Beck-inspired design principles