The new names of the London Overground lines have gone live - with Londoners divided over the £6.3 million rebrand.
Announcing the changes in February, Mayor Sadiq Khan said the overhaul was being carried out to make it easier for passengers to find their way on the Overground and to “celebrate” London’s culture and recent history.
The Liberty, Lioness, Mildmay, Suffragette, Weaver and Windrush lines have now joined the TfL map.
As the new signage appeared on the network on Wednesday, some passengers criticised the amount spent on the rebrand as “insane”, while others said it was “money well spent”, and “a positive change both practically and culturally”.
Joe Pressney, waiting for the train with his friends, was initially positive about the rebrand and said he and his friends had had fun looking up the meaning behind the new names.
But he changed his mind when he learned how much it had cost.
“It’s not a good change if it cost 6.3 million,” he said.
Fellow passenger Lucia Morras thought the rebrand was a positive change.
“I think it makes it much easier to navigate the system and the names that they’ve chosen are really appropriate to London, and I’m really for it,” she told The Standard.
“Considering we spent over £70 million on a posh parade for a royal, I think we can push out £6 million to make our transport more accessible. I think it’s money well spent.”
Josh Morris and Liz Fox saw the rebrand for the first time on Tuesday, and both said they broadly liked the change.
Ms Fox said she hoped the new names would make the Overground easier to navigate for visitors.
“Since there are so many different lines it makes sense that they have different names,” she said. “If you’re not from London it must be very confusing.”
She was generally positive about the new names, but said she had hesitations about some of the decision-making, saying: “I don’t know if you can compare the Lionesses to the Suffragettes.”
When told about the £6.3mil cost of the project, Mr Morris branded the figure “insane”.
“I could have done it for you for £100,” he joked. “I don’t know what else TfL are doing to support things like Windrush. It seems like a lot of money.”
Responding to criticism about the Lionesses’ name being used in the rebrand, Ferg Snell said: “I think people are just so anti-woke nowadays.
“I heard about the Lionesses name, and I think why not celebrate what the Lionesses achieved? I think its brilliant.”
Bernard Stilwell uses the overground often and praised the re-brand for helping to distinguish between different parts of the line, which previously held the same name.
Mr Stilwell said he had only recently seen the new names, and did not yet know exactly why some of the specific names were chosen.
On the criticism the rebrand has received for its cost he said: “Well, nothing will ever change if people take that attitude.”
We're naming the London Overground lines to make the network easier to navigate 🧡
— TfL (@TfL) November 19, 2024
Each of the 6 routes that make up the London Overground will now be given their own colour. You can change to other lines where necessary, just like on the Tube.
Find out more about the new line… pic.twitter.com/WdGCw783Bz
About 6,000 station signs, Tube maps, station digital screens, onboard train information, Journey Planner and TfL Go maps will have to be changed as part of the overhaul. Audio and visual announcements on trains and stations will also be updated.
There will be new Tube maps at all stations. Upgrades to the TfL website and the TfL Go app will be fully completed by mid-December.
