London’s iconic Tube map has been redrawn this week, to reflect the latest changes to its newest link, the Elizabeth Line.
The purple-branded Underground line, which was also known as the “Crossrail” project in its planning stages, opened on 25 May 2022 to great fanfare.
However, it wasn’t entirely linked up, meaning passengers could not get off the train at Bond Street station, and had to change at Paddington in order to continue west on the line to Reading.
As of Sunday (6 November), the core city centre tunnels of the Elizabeth line have been linked up with the western and eastern points, creating a seamless journey between Heathrow in the west and Abbey Wood in the east, with passengers no longer required to change trains.
Some of this week’s Tube map changes are to show the fully linked-up new line, while others are merely to clarify confusing interchanges or adjust station names and positions for clarity.
Only the most devoted TfL fans will spot some of the changes, which include Nunhead station being shifted to the left and the interchanges at Bank being brought closer together.
Several eagle-eyed transport fans had complained that the first Tube map to feature the Elizabeth line made for confusing reading, with so many different interchanges at Liverpool Street and Paddington crowding those points of the map.
TfL has responded by rejigging some spacing and making the multiple interchanges as distinct as possible.
“I’m delighted that, starting this weekend, customers from the capital and the South East will be able to take advantage of quicker and more accessible journeys using our transformational new railway,” said Andy Lord, London’s transport commissioner, on Sunday.
“Linking destinations in the east and west directly with central London, alongside Sunday services and even higher frequency services, has been eagerly awaited.”
You can download the new-look Tube map here.
Elsewhere, London Underground enthusiasts took to Twitter to delight in a new online game around the famous transport network.
Geoff Marshall tweeted about the “insanely brilliant” game iknowthetube.com on Tuesday, saying it “takes half an hour to play”.
The timed game asks players to name as many Tube stations as they can in 30 minutes, which are then filled in on the map in realtime.
“This just taught me that I know a lot of stations but I can’t spell most of them!” replied Oliver Turner.
