
A Tube map of the London Underground that's more useful than the 'official' one - CiaranR
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/a-tube-map-of-the-london-underground-thats-far-more-useful-than-the-official-one-10289941.html
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bbx
_" more useful"_

That is certainly up debate.

The reason why the diagrammatic layout was (and is) highly praised by the
public is because of its readibility.

People only look at 2 locations: their current one and their destination. They
will eventually look at possible routes and keep track of a couple of
intersections. But everything in between remains unnoticed. It's like
believing that users look at every pixel of your website while they actually
scan a few spots only.

The physical inaccuracy is irrelevant because you travel underground and only
have a sense of time, not of space. Nobody would think _" Wait, why is the
tube turning North? We're supposed to go East!"_.

You would think the geographical accuracy of the updated map could be useful
for determining which route is the quickest (assuming that physically shorter
== quicker). But several additional factors come into play, like traffic,
distance between 2 platforms, distance to the street...

This new map also mixes accurate layouts and schematic ones (for outer
stations). So it's hard to tell at what point you can still rely upon the map
for physical accuracy.

I actually find this unofficial version really appealing. Probably because
it's a fresh view on a familiar visual, and provides some _" Oh, that's what
it looks like"_ moments. I'm just questioning its usefulness, especially in a
time where looking at a map has been rendered obsolete thanks to Citymapper.

~~~
learnstats2
"Wait, why is the tube turning North? We're supposed to go East!".

This is actually very irritating for inexperienced tube users.

For example, the Piccadilly line is often signed as running Westbound and
Eastbound, but a significant part of it runs North-South, according to all the
maps, and compared to the Victoria Line which is indeed signed Northbound and
Southbound.

Then Euston-Kings Cross is Northbound on one line, and Southbound on another.

~~~
dgmdoug
I concur -- travelling in Boston can be frustrating for those who are
inexperienced. They use 'inbound' and 'outbound', but without knowledge of the
centre point for that line this information is useless!

~~~
mcphage
> They use 'inbound' and 'outbound', but without knowledge of the centre point
> for that line this information is useless!

Especially since that changes once you cross the center—you can go "inbound"
to your destination, and then "inbound" to go home.

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CiaranR
A direct link to the map SVG here -
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Sameboat...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Sameboat_temp_cc4.svg)

Unlike in the official version, different branches of the London Overground
Network are now in different colours, although annoyingly the original east
london line is nither called that nor orange. The Northern Line is also split
into the the Northern line and the Edgeware Line

Some handy interchanges are highlighted and the correct geographical
relationship between some stations is shown. Also stations close to each other
where the ticketing system allows passengers to make interchanges are grouped
together, like Euston and Euston Square.

~~~
tankthief
With the Northern Line being split, though, it isn't clear that I can take a
single train from High Barnet to Charing Cross, or from Edgware to Bank.

~~~
tragomaskhalos
Yes splitting the Northern line like that is not at all helpful; there was a
plan a few years back to smooth the flow by making all Edgeware trains go via
Bank and High Barnet via Charing Cross (or vice-versa, I forget), but it seems
to have withered on the vine.

~~~
bodyfour
As far as I am aware TfL still desperately wants to do this -- the Northern
line is one of the busiest on the system and the switching south of Camden
Town is a chokepoint.

The problem is that if that were done today, Camden Town would instantly
become a major interchange station. It's a small, crowded station and in no
way could cope with the added load.

Ten years ago there was a plan to rebuild it a massive new station along a
whole block of the high street, but it had too much opposition. The last I
heard is that they are going forward with a plan that's less disruptive at
street-level. No construction has started yet, so check back in a decade.

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SEMW
A friend of mine, Peter Saxton, did his own redesign of the underground a few
years ago - [http://www.londonlayout.co.uk/](http://www.londonlayout.co.uk/).
His one is more like the official one than this redesign, in that it keeps
more of the purely-topological feel (only horizontal/vertical/45° lines, etc),
while still improving on the official one in various ways.

Interactive svg at
[http://www.londonlayout.co.uk/online.htm](http://www.londonlayout.co.uk/online.htm)
, pdf at
[http://www.londonlayout.co.uk/img/tube.pdf](http://www.londonlayout.co.uk/img/tube.pdf)

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crdoconnor
>more geographically accurate than the official version

Well, Bayswater and Queensway are still far, far apart on this map despite
being about 35m apart.

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prawn
I once wondered about making handkerchieves printed with tube maps for major
cities. You'd gift someone a traveller's set complete with London, Paris, New
York, etc. Light weight and OK to put through the wash.

Good back up resource if needed, until it was covered with gunk and not
something you wanted to pull out in public... A flaw in every plan!

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matthewmacleod
It's definitely interesting to recolour the Overground now that there are so
many parts – though I hear rumours it's coming at some point, probably around
Crossrail time. And geographic information is occasionally useful.

I don't really agree that the map as a whole is "more useful", however! It's
much less clear that the current Tube map, for example, which has had quite a
bit of attention paid to visual clarity.

It's always nice to see re-interpretations though. My favourite is probably
the concentric circular layout:
[https://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/london_undergro...](https://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/london_underground_circle_map_2013.jpg)

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peteretep
Be useful to have a way to submit bugs. Linking "Kentish Town" and "Kentish
Town West" stations as an interchange is a non-starter.

~~~
mrw34
These are OSI stations, despite the distance between them:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card#Out_of_Station_Int...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card#Out_of_Station_Interchange_.28OSI.29)

~~~
nathell
And that's not even the highest distance between two OSI stations. The two
furthest apart are apparently Marylebone and Paddington (0.8 mi).

[http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/osi-list/](http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/osi-
list/)

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aprdm
This map just showed me that I can actually have a better route to my daily
commute, I've moved to London three weeks ago didn't notice. The London
Planner APP never shown me that route because of some default setting!

Will test it tomorrow.

It's from Streatham Common to London Fields, never thought about going to
Victoria and then to Moorgate through Circle Line.

Was usually getting the northern line in Balham...

big thanks!

~~~
janus
This is useful citymapper.com/london

~~~
kuschku
Still worse than Öffi
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.schildbach....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.schildbach.oeffi)
in terms of coverage – 3 cities in Germany? Really Citymapper?

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gerjomarty
While not very useful for planning to get around, this map shows all of the
lines, junctions and platforms of the tube and National Rail in London, along
with the dates the lines were constructed.

[http://carto.metro.free.fr/cartes/metro-tram-
london/](http://carto.metro.free.fr/cartes/metro-tram-london/)

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baku-fr
It looks inspired from the updated Paris train map[1]. I wonder if those two
are related. However, I'm still used to the old one. Whereas it was
geographically less accurate, it was easier to read since stations were less
collapsed.

[1] [http://vianavigo.com/](http://vianavigo.com/) the map is zoomable.

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ptype
Awesome. Thinking about it, the tube map is actually something that might
benefit from some crowd sourcing. There are so many intricacies that can be
taken into account (how long walks are between interchanges etc.), connections
that are better made by walking etc.

~~~
peteretep
I would be more interested in attempting to track actual people moving about
London, and extrapolating from there; self-reported short-cuts are all well
and good, but actual behaviour overtime, to route around congestion, is much
more interesting

~~~
ibmthrowaway271
TfL do this via Oyster card data but they have to plan for the bulk of people,
not to create the fastest possible journey. There are usually much quicker
ways to get in/out/through many tube stations but the signposted routes are
the ones that can cope with the busiest periods.

A useful map to look at is the one with simple walks:-

[http://now-here-this.timeout.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/...](http://now-
here-this.timeout.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/walkmap.gif)

It highlights just how simple it is to walk journeys that would naively
involve one or two changes; St Pauls to Barbican for example, or Covent Garden
to Tottenham Court Road.

[EDIT] Ah, found one of the links:-

[http://www.lifehacker.co.uk/2014/05/29/10-best-london-
tube-h...](http://www.lifehacker.co.uk/2014/05/29/10-best-london-tube-hacks-
get-around-city-faster)

" For example, changing from the Jubilee to Piccadilly line at Green Park,
you’re better off going back up the escalators to the ticket lobby, then back
down, rather than following the circuitous tunnel round.

...

At the bigger stations, some Underground lines are normally busier than others
at rush-hour, so not following the signs can also pay dividends. A great
example is Victoria station, where trying to get onto the Victoria line can
take up to 15 minutes at 5pm. Instead, head down to the District Line, then
follow signs to the Victoria line once you’re down the escalators. You’ll beat
the rush, and as a bonus, come onto the platforms at the quieter end. "

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mkempe
I'd be interested in a variant that uses travel time for the length of edges,
and time to reach street level for the diameter of vertices. Bonus points if
these were to reflect current conditions such as delays caused by "passenger
action".

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dasil003
Still doesn't really show my favorite shortcut of walking from Paddington to
Lancaster Gate, but definitely a lot more geographically useful.

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batou
You cant redesign the tube map; its embedded in many minds and most people
know it as the logical map of London.

Even the London Connections map is based on it.

~~~
yason
The tube map has been redesigned dozens of times. Here's a good book on the
history of the map: [http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Becks-Underground-Map-
History/dp/18...](http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Becks-Underground-Map-
History/dp/1854141686)

~~~
batou
Yes I know but they are far from radical redesigns in the last 20-30 years. I
have a 1985 London Connections map (from my first tube journey!) and it's
virtually no different to the current one. Just additions and a couple of
removals of rail routes and Heathrow, Jubillee extension and DLR etc.

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gotofritz
Alawys amazed by the fascination the London tube map has with designers. No
other map has the same effect - go London!

