London Overground Lines - Renamed
Estimated cost of £6.3 million to rename overground train lines in London
(As reported on BBC)
Last August, Transport for London (TfL) announced it wanted to give the routes distinct identities to make it easier for passengers to navigate the network.
The services will become known as the Lioness line; the Mildmay line; the Windrush line; the Weaver line; the Suffragette line; and the Liberty line. Each will also have its own colour.
TfL said it had worked with customers, stakeholders, historians, industry experts and local communities, with the names representing the areas the lines travel through, while marking London's history and cultural diversity.
Look below which lines these are and which stations they connect:
Let’s just take one example from here - The Suffragette lines. These were not working class, but actually middle/upper class. 300 incidents of arson and bombing were carried out by them from 1913 to 1914. Places like Theatre Royal, Kew Gardens teahouse, Holloway Prison, the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, and the home of Lady White. Read here about their militant radicalism.
Suffragette Emily Wilding Davison bombed the home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George. Emmeline Pankhurst was imprisoned for three years for complicity in the explosion at Lloyd George's house. The day after her imprisonment, a homemade bomb - made from a milk tin - was found outside the Bank of England. And via the 'White Feather' movement, Suffragettes also shamed men who didn't want to fight in WWI.
But I guess you would be labelled a misogynist if you pointed these things out. So, let’s just give them a trainline.
Now whether you agree or disagree with the historical significance of some of these names, as London is a lot older with a lot older historically significant events than the one named above - it can be argued that perhaps when the economy is actually in recession, spending £6.3 million on name changes where no such names were required before is a good idea or just use of public purse for mayoral campaign trail by Sadiq Khan.
TfL commissioner Andy Lord said: “The network which has grown quite considerably since 2007, is currently shown as a complicated network of orange on routes maps. This can be confusing for customers less familiar with the network and could be a barrier for some wanting to use the London Overground.”
Which customers I wonder? Which people would be less familiar with the network? The ones brought in consistently to replace the once indigenous population of London? The one, who go around throwing acid on women and children and for whom messages in other languages have to be sounded out so they can turn themselves in? I wonder.