Mind the map.
You’re going to want to tear up your little pocket tube guide if you happen to live in London’s Zone 5, as here’s your first look at the new June 2016 Underground map, featuring one big amendment in particular.
See that green line running deep around the bottom? That’s a tram line, one TfL has been running since the turn of the millennium. While you’ve probably never ridden it, nor knew of its existence, the extra green addition really does jazz up proceedings.
Moreover, given the glut of new lines built in recent years (we’re looking at you Overground), quite how the map's managed to stay relatively clean, minimalist and easy to navigate is a victory in itself. In lesser hands it would be an absolute clusterf*ck.
Not that there aren’t a few boo-boos. Picking apart the finer details, Londonist, the website which released the map exclusively, has highlighted a few possible issues with the new design:
‘Where the Special Fare Zone exists for the trams (because you can either pay a flat fare for a single journey, or any travelcard that covers zone 3, 4 or 5 is valid), Morden tube station has also been sucked in, when surely it should still be in zone 4 — just as it's always been.’
‘The blue wheelchair blob that was on the previous version of the map (January 2016) has now been taken off Vauxhall, as building works at the station are ongoing. They'll finish that lift soon... right?’.
Click to zoom in and you may well spot something that sticks out yourself.
And if all this map talk really has your gears going, Londonist even spoke to TfL's head designer Jon Hunter, who showed them exactly how these maps are made, which you can see below.
As the man himself says, “With great power comes great responsibility”.
