Dean Nicholas

Cable Car Makes Debut On Tube Map



Transport for London have released a new Tube map, with a spangly new cover by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. However, it's between the sheets where the real interest lies.

The changes to the map include a new dotted green line to mark the District spur to Kensington (Olympia), reflecting the timetabling change whereby trains no longer run there on most weekdays; the shift has necessitated a wordy amendment to the map's legend, which now states that the line is "open weekends, public holidays and some Olympia events". The Northern line connection at Tottenham Court Road has also been resurrected; no more will confused commuters find themselves standing on a platform that isn't there.

However, the biggest addition is to be found at a bend in the river in east London, where the under-construction cable car, aka the Emirates Air Line, makes its map debut. It's got a dotted line for now, but once finished it'll be displayed in the firm's corporate colour (its appearance on the map when finished can be seen here).

Thus far the map doesn't bearthe sponsor's logo. But as Diamond Geezer notes, the word 'Emirates' does appear eight times (twice more than the Barclays logo appears on each Boris Bike, which might irritate some at the bank's marketing department). Absent from the map is the phrase 'cable car', which might clue in the uninitiated as to what it actually is. There's also no indication about pricing, merely a note that the 'fare zone [is] yet to be confirmed'.

Construction of the cable car is underway (Ian Visits has some good photos) and a model of the cabin is on display at the London Transport Museum. It is expected to open next summer.