New Overground Line names: everything we know about the rebranding

The renaming of London’s Overground was first properly hinted at by Sadiq Khan way back in March 2023. While the rebrand was officially confirmed in February of this year, Londoners have been waiting on tenterhooks in the months since to see it actually happen.

And now the wait is over. This week the Overground will officially start being rebranded with new colours and names for each line. The roll-out begins on Wednesday November 20, with most of the line’s stations getting signage upgrades by next Monday November 25. 

Given that each London Overground route operates individually and that they effectively are separate routes, the move makes a lot of sense. TfL says the rebrand will ‘make it easier for customers to navigate the London Overground’, as well as celebrate ‘London’s diverse communities and histories’.

Want to know about London’s newly renamed and recoloured lines? Here’s everything you need to know.

London Overground new line names and meaning

Here are the new Overground line names, plus a short detail on what they mean.

• The Lioness line: running between Euston and Watford junction, named after England’s Lionesses national football team.
• The Mildmay line: running between Stratford and Richmond/Clapham Junction, named after a charitable hospital in Shoreditch.
• The Windrush line: running between Highbury & Islington and Clapham Junction/New Cross/Crystal Palace/West Croydon, named after the Windrush generation and their legacy.
• The Weaver line: running between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town/Cheshunt/Chingford, named after the historic textile trade of east London.
• The Suffragette line: running between Gospel Oak and Barking Riverside, named after the Suffragette movement who fought for the vote for women in the UK. You can find out more about the history of the Suffragette line here.
• The Liberty line: running between Romford and Upminster, named after the historical independence of the people of Havering (which the line runs through).

For more detail on what the line names mean, see our article on the subject here.

New colours

Here’s the lowdown on the colour of each new line.

• The Lioness line: yellow parallel lines
• The Mildmay line: blue parallel lines
• The Windrush line: red parallel lines
• The Weaver line: maroon parallel lines
• The Suffragette line: green parallel lines
• The Liberty line: grey parallel lines

Why is London Overground being rebranded?

There are a couple of reasons why the Overground is being rebranded, according to TfL. The main reason is to make the network more navigable and less confusing on maps. After all, individually named and coloured lines are easier to distinguish that a sprawl of orange.

But accessibility isn’t the only reason. The rebrand also intends to celebrate London’s history and culture. 

What’s been said about the changes so far?

Andy Lord, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: ‘This is an exciting step as millions of customer journeys on the London Overground will be transformed by making it simpler to navigate.

‘Individual line colours and names have helped customers navigate the Tube for more than a hundred years, so we wanted to take a similar approach on the London Overground. These changes will help improve customer confidence when travelling and encourage more to use our services.’

Back in February Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said about the changes: ‘This is a hugely exciting moment, transforming how we think about London’s transport network.

‘Giving each of the Overground lines distinct colours and identities will make it simpler and easier for passengers to get around. In re-imagining London’s tube map, we are also honouring and celebrating different parts of London’s unique local history and culture.’

How much will it cost?

The cost of renaming the lines increased quite a lot between TfL announcing the start of the project in March 2023 and now. While TfL originally reckoned the project would cost around £4 million, a Freedom of Information request in March revealed that £6.3 million has been put aside for it.

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