The Tube map, also called the London Underground map, is a simplified map of the London Underground’s lines, stations, and services. The London Underground is more commonly called “the Tube,” which is where the name of the map comes from. In 1931, Harry Beck designed the first schematic Tube map. It has since been expanded to include the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, Elizabeth line, Tramlink, London Cable Car, and Thameslink. As a schematic diagram, it depicts the relative positions of the stations, lines, connective relationships between stations, and fare zones as opposed to their actual geographic locations. The fundamental design principles have been widely adopted for other such maps throughout the world, as well as for maps of other types of transportation networks and conceptual diagrams. The map is updated frequently and is available on the official Transport for London website. Along with the Concorde, Mini, Supermarine Spitfire, K2 telephone box, World Wide Web, and AEC Routemaster bus, the Tube map was named one of Britain’s top ten design icons in 2006. Art on the Underground has commissioned artists to create pocket Tube map covers since 2004. Beck’s maps In 1931, Harry Beck drew the first diagrammatic map of […]
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