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Basil Jet[_4_] · November 19th 15, 10:14 PM posted to uk.transport.london

On 2015\11\19 16:19, wrote:
On 19.11.15 1:09, Basil Jet wrote:

Incidentally, someone was describing a journey to me this morning and
she said "I get the... vertical bit of the Overground and change to
the... horizontal bit of the Overground". She sounded like she felt a
bit foolish describing it in such terms, but TfL have left people with
little choice. On querying it turned out that she has lived in Surrey
Quays for decades and is well aware that the vertical line used to be
called the East London Line, but as a young woman working in fashion she
would be particularly keen to avoid looking out of date, and she has no
up-to-date term to describe the line. The experience gelled with recent
thoughts of mine.

Why doesn't she just call them by their proper names, East London Line
and North London Line, rather than desperately trying to look "cool"?

She might not know the proper name of the North London Line - I don't
think it's been used by anyone but enthusiasts since she was a child.
The cool factor is just my own assessment of the motives of a stranger.
Certainly, TfL can not deliberately deprecate the name of its Overground
Lines and then mock fashionistas for being too cool to use them. TfL
should not have stripped the lines of their name in the first place!