On Tue, 7 Jun 2005, 1577+2260 wrote:

On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 00:22:00 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

That's one way of looking at it. My approach to a map like this would
to be try to erase superfluous distinctions; since i don't think the
difference between NR and LU lines is important per se (i think the
difference in service level is, but not the operator!), i wouldn't try
to display it.

I think the difference in service pattern is important, and so there
should be some distinction.

Absolutely - but the map should reflect the service pattern, not the
operator, so high-frequency mainlines should look similar to normal tube
lines, and low-frequency tubes should look similar to normal mainlines,
rather than having all mainlines look similar and all tube lines look
similar.

On LU one can be sure (ish!) of a frequent train,

Except on a few bits of the network (Mill Hill East, for example). That
said, even MHE gets 6 tph, which is fantastic by NR standards.

and the stopping patterns are fairly simple, Met excepted. On the main
lines, it would help at least to know it's an NR route, so that one can
expect varied stopping patterns, possible fast trains etc, and go to the
NR part of the station!

Within London, stopping patterns are mostly fairly simple, though. This is
particularly so if you're willing to see different classes of service on
the same tracks as different lines. For example, the West Anglia line
between Liverpool Street and Hackney has three stopping patterns: no stops
(outer suburban and intercity trains), stops at Bethnal Green and Hackney
(inner suburbans to Chingford) and all stops (inner suburbans to Enfield).
You could say this was complicated, but if you ignore the outer suburbans
(after all, this is a London map) and consider the other services as two
separate lines, it's pretty simple. In fact, it's directly analagous to
the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines between Finchley Road and Wembley Park.

I don't think individual TOCs need to be shown, because people will tend
to look for a train to their destination rather than the specific TOC.
OTOH I think it's important to indicate individual lines on LU, because
stations are set up for people to look for their train by the 'line'
that it's on.

I agree, and i think the line principle should be extended to the NR
network as far as possible, in the Overground Network style.

tom

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