TfL drop River Thames from Tube map

TfL has dropped the River Thames from the new Tube map

The Underground map has been redrawn without the Thames or the Tube zone charging system.

Transport for London said changes were made after some passengers complained that Harry Beck's classic design, first published in 1933, had become too cluttered.

Critics claim the new zone-free map will allow TfL to disguise the rising cost of travel.

The Underground has grown recently with extensions to the Docklands Light Railway, the addition of London Overground services — when TfL took control of the former North London line
— and the East London line extension.

But Caroline Pidgeon, Lib-Dem London Assembly transport spokeswoman, said: "It seems surprising that the first revisions to the Tube map under a Tory Mayor drop the river Thames.

Boris Johnson promised Londoners he was keen to develop river transport services and this won't
help.

"But dropping the fare zone lines may be even worse as Londoners could lose out through paying more."

Jo deBank, of taxpayer-funded passenger body London Travelwatch, said: "We question the removal of the river, which does at least give the map some geographical sense, and we think the
removal of the fare zones is foolish, especially for tourists and visitors who are unfamiliar with the system."

Passengers entering Zone 1 — which covers much of central London — pay premium fares, with further rises expected in January.

TfL recently introduced a system ensuring Oyster prepay passengers are not charged extra if they manage to avoid Zone 1.

Annie Mole, who runs the Going Underground blog, said: "It seems like TfL wants to confuse people. I'd love to know whether this is it an attempt to tax the unwitting? Or is there a new
zone structure rolling out?"

The Harry Beck map has been voted a British design icon alongside Concorde and Spitfire.

The Thames and the zone structure have been removed from small paper maps available from Tube stations.

TfL said that maps on ticket machines, on its website and inside train carriages would show the river and the zones.

A TfL spokesman said the map had "lost the simplicity which made it so effective" and the new version still showed connections to river transport.

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