"Mizter T" wrote in message
ups.com...
[crossposted to uk.transport.london and uk.railway]


Lots of other comments have already been made as to what the new
branding will be, whether existing trains will get new liveries, what
signs will be replaced and when. I don't think ephemeral changes such
as this are really the important ones - it's real changes that people
care about.

...... of the places where there have been significant rebuilds. Instead
of pokey ticket office windows (which used not to be open for business
that often anyway) there are now large all-seeing windows, and a
number of stations are having ticket gates installed (I noticed brand
new ones at Acton Central just the other day).

I always think that is an improvement many older tube stations should
have...

Many of the stations have also recently been painted. I suspect this
was TfL funded too, though it may have been National Express (owner of
Silverlink) making a rather late and forlorn attempt at impressing TfL
so they might be in with a chance of winning the concession to operate
the LO service. But the point is stations are now starting to look
clean and cared for, rather than grotty unkempt untidy graffiti-ridden
holes.


A number of recent threads have mentioned that LO branding wouldn't appear
unless a particular station has reached an acceptable state, so that state
must be typified by Highbury & Islington, where the platform name boards are
LO style including the orange roundel, I wasn't too impressed by the white
on orange text for the station name though. So IMHO there are a couple
along towards Willesden Junction that meet that sort of condition and could
be 'LO'd' quickly. Also heard from a fellow traveller that the LO platforms
at Harrow and Wealdstone have been 'done'.

Lastly, I'm pretty sure that someone's actually got round to washing
many of the previously dirty seat cushions on the class 313 trains.
This shouldn't be a miracle, but it is! These trains only have to last
until next year, so I don't expect big changes (or a new damn livery)
but if TfL can ensure they each get a bit of an internal scrub - or
even (to use the fashionable term) a 'deep-clean' - then it'd be a
great and very visible improvement.

Can report some trains have a large black on white vinyl 'London Overground'
on the side, the one I travelled in had good clear Overground network maps
and up to date 'tube+overground' maps fittted neatly over the old Silverlink
maps, many pax seemed quite interested in these...

Paul S