Electronic Official Underground Maps Released into the Public Domain

Thanks to the digital age, most transport undertakings have websites with downloadable maps available, excellent for people who wish to plan ahead. London Underground is no exception, and various maps have been available for downloading from their website for many years, usually in pdf format. Not only the standard map is available, now we have various translations, access maps, large print maps, monochrome maps, London's railways maps, and cyclists' maps. Here, my aim is simply to present (and hopefully expand until it is comprehensive) the list of standard Underground maps (plus the fantasy maps) that London Underground have made available for downloading on their website. In other words, the maps that people can have obtained legitimately.

Of course, with the first digital Underground map produced in 1987, technically there can/should be electronic versions available for this and all subsequently produced maps. Unfortunately, the earlier maps predated the web. Also, in early days, web maps seem to have been updated less often than paper maps, or even were modified so that they did not match any paper version available. I would like to believe that London Underground, or the London Transport Museum, is keeping a comprehensive archive of all electronic versions of their maps, but I suspect that this is not he case. At the very least, I hope to gather and list versions of all the electronic maps that have been made available to the public, so here goes. If you can fill any gaps, especially for the early years, do email me at max@tubemapcentral.com.

• No date, but issued during 2000
  This map is in the original 'Clockwork' style (see my Underground map landmarks page), showing the Jubilee Line open to Stratford, Docklands Light Railway to Lewisham, and East London Line at New Cross level with Elephant & Castle. North Greenwich is for the Dome. This was a relatively quiet time for Underground maps, three pocket versions were issued during 2000, but all were identical on the map as far as I can see, and so more precise dating is difficult. The map has the full grid and its key is identical to the card folder, and is therefore one of the few card folders made available to the public domain.

• No date, but between late 2001 and early 2002
  This map is in the second and current (zoned) 'Clockwork' style (see my Underground map landmarks page), showing the stations on the Morden end of the Northern Line alternating either side of the line, double interchange circles at London Bridge, double interchange circles at Earl's Court (predating the current fussy and pointless triple circles layout). Covent Garden on the Piccadilly Line has no entrance restrictions shown. Two apparently identical card folders share these features: October 2001 and February 2002. The map actually resembles the poster version more than the pocket folder (service restrictions are written on the map in red type) but this map has no grid, and therefore is different from all of the paper versions.

• No date, but April 2003
  This map now has the three circle interchange at Earl's Court, a single circle at London Bridge, and the DLR extension to King George V shown. Marylebone has no entrance restrictions, and no fares restrictions are reported for the North London Line, pinning this map down to the same as the April 2003 card folder (these features are shared with the card folder issued in August 2003, but both of the actual maps carry the same date: 04.03). This map is a hybrid. Like the poster, the key is on the map (on the card folder, the key migrated to a fourth panel in October 2001), but the service warnings in red type are gone, and are described in the key. There is no grid, so again this map differs from all of the paper versions.

• April 2003
  At last we have a map with a date. This version is the card folder (key on its own panel) but with the grid removed, so again it is unique. It is a little bit odd having two different computer files issued for the same map, so perhaps this one or the previous one was released earlier, then replaced with the other version.

• May 2005
  A bit of a gap here, so maybe I have missed something. This map, and all subsequent ones, are identical to the station posters, complete with sponsorship, grid, and a full station index.

• January 2006
  Less to report now, this one shows the DLR extension to Woolwich.

• June 2006
  The notorious wheelchair blob map, and lots of other nasties too. Service restriction warning text on the map has vanished, so now the small print on the station index must be consulted.

• July 2006
  With stations closing and opening as a result of refurbishment, maps are issued more frequently. Promised wheelchair access to Brixton has now vanished. Passengers can enter at Tottenham Hale, travel up and down a few times, and leave at Tottenham Hale again.

• August 2006
  No more yellow pages sponsorship, but Heathrow Terminal 4 has reopened.

• January 2007
  The North London Line has closed between Stratford and North Woolwich, leaving the DLR to North Woolwich twisting round like a neurotic snake.

• November 2007
  The addition of London Overground, memorably described as a "Tangerine Octopus". Note the misaligned interchange circles at Bank. The station posters had this careless mistake too.

• January 2008
  Things get worse and worse, but at least Shepherd's Bush Overground is correctly shown as under construction. On the station poster and card folder maps, this is mistakenly shown as open.

• March 2008
  Terminal 5 is now open (so another map that differs from all printed versions), and it is the turn of IKEA to add information pollution via sponsorship.

• April 2008
  With warning daggers added for the escalator work at Bank.

• Created in 2004, showing the projected network for 2016
  The first of many fantasy maps issued by Transport for London, and probably the most optimistic. It shows Crossrail, the full projected London Overground Network (some of it in its old incarnation of Silverlink), Thameslink, and a variety of tram schemes. Extensions to the Underground network itself are notable by their almost complete absence (just Watford and Heathrow T5 are shown). Isn't the ppp wonderful? We might get Crossrail, but many of the other schemes have unravelled.

• Created in 2006, showing the projected network for 2010
  Just the projected London Overground network, most of which is here already. There is an outbreak of interchange circle madness on some of its routes.

• Created in 2007, showing the projected network for 2025
  You might have thought that they would have tried to get the 2016 network built before heading off into the stratosphere, but no. Crossrail 2 has now made an appearance, and there is a claim that the DLR might follow the route of the old Fleet Line alignment to Charing Cross. Heavy rail for lightly used orbital routes, light rail for key radial routes, is this really London's transport vision of the future?

• Hints and tips for would-be collectors

• Underground map landmarks

• Underground map rarities

• My wants list

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