‘Bond Street’ renamed ‘Burberry Street’ – what were TfL thinking?

On the Jubilee line, I was asked by a worried looking older gentleman when he should get out for Bond Street, three stops after we’d passed it, writes Olivia Utley. And from the gaggles of baffled looking tourists I’ve spotted, he’s not the only one confused…

As part of an ad campaign for London fashion week, Bond Street station in central London was temporarily rebranded as “Burberry Street’ (Geordie Greig)

The London Underground network has never been known for its simplicity. Where Paris, Madrid New York and Shanghai give their metro lines numbers or letters, somewhere down the line the powers that be here in London opted to christen ours with actual names. These monikers range from the logical (the circle line), to the meaningless (the Metropolitan line), through to the downright whimsical (the Elizabeth and Victoria lines).

Most Londoners rather like this charming quirk; after all, what’s the harm in honouring a beloved late Queen on your morning commute? The downside, of course, is that it makes life that bit trickier for non-Londoners trying to navigate what is already a labyrinthine system.

Not that the bosses at Transport for London (TfL) seem to care. Rather than doing what they can to make the network more accessible to those who don’t live in the city, they’ve been busy making absolutely sure that visitors are as confused as possible. As part of an ad campaign for London fashion week, Bond Street station in central London was temporarily rebranded as “Burberry Street”. This “makeover”, as the fashion magazines are euphemistically calling it, is so complete that for the start of the week the actual name of the station was entirely erased.