Orbitalgeek (3)Overground boroughs
London has two 'Overground boroughs' - that is, boroughs where the majority of stations are Overground stations.
One is Hackney. Every station in Hackney has an Overground service, except for Manor House and Old Street, and they're very much on the boundary. The Overground's dominance of Hackney began on day 1 with the North London line, and got serious when the East London line was extended and transferred. No other borough has had as many freshly-opened Overground stations as Hackney (four, on the alignment from Dalston Junction to Shoreditch High Street). When the suburban lines out of Liverpool Street got Overgrounded, the takeover was complete. The people of Hackney are very much in thrall to the Overground, which isn't necessarily the most efficient way to get around. Perhaps that's why they get on their bikes so often.
The other is Waltham Forest. There are only 12 stations in Waltham Forest, and 9 of them have an Overground service. In this case the exceptions are the new Greater Anglia station at Lea Bridge, plus Leyton and Leytonstone on the Central line. Additional Victoria line services at Blackhorse Road and Walthamstow Central mean the tube is probably more important than the Overground at moving passengers around. But with only one station served by any rail operator other than TfL, and that station very much on the periphery, Waltham Forest is very much an orange borough now.
This map shows the dominant mode of rail transport in every London borough.
» Orange shows the two Overground boroughs. Not coincidentally, they're both neighbours.
» Red shows the 14 Tube boroughs. These are the boroughs in which over 50% of the stations are tube stations, or include tube services. They're all north of the Thames. Every station in Westminster is a tube station, or has a tube service. Kensington & Chelsea is the same.
» Dark blue shows the 13 National Rail boroughs. These are the boroughs in which over 50% of the stations are served by National Rail (non-Overground) trains. Every station in Bexley and Kingston is a National Rail station. The only National Rail boroughs north of the Thames are Enfield and Havering.
» Green shows the Tram borough, which is Croydon. If you exclude trams from this analysis, then every borough south of the Thames is a National Rail borough.
» Light blue shows the two DLR boroughs, Tower Hamlets and Newham. DLR services operate at the majority of stations here.
The odd borough out is Haringey, which has the most balanced spread of modes. Haringey has 5 stations with Overground services, 6 stations with National Rail services, and 7 stations with Tube services. Every other London borough has one mode which exceeds 50% of stations, but not Haringey.
Some other facts from the data:
» Every borough has at least 10 stations, except Havering (which has 9) and Barking & Dagenham (which has only 6). Outer East London's connectivity is poor.
» The boroughs with no Overground stations are Barnet, Bexley, Greenwich, Hillingdon, Kingston, Merton, Redbridge, Sutton and Westminster.
» After Crossrail begins, every borough north of the Thames (except Enfield) will be dominated by stations with TfL-run services.
» South of the Thames non-TfL services will continue to dominate... until the Overground is once again allowed to spread its wings.
