More Crossrail signage is appearing.
I've been to see some so you don't have to.
This is new outside Stratford station.
The previous totem had the Underground roundel at the top and an increasingly scruffy sticker for TfL Rail at the bottom, and quite frankly looked a mess. This one features the purple brand for the first time, with the four TfL modes now listed in alphabetical order. A gleaming improvement.
Inside Stratford station some signs have been updated and some haven't. Most haven't. But along the subway passages most have.
This sign's been sparklingly ready for several weeks, even though Stratford isn't getting any direct trains to Paddington for at least six months. The TfL Rail brand dies imminently anyway.
It's a bit hit and miss elsewhere. The Crossrail fairy has definitely visited Tottenham Court Road.
The entire tube station's had its signage updated to point the way - every platform, every concourse, every passage. No matter that every such route currently leads to a locked gate or a sealed barrier, it won't do soon, and TCR is totally ready.
Ditto Canary Wharf, where if you're coming off the Jubilee line you're now directed out of the correct exit.
It's quite a walk from here, requiring doubling back up an escalator after which the obvious straight ahead route doesn't work. But if you keep your wits about you through the shopping centre all the signs you need have been up for years.
But at Paddington and Liverpool Street no purple signage has yet been unveiled. Both stations already have TfL Rail services so advance upgrading might be problematic. Oh, apart from here...
These mini roundels are on the Central line platforms at Liverpool Street. They've been there for ages, originally covered over with tape, then uncovered, then scratched by bored passengers and now a bit of a mess because that's the risk with premature signage.
Stickers remain the preferred solution for updating existing line diagrams. Here's Leyton.
They're very good stickers in that you can hardly tell that's how it's been done unless you run your fingers over them.
But stickers remain inherently risky, as this sign on West Ham's Jubilee line platforms confirms. Eek!
Not only do two of the stations show a previous Docklands Light Railway logo but Canada Water is shown as connecting to the East London line, a railway extinguished in 2007. Also the cablecar's been scratched off, but that's perhaps understandable. Someone probably ought to fix this, and soon, ideally when Canary Wharf gains its purple rectangle.
Over at Paddington I see the purple strip above the new entrance has gained some extra words.
It says "towards Abbey Wood and Shenfield via Central London", which they need to make clear because if you want Heathrow or Reading you shouldn't be coming this way. Not yet anyway.
Meanwhile at Forest Gate, the purple roundel out front has been fully uncovered.
For ages the central bar has been covered by a blue strip saying TfL Rail, but this has now been removed. But it's not a consistent reveal. One stop up the line at Manor Park nothing's changed, the blue bar's still there, and as far as I know Abbey Wood's roundel is still bagged up.
Board a tube train and you might now spot brand new line diagrams within.
Here's the Central line diagram showing two new purple connections. No attempt has been made to suggest that Liverpool Street has a ground level connection and an entirely separate subterranean connection - they're keeping it simple.
Further along the line Bond Street is shown with a greyed-out crossed-out box. 'Opening soon' is vaguer than TfL normally allows, but is fair enough in the circumstances.
...and if you peer closely at the bottom of the line diagram you'll see it's dated March 2022. This suggests TfL were indeed gearing up for a March opening, or at least March was at the optimistic end of their window, but here we are two months later and nothing yet.
In conclusion, a lot of signage has been updated in readiness for Crossrail opening but by no means all, and in many places nothing yet. It's a massive job so is being tackled sequentially as circumstances allow over a prolonged period. Let's see how much they can get done in the next twenty days...
