Windrush line

v t e Windrush Line
London Overground
Highbury & Islington Canonbury Dalston Junction Haggerston Kingsland Viaduct Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell ( Shadwell) Wapping Thames Tunnel under River Thames Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays Queens Road Peckham New Cross Peckham Rye New Cross Gate Denmark Hill Brockley Clapham High Street ( Clapham North) Honor Oak Park Wandsworth Road Forest Hill Battersea Park (limited) Sydenham Clapham Junction Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon

The Windrush line is the service operated by London Overground on the East London line and South London line, running north to south through the East, Docklands and South areas of London. The East London line was previously a line of the London Underground. Prior to the name being adopted in November 2024,^[1] the service was labelled in Transport for London timetables as the "Highbury & Islington to New Cross, Clapham Junction, Crystal Palace and West Croydon route".^[2]

History

Main articles: East London line and South London line

Renaming

The name proposed for this service in 2015 was the East London line.^[3] In 2021, Sadiq Khan announced that if re-elected as Mayor of London, he would give the six services operated by London Overground unique names that would reflect London's diversity, working with his Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm.^[4] In July 2023, TfL announced that it would be giving each of the six Overground services unique names by the end of the following year.^[5][6] In February 2024, it was confirmed that the East London / South London section would be named the Windrush line (to honour the Windrush generation of immigrants to the area from the Caribbean) and would be coloured red on the updated network map.^[7]

The Empire Windrush was a passenger vessel that arrived at Tilbury, in Essex, in 1948 bringing migrants to the UK from what was then the British West Indies. Before 1948, there were several areas in the UK, such as Canning Town in London, and Tiger Bay in Cardiff that had a black presence, but the arrival of the Windrush is seen as a watershed, after which point black people would form a much larger part of the community.

Services

As of November 2024^[update], the typical off-peak service pattern is:^[2]

East London and South London lines (Windrush line)
Route	tph	Calling at
Dalston Junction to New Cross	4	Haggerston Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays
Dalston Junction to Clapham Junction	4	Haggerston Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays Queens Road Peckham Peckham Rye Denmark Hill Clapham High Street Wandsworth Road
Highbury & Islington to Crystal Palace	4	Canonbury Dalston Junction Haggerston Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays New Cross Gate Brockley Honor Oak Park Forest Hill Sydenham
Highbury & Islington to West Croydon	4	Canonbury Dalston Junction Haggerston Hoxton Shoreditch High Street, Whitechapel Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays New Cross Gate Brockley Honor Oak Park Forest Hill Sydenham Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction

On weekends, the Windrush Line operates overnight services between Highbury & Islington and New Cross Gate stations, with a frequency of four trains per hour.

Very few Windrush line trains on the South London line arm terminate at Battersea Park station instead of Clapham Junction station in the mornings and evenings. These operate as parliamentary trains.

Route map

London Overground network

• 
  Schematic map of the London Overground network
• 
  Geographic map showing London Overground

v t e London Overground
Cheshunt Theobalds Grove Enfield Town Turkey Street Romford Bush Hill Park Southbury Emerson Park Upminster Edmonton Green Silver Street Chingford White Hart Lane Highams Park Watford Junction Bruce Grove Wood Street Watford Seven Sisters Walthamstow Central High Street Harringay Blackhorse Road Walthamstow Queen's Road Bushey Green Lanes Carpenders Park Crouch Hill South Tottenham St. James Leyton Midland Road Hatch End Upper () Stamford Hill Street Leytonstone Headstone Lane Holloway Stoke Newington Clapton High Road Harrow & Kentish Town West Rectory Road Wanstead Park () Wealdstone Gospel Oak Camden Road () Hackney Woodgrange Park () Kenton () Caledonian Road Canonbury Downs Barking South Kenton & Barnsbury Barking Riverside () North Highbury & Islington Dalston Kingsland Hackney Central Wembley Hampstead Heath Dalston Wembley Finchley Road & Frognal () Junction London Fields Central West Hampstead ( ) Haggerston Cambridge Homerton Stonebridge Brondesbury Hoxton Heath Hackney Wick Park Brondesbury Park Shoreditch High Street Bethnal Green Stratford Harlesden Kensal Rise Kensal Green Liverpool Whitechapel Willesden Queen's Park Street Shadwell () Junction Kilburn High Road Wapping South Hampstead Rotherhithe Shepherd's Bush () Euston () Canada Water Kensington (Olympia) Surrey Quays West Brompton Battersea Park Imperial Wharf () (limited service) New Cross Clapham Queens Road Peckham New Cross Gate Junction Peckham Rye Brockley Acton Central Wandsworth Road Denmark Hill Honor Oak Park South Acton () Clapham Forest Hill Gunnersbury High Street Sydenham Kew Gardens Richmond Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon ()
Legend
Station National Rail Liberty line Accessible station Thameslink Lioness line Interchange station Elizabeth line Mildmay line Accessible interchange Docklands Light Railway Suffragette line Internal interchange London Underground Weaver line Out-of-station interchange London Trams Windrush line (   ) Nearby interchange London River Services The new London Overground line names and colours were introduced across the London rail network in November 2024

References

1. Lydall, Ross (20 November 2024). "London Overground: New names and colours to be revealed at stations today after £6.3million rebrand". London Standard. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
2. "London Overground timetables". London: Transport for London. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
3. Davies, Rachael (15 February 2024). "These are what the Overground lines were nearly named in 2015: what do you think?". The Standard. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
4. Dispatch, Enfield (24 August 2023). "London Overground passengers invited to help give each line a unique name". Enfield Dispatch. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
5. "Naming London Overground lines". Transport for London. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
6. "London Overground lines to be given names". BBC News. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
7. London Overground: New names for its six lines revealed, BBC News, 15 February 2024