All posts tagged: Europe

Unofficial Map: Paris Metro with Geolocated Stations

November 8, 2011
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Further to yesterday’s post, here’s a new unofficial map of the Paris Metro that’s been hot on the interwebs over the last few days. Unlike the official RATP diagram, this version places all the stations in their exact geographical locations, although I suspect the route lines have been tweaked between those points to create more graceful curves than in reality. Also unlike the official map, it doesn’t attempt to show tram services or mainline train […]

Official Map: Paris Metro/RER/Tram Map, 2011

November 7, 2011
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If you visit Paris, you need to use the Metro to get around, so it’s a good thing that its map is up to the task. It took Paris a long time to come around to a diagrammatic approach (Harry Beck created two versions on spec, but both were rejected), and earlier diagrams were not as successful as this – one had all vertical lines set at a jaunty 15-degree angle, which made the whole […]

Official Map: Metro, Lisbon, Portugal, 2011

November 5, 2011
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A beautiful example of an abstracted rectilinear diagram – everything is evenly spaced, with subtle curves and a lovely complementary rounded typeface. The colours in this diagram work wonderfully well, with “traditional” route colours of Blue, Yellow, Green and Red being given a pastel twist and lovely icons that fit in with Lisbon’s maritime history perfectly. An excellent bi-lingual key and icons pack this map with useful information and all type is set horizontally. The […]

Unofficial Map: The Accessible Underground, 2007

November 2, 2011
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Older transit systems like the London Underground face huge problems with access for disabled users. Originally constructed at a time when such things were not thought about, retrofitting is expensive and difficult. Sometimes, even stations that rely on elevators for platform access – like Russell Square on the Piccadilly Line – are still not wheelchair-accessible, because there’s still a flight of stairs between the elevator and the platform. So what does the London Underground look […]

Official Map: Oslo T-bane (Metro) System, 2011

November 1, 2011
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An excellent example of a fully diagrammatic metro map. Clearly marked routes (both by number and end station name), bright and attractive colours and lots of useful information like bus, tram and main line railway interchanges. The city centre area is nicely denoted by showing it as a white square against the light grey background – the information is there, but is definitely subordinate to the main purpose of the map. There also appears to […]

Historical Map: Stuttgart VVS Map, circa 2000

October 29, 2011
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Without a doubt, this has to be one of my favourite transit maps ever. As far as I know, this isometric approach is unique and it is staggeringly effective. Everything is beautifully labelled, and lovely icons highlight important sites like the zoo, museums and sports stadiums. Unfortunately, this stunning map has since been replaced by a far more conventional diagram – a great loss in my opinion. Have we been there? I’ve changed trains at […]

Official Map: Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

October 25, 2011
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A transit diagram exhibiting many of the “standard” features of a German transit map: clean design, rectangles for interchange stations that increase in size according to the number of lines that pass through them, and an absence of curves on route lines. A few features set it apart from other similar maps, including the angled type used throughout, set in a slightly odd choice of Futura Condensed – not always the most legible typeface at […]