A lovely example of British Rail’s house style of the 1960s and 70s, now residing at the East Anglian Railway Museum. This map is from between 1965 (the introduction of the “double-arrow” British Rail identity), and 1978 (when the “Eastern” component of the logo changed from sitting in an outlined box to a solid box like the British Rail text). Can anyone date it more definitively? Source: Deptford Draylons/Flickr
In St. Petersburg, Russia. Actually, now that I come to think of it, the SNCF map in the ticket hall in Gare Montparnasse in Paris is pretty damn huge, too. Source: 2 Girlz Loving Life/Flickr
Possibly the most abstract and colourful train route map I’ve ever seen. Looks like it’s from a commuter train in northern Poland (around Gdansk and Sopot). Major stations get a slightly bigger dot and their name in white. The overall effect is like a planet-heavy map of the solar system… Source: szogun000/Flickr
I have to say that I’m not a huge fan of these in-car maps from my town of Portland. While they serve a purpose and fit in a very awkward vertical space, they’re neither elegant or match the design of the full light rail map. I particularly dislike the station symbol, which makes every stop — regardless of importance — look like an interchange station. Source: localmn/Flickr
I guess when your entire country is the size of a large city, you’re allowed to show your rail network in the form of a subway map. Source: davidwilson1949/Flickr
Can you call it a network map when it consists of one line and a soon-to-be defunct (and despised) monorail? A north pointer would really help here as well, as west is at the bottom of the map. Source: Michael “Comeng301M” Coley/Flickr
Source: Oran Viriyincy/Flickr
If anything, I actually like this elongated layout better than the actual official system map (reviewed here) – the removal of the geography and the addition of zone information makes the design both cleaner and more useful. Great use of an awkward space. Source: LiamC1995/Flickr
The clearest photo I’ve seen yet of this subway map-themed mural in Brooklyn, New York. Aesthetically, it seems to have more in common with the London Tube Map than the subway map of its own city.
It’s coming! WMATA’s Rush Plus map and service changes are almost here, and ads are appearing on Metro trains around D.C. Source: tracktwentynine/Flickr
