Latest news with #WaterlooCityLine
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Waterloo & City: TfL seeks sponsor to 'own' branding of line
Transport for London (TfL) is offering a new partnership to an organisation or company willing to pay to sponsor the Waterloo & City line – which runs on weekdays between Bank and Waterloo Underground stations – was opened in July 1898 and is colloquially known as The Drain. The two-stop, three-minute shuttle service is one of only two Tube lines that runs completely underground, the other being the Victoria a post on professional networking site LinkedIn, TfL said the sponsorship offer "goes far beyond a typical media opportunity", although previous temporary brand "takeovers" of Tube stations have sparked complaints. TfL said: "It's full-line branding, from moquette seat fabric and signage to maps and experiential spaces, all right in the heart of London's business district."Moquette fabric is the durable, woollen seating material that is used in upholstery on Tube carriage seats, while an experiential space is described by TfL as a "pop-up presence for sampling and distribution in a pre-approved station space".TfL said: "Millions of professionals and decision-makers travel this route every year. Now, your brand can own the journey."Previous money-making marketing schemes on London Underground have created controversy. In 2018, Southgate Tube station was rebranded Gareth Southgate station for 48 hours, after the England men's football squad he managed finished fourth in the World 2023, Bond Street was briefly renamed Burberry Street by the fashion brand to mark London Fashion, which raised £200,000 for the transport company. That led to more than 50 complaints to TfL with some passengers confused by the new temporary for All, a transport advocacy group led by disabled people, warned last year that "thoughtless PR stunts being used to plug holes in TfL funding cannot be at the expense of accessibility and safety for disabled passengers".The group also said that "messing around with station names... stops many disabled people being able to travel confidently". TfL documents state that brand sponsorship on its network can cost up to £7.5m. IFS Cloud's sponsorship of the cable car that links North Greenwich and Custom House in east London is worth £ brands have previously "taken over" one or more Underground stations for several days, if successful this initiative would be the first time an entire Tube line would get a sponsor, albeit one with just two BBC formed a partnership with TfL in January 2022, rebranding Green Park station for 48 hours as Green Planet to promote Sir David Attenborough's five-part series.
The Independent
07-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
TfL sells sponsorship rights for entire Tube line in multi-million pound branding deal
Transport for London (TfL) is selling the rights to an entire London Underground line in a bid to raise millions. In a post on the social media platform LinkedIn, TfL announced it was offering 'exclusive sponsorship' of the Waterloo and City line, which connects Bank and Waterloo stations. The two-stop, three-minute shuttle service, which is only open on weekdays, is London's least-used tube line, but still ferries around 15 million people each year. TfL said the opportunity to sponsor the line would not involve renaming it but would 'go far beyond a typical media opportunity'. They said the sponsorship would include 'full-line branding, from moquette seat fabric and signage to maps and experiential spaces'. 'Millions of professionals and decision-makers travel this route every year,' the advert read. 'Now, your brand can own the journey.' While this would be the first time an entire Tube line has been offered for sponsorship, several stations have been sponsored. Southgate station was temporarily renamed ' Gareth Southgate ' Tube station by Visa in honour of the then-England manager after the national team made the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup. The two-day takeover of the final stop on the Piccadilly line generated £80,000 for TfL. The sponsorship included branded roundels, themed Tannoy announcements, digital screen messages and flash mobs. A few years later, during London Fashion Week in October 2023, Bond Street was briefly renamed 'Burberry Street'. The name change led to 57 complaints to TfL as passengers complained about becoming confused by the mock Tube signs. Complaints were also made last year when Samsung renamed Old Street to 'Fold Street' to promote their new 'Fold and Flip' smartphone, generating £250,000 for TfL. The only time that a public transport line in London has been completely sponsored is the £2.1 million five-year IFS Cloud sponsorship of the cable car, which crosses the Thames between the Royal Docks and North Greenwich. The Waterloo and City line, however, boasts 10 times the number of annual users.
The Verge
12-05-2025
- Climate
- The Verge
Power failure knocks out London's train lines.
Jess Weatherbed The disruption reportedly stems from an outage that started in south-west London at about 2:30PM local time, according to the BBC, but there's no word on what caused the failure. Travel is suspended across the Bakerloo and Waterloo & City lines, and partially suspended across the Elizabeth and Jubilee lines. The Transport for London website is tracking the situation but also seems to be experiencing its own issues, with pages struggling to load or crashing entirely.
