Are TfL failing to inform passengers about lines they don't operate?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The Standard

Transport for London was today accused of failing to inform passengers about a “second Northern line” through central London because it will be operated by a rival firm.

Thameslink services are to expand in May when trains from Cambridge and Peterborough, currently part of its sister Great Northern franchise, will continue south of King’s Cross and across the Thames to Brighton or Horsham via Gatwick for the first time.

This is part of a £7 billion taxpayer-funded modernisation of a north-south line that is said to be as important as Crossrail.

It includes a key section — Finsbury Park, St Pancras, Farringdon, City Thameslink and Blackfriars — where services will run at “metro” frequencies of eight trains an hour, creating an alternative to the overcrowded Northern line to and from London Bridge.

Thameslink services, which run between Bedford and Brighton, will also be expanded, including a new route linking Luton and the Medway towns via Greenwich and Abbey Wood. An extra 80 stations will join the Thameslink network. The Standard has learned that TfL^» (Transport for London - about) had refused to add the new Thameslink services in central London to its Tube map — despite reprinting it to include its own Crossrail, or Elizabeth line, services which start in December.

One rail source told the Standard: “It’s a high-frequency service that is meant to complement the Tube but nobody is going to know about it.”

[plymothian]

Thameslink used to be on the Tube map, but only between Elephant/Moorgate and Kentish Town during the 1990s, when it and the North London lines were dropped come 1999.
Obviously the NLL has reappeared as part of L Overground but that's because it is TfL^» (Transport for London - about) controlled.

The map is far too complicated now to re-add a non TfL operated line, especially one that will stretch the map vertically.  As it is, Reading and Shenfield are stretching it to the limits now.

There are plenty of of other ex-BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) lines around London that are not shown - that's what the Rail & Tube (previously known as London Connections) map is for - and people manage.

[Tim]

should the determining factor here be whether the line offers a high frequency turn up and go service at Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) prices?  If it does then not showing it on the map purely because it is operated by someone else (which users will not care about) is arbitrary. 

[didcotdean]

The London Connections map is fairly widely displayed in tube stations (and is displayed first if you go to the map section of TfLs^» (Transport for London - about) website), although maybe not that widely distributed by TfL in takeaway paper form.

The so-called 'Tube' map is not a map of tube services but in effect a map of all rail services operated by or on behalf of Tfl. Back in the 1950s the map was titled 'London Transport Railways', although that wasn't entirely lacking anomalies as it did include the Waterloo & City Line.

There are also separate maps available for DLR^▸ (Docklands Light Railway), London Overground, Tram, and TfL Rail, but not one that is only 'tube'.

Bit of a mess really.

[eightf48544]

Thameslink is also shown on TFL^▸ (Transport for London)'s Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) fares map. Availble on the
oyster pages.

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-rail-and-tube-services-map.pdf

It looks a fairly easy addition to add a link between Thameslink and the GN Line north of Kings Cross St. Pancras.

[Ralph Ayres]

I've coincidentally just found a 1992 map in a jacket I rarely wear. Its title of "Journey planner" was much derided at the time, but it could actually be used for that purpose as it showed Thameslink across central London plus the Great Northern Finsbury Park-Moorgate. I've no idea what TfL^» (Transport for London - about) now think people use the Tube map for, but it's apparently no longer intended for journey planning.

[WelshBluebird]

If it does then not showing it on the map purely because it is operated by someone else

Well yes, but that is because it is a TfL^» (Transport for London - about) services map, so of course it wouldn't show services operated by other companies!
If you want a map to show all services within London, then there is a separate map that does show that.