Remember that competition to design a fabric for seats on the Underground? Well, the winner has been announced.
London company WallaceSewell (responsible for the retro-70s moquette on Overground trains) have come up with a swirling design of blues, purples, and a hint of red. The fabric will be deployed on refurbished Central line trains from 2011, then on all trains thereafter. Yep, that's right: the distinctive moquettes deployed on different lines at present will be a thing of the past. Probably makes sense from a logistical and procurement point-of-view, but it's sad that the current system, with each line distinguished by its own, unique fabric, will largely disappear.
The new moquette is named Barman (after Christian Barman, publicity officer for TfL in the inter-war years), and is described by TfL as "[embodying] the spirit of London". Post-rational cobblers, perhaps, but London Reconnections reckon you can see the skyline if you look close enough.
