So dogged is our quest to find alternative tube maps, we've even shared one that tells you what tube stations taste like. (In case you're wondering, Oxford Circus = oxtail soup.) Now, we've discovered a tube map that you don't look at — but rather, listen to.
Emanuele Biasiol has created a playlist for every London Underground line, on streaming platform Spotify. For each tube line, the tube/music aficionado has found a track for the majority of stations — which he's then lined up in the order in which you'd pass through them on the train.
Says Biasiol: "I call it a map because it covers every station on at least one branch of every 'proper' London Underground line in existence."
While the tracks might work smoothly as stations name-wise, there can be some intriguing auditory juxtapositions. The Northern line playlist, for example, jumps from the the jangle pop of 'Morden' to the reposed hip-hop of 'Half Past Seven in South Wimbledon' to the sound of Colliers Wood church bells pealing in a softly-narrated audio guide by the Surrey Association.
Says Biasiol: "Some of the songs are, well.... not what I'd listen to on my commute, to be nice ha. Consider yourselves warned!"
The idea for the 'map', says Biasiol, was inspired by a tradition with a friend, of playing Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty every time they went through Baker Street station: "I wondered, how many more stations would you be able to do this with...?"
Already on the map, is the definitely-not-a-tube-line, the Elizabeth line — or at least the central section from Paddington to Abbey Wood. But Biasiol isn't finished yet: "I am planning on expanding this to all branches of every line and including the London Overground, my beloved DLR and those funky trams as soon as I get time."
Have a listen to the London Underground map on Spotify.
