Find What 3 Words Represent Each Tube Station On This Alternative Map

By Londonist Staff Last edited 55 months ago
Find What 3 Words Represent Each Tube Station On This Alternative Map
A tube map of what3words names
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Heard of what3words? It's an app that assigns a three word address to every location in the world, and claims to be as accurate as GPS coordinates.

It's saved lives, but we've put a very Londonist spin on it, and turned it into an alternative tube map.

To create the tube map, we typed in the name of each tube station, and labelled the map with the three words it came up with. It's not as simple as it sounds — the entire world has been divided into 3 metre-squared sections. Every tube station is much larger than this, so multiple 'locations' are available for any tube station.

This means that the map we've created isn't an exact science — it's just a bit of fun.

For the majority of stations, we've taken the three word entry that appears when you type that station into the app. Occasionally however, the app isn't entirely accurate in finding a station, placing it a few blocks away from its actual location, or in some cases, not recognising it at all. In these instances, we've gone with the square where the roundel icon is overlaid on the app.

While the words are completely random, it has come up with some fun combinations; Wood Green offers a motto to live by (retain.custom.snacks), while Ruislip appears to be a fan of Ridley Scott (movies.hurray.alien), and Moor Park (teach.quiz.assume) sounds like a philosophical sequel to Eat, Pray, Love. We particularly like joke.driven.poet (Kentish Town)

Have a go at searching for your local area or tube station, or your home or office, and see what words it churns out, and let us know if you spot any amusing or apt combinations. It's oddly addictive. And it could save your life!

Last Updated 16 August 2019