Overground Network - The ON Brand

The ON Brand

Using the Overground Network brand, Transport for London introduced consistent information displays, station signage and maps on selected routes in South London, along with prominent "ON" branding on station exteriors. Railway stations selected for the Overground Network were those with a service frequency of 4 or more trains per hour to a London terminus. The scheme sought to encourage metro-style usage of these services. A diagrammatic map of the Overground Network was published to support passenger information provision, showing high-frequency routes in colour, with Underground and Tramlink connections. The ON branding was not applied to trains, which retained the livery of the individual train operating companies.

The "ON" brand was conceived by the brand agency Fitch and featured a logo formed from orange-coloured, lower-case "ON" initials. The letter "N" was stylised to look like a rounded arrow pointing down, with an arrow cutout shape penetrating upwards.

Although this pilot was purely an exercise in branding, this was the first instance of TfL having a visible influence over National Rail services in London. The Overground Network pilot has since been withdrawn.

As of September 2006, the scheme had not been expanded. However, TfL has helped fund several similar station upgrade programmes including enhanced passenger information and line guides without applying the "on" branding, leaving the future of the scheme in doubt. The Overground Network website was shut down in February 2007, and now redirects to the TfL pages for London Rail.