Few Londoners say the same thing as TfL

The London Underground map is one of the most iconic works of design in the world. The colour scheme does a good job at clearly distinguishing the various lines from one another, and each of the main lines has an unambiguous colour type – red for Central, yellow for Circle, green for District, etc. But the exact colour label for the Metropolitan line is less obvious. Is it purple? Is it maroon? Is it burgundy?

YouGov put the question to a survey of almost 1,000 Londoners, showing them the London Underground map colour key and asking them to write in their own words what colour they think the Metropolitan line is.

The most common response is “purple”, at 50%. This is not, however, how Transport for London sees the Metropolitan line. In fact, it is the new Elizabeth Line that TfL considers to be purple.

Instead, TfL labels the Metropolitan line colour as “magenta”. Just 6% of Londoners give this answer, ranking fourth overall.

Aside from ‘purple’, capital residents are more likely to describe the Met line’s colour as “maroon” (14%) or “burgundy” (10%) than TfL’s designation.

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A cluster of other labels were given by small fractions of Londoners, including 4% for “mauve”, 3% for “plum” and approximately 1% apiece for “violet”, “aubergine”, and “wine”.

See the full results here

Photo: Getty