Bailey: Sponsor Tube Stations to Rescue TFL Finances

[hopeful traveller]

Shaun Bailey, Conservative candidate for Mayor (who is getting nowhere near enough BBC London coverage compared to his rival) has suggested that in order to save TFL finances companies may be allowed to sponsor a tube station.

Desperate measure, but I think one that given the state of TFL’s finances cannot be dismissed for NIMBY reasons.

[stepneygreen05]

Shaun Bailey, Conservative candidate for Mayor (who is getting nowhere near enough BBC London coverage compared to his rival) has suggested that in order to save TFL finances companies may be allowed to sponsor a tube station.

Desperate measure, but I think one that given the state of TFL’s finances cannot be dismissed for NIMBY reasons.

Agreed. Puritans may grimace at the mere thought of 'erasing history' in such a drastic way, but I believe it is an inconsequential change that shall bring a touch of vitality to TFL's finances. I mean, how is it any different to wraparound advertising on a bus or train carriage, or the 'emirates air line'/'uber thames clippers'?

[Lunaticonthegrass]

I logged in this evening to start this topic, but someone beat me to it! Not that I mind in the slightest.

Article link here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ailey.html

(Apologies for Daily Fail, but it was that or the Sun. And it's debatably worth it for the comments at the bottom.)

As much as I'd like the stations to keep their current names, the tube does break down a lot and needs some serious investing. As to whether or not this might get off the ground is another matter. All it would mean for us is that there would be new options available for the Alphabet Challenge. Oh, and Bond Street might get renamed, making the RSL challenge a tiny bit easier.

Of course, serious tube nerds know that this isn't the first time this kind of idea has been suggested... in the 1910's Gordon Selfridge (of the famous department store) tried to get nearby Bond Street station renamed along the same idea.

[RJSRdg]

Not sure about that one... in some instances it might work (e.g. Harrods instead of Knightsbridge) as Harrods is big enough and well-known enough that the two are almost synonymous anyway. After all, Lord's, The Oval and Arsenal all have or have had stations named after them.

However in a lot of cases the names of potential sponsors wouldn't be sufficient to give a geographic sense.

And whilst renaming the stations might remove some awkward stops from particular challenges, it might create awkwardness in others - e.g. if Jaguar sponsored a station, it would make the Alphabet Challenge awkward!

What would make more sense would be to name stations "Knightsbridge for Harrods", "Piccadilly Circus for Trocadero" etc.

I would expect that in that instance the map would continue to show the original form of the name as otherwise Zone 1 could become very cramped.

[xcooler123]

The simple fact is that if you did effectively sell the rights to name a tube station, I doubt it would come even close to making a dent into TfL finances. Sure there are a few you could probably think of like Knightsbridge/Harrods but realistically how many businesses are going to want to stump up the money for this currently? In addition, there is the cost of changing everything (maps, signs, digital content, etc.) which given the sheer scale will not be cheap. You'd practically need to sell off each of the 270 names to make it even worthwhile and who wants Roding Valley...

I'm not adverse to change but there are much higher priorities to be focusing on in TfL than changing names and shuffling the deckchairs...

[trains 500]

what a joke this is cant see how or why this will ever work