London Tube Mobile Map

The London Underground is the oldest underground rail service in the world, having first opened its doors in 1863. Having only started with a handful of different lines, the tube service now spans all across the capital and this means that some people find it especially difficult to navigate. In 2007 it was recorded that over one billion passengers had travelled on the London Tube and with the capital installing many barriers for cars over recent times, it’s thought that figure is only going to grow. For many years, individuals have been able to simply pick up a map at each station which gives a detailed overview of where each line goes. However, as technology has progressed, it is now possible to acquire a mobile map of the London Tube which undoubtedly makes the situation much easier for the majority of individuals.

While some of the mobile marketplaces have London underground applications available for download, there is only one official source for the map with the Transport for London service offering a free download.

How to Download the London Tube Mobile Map

Strangely, Transport for London state that only Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone users can download the interactive map. What’s more, there is also a list of compatible handsets with the map working with the following types of phone:

Blackberry
Nokia
Sony Ericsson
LG
Siemens

Transport for London instruct users to text the message TUBEMAP to 60835 which will then forward a link for the map to their mobile phone.

Other London Tube Mobile Services

As well as offering a free mobile map download, Transport for London also provide other services that users can utilize through their mobile phone. The majority of these are based on the TFL website, with users being able to benefit from the following:

A journey planner which not only indicates which London Tube services should be used, but also the other public services such as bus routes.
Users can also view live travel news at each of the London stations
All Transport for London services can also be viewed through this platform

As well as offering all of the above through a WAP internet site, users can also request text messages containing this information.

London Tube Mobile Map Summary

Considering the scale of the London Underground, some people may be disappointed to see that TFL have not released a full, official application. While their downloadable map will be extremely helpful for a lot of people, considering the technology available some users may have been hoping for a more comprehensive alternative.

Fortunately, there are many unofficial London Tube mobile map applications. By scouring the Blackberry, Android and Apple marketplaces it is easy to find these programs and many offer much more advanced features such as the ability to search for directions. While TFL are probably going to release such an application in the future, for now it’s probably recommended to simply seek unofficial options.