TheWindrush line is the service operated byLondon Overground on theEast London line andSouth London line, running north to south through theEast andSouth areas of London. The East London line was previously a line of theLondon Underground. Prior to the name being adopted in November 2024,[1] the service was labelled inTransport for London timetables as the "Highbury & Islington to New Cross, Clapham Junction, Crystal Palace and West Croydon route".[2]
The name proposed for this service in 2015 was the East London line.[3] In 2021,Sadiq Khan announced that if re-elected asMayor of London, he would give the six services operated by London Overground unique names that would reflect London's diversity, working with hisCommission for Diversity in the Public Realm.[4] In July 2023, TfL announced that it would be giving each of the six Overground services unique names by the end of the following year.[5][6] In February 2024, it was confirmed that the East London / South London section would be named theWindrush line (to honour theWindrush generation of immigrants to the area from the Caribbean) and would be coloured red on the updated network map.[7]
TheEmpire Windrush was a passenger vessel that arrived atTilbury, inEssex, in 1948 bringing migrants to the UK from what was then theBritish West Indies. Before 1948, there were several areas in the UK, such asCanning Town in London, andTiger Bay inCardiff that had a black presence, but the arrival of theWindrush is seen as a watershed, after which point black people would form a much larger part of the community.
On weekends, the Windrush Line operatesovernight services between Highbury & Islington and New Cross Gate stations, with a frequency of four trains per hour.
A few Windrush line trains on the South London line arm terminate atBattersea Park station instead of Clapham Junction station in the mornings and evenings. These operate asparliamentary trains.
