New map shows free drinking fountains on the London Overground
The number of London Overground stations with free water drinking fountains is expanding, and Transport for London (TfL) has released a new map showing their locations.
The new drinking fountains are now available at Bethnal Green, Bush Hill Park, Chingford, Gospel Oak, Highams Park and Homerton stations, with these joining the 22 already offering free access to tap water across the London Overground network.
To help London Overground customers find their nearest drinking fountain, TfL has also published a map (pdf file) giving details of their locations, either at London Overground stations or nearby.
Rory O’Neill, General Manager for London Overground, said: “We are committed at London Overground to provide easy access to free drinking water wherever we can. Our growing number of drinking fountains is a testament to that, allowing customers to stay hydrated while using our services but also doing our bit for the environment by helping reduce the reliance on single use plastic bottles.”
Complementing the water fountains on the London Overground, the GLA has partnered with Thames Water to install more than 100 water fountains in busy and accessible areas of London.
Access to drinking water in public spaces has also been improved through the Refill London scheme, which encourages London’s many restaurants, cafes and businesses to offer free refills and water fountains, making it easier for Londoners and visitors to the capital to refill on the go.
Some of the drinking fountains on the London Overground were installed and are maintained by TfL with others installed by the GLA in partnership with Thames Water who are also the maintainer. The Clapham Junction drinking fountain was installed and maintained by Network Rail. Some of these may be located just outside the station.
This map would be more useful if it showed which side of the gateline the fountains are located.
The plan is for them all to be outside the gateline, with maybe some inside as well.
Why produce a map like this now when, within the next couple of month, all the lines will have different colours?
Surely there should be a pint glass icon at Kew Gardens
It is good to have water fountains at any station in London. I do not recall seeing any, though I was not expecting to see any.
What would be great would be to have some washrooms at key stations, as in Japan’s transport systems. Many older railway stations once had washrooms that have long been closed off. Could some of these be reopened? How feasible would it be to include washrooms in stations being renovated, enlarged etc? A few washrooms inside stations would be much appreciated by many users of London Transport, the Elizabeth Line, the Overground etc.
There’s a GLA/Thames Water drinking fountain a few steps away from exit 2 of the High Road ticket hall at Seven Sisters – corner of High Road and Broad Lane/Ashmount Road. I imagine it’s not included on this map as the Overground ticket hall is some distance away on Seven Sisters Road.
This is good news IF the fountains are prominently signposted within stations and reliable (experience over the last few years at major rail terminals in London and elsewhere — the worst and most egregious occasion was at Glasgow Central when all three water refill points on the concourse were out of order… and I was getting a train to London, so over four hours without a drink).
Looking at the map, there are far too many major interchange stations that lack fountains… for a start, Stratford, one of the most heavily used stations in the UK. I would also be looking to add Whitechapel, Watford Junction, Canada Water, Barking, and Richmond as priorities. Personally, I think there should be a mandate for EVERY railway station with any kind of mains water supply (i.e.: allowing exemptions for isolated halts in the middle of nowhere) to have drinking water made available on EVERY platform… to my mind, it is an accessibility issue (and, from a more selfish perspective, a dehydrated passenger equates to a passenger more likely to faint or have a medical emergency on a train, especially in hot weather, and all the delay and disruption entailed), and a LOT cheaper to resolve than step-free access.
With train fares as expensive as they are, is it too much to ask that water refill points be the rule, not the exception?
The plan is for all 113 to get them at some point, the ones that are easier to construct are done first
Why aren’t there maps showing locations of toilets
There are – have been on the TfL maps pages for years.
The toilets are shown on the main Tube map, more useful than yet another map showing one thing. Why not add water icons to new versions of the Tube map?
The fountain near (in the street, round the corner) Chingford station was out of order for a year from June 2023. One excuse for the delay in repairing was inability to obtain spare parts. The Mayor’s office said it was Thames Water’s responsibility, Thames Water was not contactable on the matter. A great initiative which will probably fail due to lack of interest in maintaining public infrastructure.
So far Diamond Geezer has tracked down six of the water fountains..
They’re NOT fountains (where water squirts upwards), merely glorified taps.
They’re useless for most people because few bother to lug a bulky plastic bottle around with them.
Instead, we need proper drinking fountains that everyone can use.
What about South of the Thames – it’s still London, innit?