For years there were plans to shut down a whole set of train lines across the north of London to passengers. Stations were closed and demolished (especially the historic Broad Street). Trains were old and tatty and broken. It was all really horrible.
Then someone had a bright idea: let’s take all the old bits of lines, add some new, refurbish the stations and add new ones, get fancy trains and integrate it all together and call it The Overground. It opened in around 2007 and is now hugely popular.
It’s also very extensive, as you can see. In fact, in February 2024 it was announced that each part of the system would be given a different colour to make navigation easier.
It is a proper train service. It operates like the tube with the same methods of payment and zones. Stations may have barriers (eg Whitechapel) or they may not (eg Crouch Hill) but you always need to touch in and touch out, and possibly use the pink card reader if you are doing a change.
