London Overground also known simply as the Overground is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greater London as well as Hertfordshire , with stations on the six lines that make up the network. Operation has been contracted to Arriva Rail London since TfL previously assigned orange as a mode-specific colour for the Overground in branding and publicity including the roundel , on the Tube map , trains and stations.
In , each of the six Overground lines were given distinct colours and names — Lioness , Mildmay , Windrush , Weaver , Suffragette , and Liberty — which are intended to reference London's diverse history and communities.
Rail services in Great Britain are mostly run under franchises operated by private train operating companies, marketed together as National Rail.
The concept of developing a network of orbital services around London goes back to the independently produced Ringrail proposals in the early s. The proposal from Barren was for several overlapping services mainly using the North London line , generally at minute intervals. However, the Wilson government 's continuing antipathy to the railways, [ citation needed ] along with British Rail 's management's lack of interest in minor local train services, meant that few of these initiatives were carried forward.
This was given the marketing name Crosstown Linkline , and operated with basic two-car diesel multiple units. The next initiative came from the GLC in , when the government supported the Broadgate development that would entail the demolition of Broad Street station.
