Amazon changes name of Westminster Tube station to 'Webminster'
There is no obvious explanation of the reason for the change, leading mostly to confusion
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Amazon has changed the name of Westminster Tube station.
The company has temporarily christened it "Webminster", instead.
The move is apparently intended as a way of advertising its web services division, which offers things like server space to companies and recently opened up premises in London. But it appears to be mostly confusing commuters who aren't sure why it has happened.
There's no obvious explanation to anyone passing through the station why the famous roundel has been changed. The sign does stand in front of a series of Amazon ads – but there is no explicit connection between the two things.
The change has been made not only on the roundel that people arriving at the station see, but also on the map that sits alongside the trains to help people get around. It isn't clear how long it will last for.
Amazon says that TfL uses its services to power its own network as well as to make its data available so that it can be used by people to make travel-planning apps.
It's not the first time that Transport for London has allowed a company to change the name of a station for advertising reasons. In 2015, Canada Water station was re-named Buxton Water for just one day as part of an £11,000 sponsorship deal related to the London Marathon.
Then, TfL argued that it was worth making the change because the revenue from the deal would be put back into the network "for the benefit of customers".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments