Amid a barrage of public protests, London Mayor Boris Johnson demanded that Transport for London (TFL), which runs transport in the capital, go back to the traditional map, and scrap the new version without the river.

The river-less map — which the company had argued provided a clearer, less cluttered plan of the underground train network — leaves tourists and other Tube users with no idea which stations are near the Thames.

For Londoners, it also blurs the line between north and south of the river, a perennial source of class-fuelled debate about the best place to live, and the trendiest places to hang out.

The new version also did away with the shaded grey and white bands representing the zone system for fare prices, making it all-but impossible to work out how much a ticket would cost.

Johnson, just back from a trip to New York, was said to be furious and voiced a "howl of derision" when told about the new Tube map.

"The mayor has ordered the river to be reinstated as soon as possible without Transport for London incurring additional costs," said a spokesman for the London mayor.

A chastened TFL said the map would be changed back in December, when the next revision of the regularly-updated map is due.

"The overwhelming public reaction is that the Tube and Thames should be reunited, so that’s exactly what we will do," said a TFL spokesman.

"We are also looking again at the provision of zonal information to ensure that it is widely available to customers and aim to reach a conclusion on that, also by December."

And he added: "Over the next few months, we will also see what more can be done to respond to the feedback that we have been receiving on the map becoming too cluttered to be useful."

AFP