tubechallenge.com

Just run like hell and see what the dot matrix thing says.

God, anyone would think this tube challenging was an exact science

Starkey7 wrote:For the purposes of calculating an estimated time, does anybody have any ideas as to how long I should allow for each change? I'd guess 3.5 minutes: 2 minutes for walking between platforms and 1.5 minutes' waiting time. Does that sound reasonable?

Depends a lot on where you're waiting. You're looking at more like 5-10 minutes wait on the Hammersmith and City line for instance.

And if you're changing on an "Island", your walking-between-platforms time will be significantly lower. If you're changing at Westminster on the other hand...

Root wrote:And if you're changing on an "Island", your walking-between-platforms time will be significantly lower. If you're changing at Westminster on the other hand...

In other words, try not to change at stations like that if you can possibly manage it Personally I have a soft-spot for the cross-platform interchange at Oxford Circus for the Bakerloo/Victoria lines, similarly the one at Finsbury Park on the Piccadilly Line/Victoria line (not that I'm going out that far of course - err, at least I hope not - visions of an out-of-control Victoria line train careering through stations.... touches wood )

i have a rhyme to help me remember the cross platform interchanges. there really aren't very many of them, but they're useful.

Yeah, they're great.

Despite calling at two extra stations between Finchley Road and Baker Street, changing from Southbound Metro to Southbound Jubilee is actually faster there than at Baker Street. This is because:
1) The island platforms take a few seconds to traverse, whereas Baker Street is a complex labyrinth of stairs and corridors;
2) The trains I get from Chalfont & Latimer almost always terminate at Baker Street, meaning they trundle in very slowly;
3) There is almost always a Southbound Jubilee train arriving at the same time or within a minute of a Southbound Metropolitan train arriving.

Saves me a minute or two when heading to London Bridge - I timed it .

Oh, and another tip - when visiting the (technically) two stations at Paddington try to go Hammersmith & City >>> Bakerloo rather than the other way round. Having to (almost inevitably) change at Edgware Rd when travelling east from Paddington is a pain in the proverbial...

My goodness, I can't believe my eyes.



I've been on the TfL website quite a bit today, and it looks like it would have been a good day for a challenge.

Friday's weather forecast is looking good - no bright sunshine (so no speed restrictions), and no rain! A nice 18 celsius in the day.

I know this is slightly O.T. but can I put my irritation at LU's line status information on the record.

What exactly is a "good" service? Surely, even if you were being generous, you could only describe it as a "normal" service, even on the best of days. And anyway, according to LU, a 12 minute wait on the Northern Line is still "good". In what way is that "good"exactly? 12 more minutes to listen to three songs on your ipod while you wait? 12 more minutes for Annie Mole to sneak up on people and photograph their awful footwear? lol

tubeguru wrote:Well obviously Hakan can only benefit from having a world record holder on his team ... *ahem*

I wouldn't want him to slow me down though ...

You are always welcome to carry our stop watch though...

hwolge wrote:

tubeguru wrote:Well obviously Hakan can only benefit from having a world record holder on his team ... *ahem*

I wouldn't want him to slow me down though ...

You are always welcome to carry our stop watch though...

That's a point...
Are all the clocks on the stations synchronised or is the very idea of that completley laughable?
My phone doesn't have a stopwatch on it, so my current plan was to work in minutes, but then add 2 minutes to whatever time I came out with, to allow for starting at xx:xx:01 and ending at yy:yy:59. Will this be a suitable alternative?

I can lend you a stopwatch.

Having attempted to synchronise my watch with the Underground clocks, I have noticed that the station-by-station variation is usually up to two seconds, but nothing major.

I've got a solution to that.

Upon arriving, each team will be handed a tube map, with a timesheet attached by a paperclip.

On here, you'll write down your starting and finishing times (according to your watch), and then, once calculated, your overall time taken (a pen will also be provided. I got 30 of them in WHSmith today for £1.98).

This timesheet is what you'll hand to me upon arriving in the pub.

The stop watch comment was not quite serious, however being able to measure seconds is a good thing...

Last year we concluded that the station clock at St. James's was some 15-20 seconds off actual time.

... but then add 2 minutes to whatever time I came out with, to allow for starting at xx:xx:01 and ending at yy:yy:59.

Actually the accuracy would be +/- 1 minute only - so a 2 minute adjustment would be totally uncalled for. Would still opt for alternative (second-capable) time device...

Would you believe my bloody watch battery died last week, so now I need to find a watch with a second hand