tubechallenge.com

oh dear.. it seems like I am going to need some advice of anywhere in or near Watford tube station that's good for buying tea / coffee and sandwiches by the amount of time we will be there!!

this may sound a silly question - but does the challenge have to be completed by midnight, in order to count? or is it in the 'travelcard' day

The challenge may last as long as is necessary! There was previously a discussion, if the London Overground was to be brought into the challenge, about how the challenge could be pulled off in one day - seeing as there aren't enough hours in the day to add in the entirety of LO - I believe someone suggested "tactical night bus use" coming into play. The challenge is conventionally started in the early morning as this allows enough time to complete the challenge before the last trains of the day, meaning one automatically loses the 4 hours-ish when the tube is closed for the night. But you can complete the challenge in as much time as you like - it's just best to complete it quickly.

perficad wrote:this may sound a silly question - but does the challenge have to be completed by midnight, in order to count? or is it in the 'travelcard' day

There have been plenty of attempts that have finished after midnight. Travelcard tickets are valid until 4:30am but you are free to choose whichever ticketing methods you desire, including 'extra' tickets should it help your case.

Just take the time the doors close at your first station, visit all 270 without using private transport and stop the watch once you arrive into your final station and step onto the platform.

You won't be there for too long even if you leave on the train you arrived on - it varies a bit but could just be four minutes

There's a newsagent's just outside, I'm guessing they'd make a killing on coffee so may well have some

Iain wrote:You won't be there for too long even if you leave on the train you arrived on - it varies a bit but could just be four minutes

There's a newsagent's just outside, I'm guessing they'd make a killing on coffee so may well have some

yeah I really hope that 4 minutes is the case!

thanks for all the advice everyone. We are still go for a first run on 30th Nov (to be abandoned if necessary on the day if things start to go wrong) followed by hopefuly a better run on 14th December. So far from what I can see all necessary transport on those dates are running

perficad wrote: We are still go for a first run on 30th Nov (to be abandoned if necessary on the day if things start to go wrong) followed by hopefuly a better run on 14th December. So far from what I can see all necessary transport on those dates are running

How was your attempt on 30 November?

Or indeed the 14th of December!

Hi all

Sorry about the delay in replying here - been a busy few weeks - especially with organising these 2 tube challenges

Here is my report

Unfortunately we did not complete either, but learnt a lot of valuable information, and going for gold as it were in the new year

30th November - 137 stations in approx 10 hours
14th December- 161 stations in approx 10.5 hours

We stopped both attempts because we realised we could not make it to reach the last Terminal 4 train in time, as we were running up to an hour behind schedule

Challenge 1- Big let down at West Action, getting stuck there for 14 minutes

Challenge 2 - A huge 16 minute delay at Sloane Square waiting for a Circle line train to Aldgate

Next year it looks like there is a 1014am train from Kensington Olympia running on weekdays? this should help!
We also then have a ground controller available to assist us further

Anyhow both challenge attempts were very fun. Challenge 2, there were me and 3 friends, a better atmosphere than Challenge 1 which was just me, accompanied by others only at certain times

Will post further updates then

There are several extra Olympia trains in the new December timetable

1014/1214/1414/1908/2114 Olympia - Plaistow
1118/1318/1518/2018/2218 Plaistow - Olympia

The problem is that they are listed as "runs when required". They are training runs for the S Stock on the District and there is no guarantee they will actually run on any given day. So I wouldn't advise relying on them for a full network attempt.

greatkingrat wrote:There are several extra Olympia trains in the new December timetable

1014/1214/1414/1908/2114 Olympia - Plaistow
1118/1318/1518/2018/2218 Plaistow - Olympia

The problem is that they are listed as "runs when required". They are training runs for the S Stock on the District and there is no guarantee they will actually run on any given day. So I wouldn't advise relying on them for a full network attempt.

thanks for this info! I did see these in the timetable also, and was not sure if they were regular or not.
Does anybody have any more details on the likelihood of these running?
Also any ideas on planned 'event days' in 2014?
At the moment there is no sign of any