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Just thinking of a couple of 'twists' that could be added to an R15 (I'd not incorporate them yet, but leave them until next championship):

Firstly, a round with 15 stations from the Oyster Rail Services map (at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/ ... es-map.pdf), which incorporates tube, DLR, Overground and all National Rail services within zones 1-2. This could be done instead of separate rounds including the Overground and DLR.

Also, I thought of trying to incorporate Thames Clipper riverboat services into an R15: the full route map of this is at http://www.thamesclippers.com/routes-ti ... oking.html. You can see there is one main 'line' (the 'core' service every 20 minutes) with a couple of extra bits: one is the 'Tate to Tate' service going to Millbank Pier (this runs every 40 minutes), a shuttle to the Hilton Docklands peir (running every 10 minutes), the O2 Express (an express service between two piers that would take longer on the core service) and a 'spur' to Woolwich Pier (on Saturdays, this is served by a shuttle service every 40 minutes with only limited 'through' services which won't be running at the time we normally do R15s). Blackfriars Pier is only served in peak times on Monday - Friday. Several of the piers are near tube or DLR stations for interchange.

All of the points shown fall within zones 1 and 2 except Woolwich pier (near Woolwich Arsenal rail and DLR station in zone 4). I suggest leaving out this one, and perhaps leaving out Millbank because the 'Tate-Tate' service is all that serves it and it runs only every 40 minutes (but include the Hilton Docklands pier because it is served by shuttle every 10 minutes from Canary Wharf pier). (Also leave out Blackfrairs pier because it is not served on Saturdays). These could be incorporates into the list of stations (but separate from the Underground stations that provide interchanges with them). As for tickets, a single ticket costs £3.55 with a travelcard (otherwise £5.30) and there is an Adult River Roamer (valid for unlimited travel on all the route except the O2 Express) which costs £12 normally, but with a travelcard is reduced to £8. (This unfortunately might make it a bit expensive - you could use a single ticket if you get one or more stops in one line, but if you want to go in both directions from a starting point, or make more than one journey, you really need a roamer ticket).

Anyway, a bit complicated, but I thought it would be worth mentioning.

How about a random bus challenge?

Pick 15 routes at random and you have to travel at least 1 stop on each of them in the shortest time. I would suggest limiting it to only services that pass through zone 1 and maybe exclude any routes that run infrequently.

scrxisi wrote:National Rail stations will be in the relaunched R15 generator, but in trial runs you tend to end up with 15 stations on 10-15 different lines, which is less than fun. Riverboat services cost more than a travelcard so I think they are best left out.

Riverboat? The slooooooooow option.

I do like the riverboat idea and this has been discussed (not on the forum) before. However as Matt points out I think the price could make it a bit unviable.

As for a round to include LO / DLR / NR, again this is not a bad idea but in theory could throw out some very obscure stations particularly on the NR side, which would make the challenge over long. I think LO & DLR is fine for now and perhaps next year we can have a round which incorporates both.

Soup Dragon wrote:I do like the riverboat idea and this has been discussed (not on the forum) before. However as Matt points out I think the price could make it a bit unviable.

As for a round to include LO / DLR / NR, again this is not a bad idea but in theory could throw out some very obscure stations particularly on the NR side, which would make the challenge over long. I think LO & DLR is fine for now and perhaps next year we can have a round which incorporates both.

You can narrow down by zone though, eg just have a R15 all rail modes Zones 1-2 challenge...

Wanstead wrote:You can narrow down by zone though, eg just have a R15 all rail modes Zones 1-2 challenge...

That's what I actually meant (sticking within zones 1 and 2). However, the line from St Pancras International, although it goes through Stratford International, is not valid with travelcards so I'd leave out St Pancras International.

Bored already after doing 1 x R15 then Joe

JoeGJ1984 wrote:

Wanstead wrote:You can narrow down by zone though, eg just have a R15 all rail modes Zones 1-2 challenge...

That's what I actually meant (sticking within zones 1 and 2). However, the line from St Pancras International, although it goes through Stratford International, is not valid with travelcards so I'd leave out St Pancras International.

Isn't 'St Pancras International' still the name of the station for the suburban part of the station though, so SPI could still be one of the stations in the challenge, just without using the 'International' bit of it

I'd forgotten about the Thameslink service that stops at St Pancras International. For Charing Cross, Waterloo etc. I would count them as one station (National Rail and Underground). I think Brixton National Rail and Underground are separate stations, ditto Elephant and Castle. West Hampstead has three separate stations; one for the Jubilee Line, one for London Overground and one for Thameslink (this is also important in the London Overground round of the current R15 championship).

I think if a station is a single station, it should count as such, but if you have to make an out-of-station interchange between routes, then it should count as separate stations (this is the same principle as stations such as Hammersmith). Kings Cross St Pancras is a bit difficult though - there are two separate stations, Kings Cross and St Pancras, but the Underground station called Kings Cross St Pancras serves both these stations. Not sure about this one!

I seem to think an agreement was made relatively recently regarding the definition of a single station for such R15s. The established principle was to follow the Guiness World Record rules, namely if there are two physically separate stations or structures that do do not directly abut to each other then they should be counted separately. This rule is only broken when the stations have different names, with an example being the three stations of St Pancras, King's Cross and King's Cross St Pancras.

And yet Paddington stations do abutt!

I have thought of a great idea for an unofficial r15 a bit like treasure hunt each group that does it gets 4 seperate clues that they have to work out which station it is and then find the next clue at that station hidden somewhere on the platform (different for each team say 5 team did it they would be 5 different 1st stations to find) and the 5th clue would be the same for all teams so whomever was the cleverest or quickest around would win.

palkanetoijala31 wrote:I have thought of a great idea for an unofficial r15 a bit like treasure hunt each group that does it gets 4 seperate clues that they have to work out which station it is and then find the next clue at that station hidden somewhere on the platform (different for each team say 5 team did it they would be 5 different 1st stations to find) and the 5th clue would be the same for all teams so whomever was the cleverest or quickest around would win.

Would Anneka Rice be involved?

Root wrote:

palkanetoijala31 wrote:I have thought of a great idea for an unofficial r15 a bit like treasure hunt each group that does it gets 4 seperate clues that they have to work out which station it is and then find the next clue at that station hidden somewhere on the platform (different for each team say 5 team did it they would be 5 different 1st stations to find) and the 5th clue would be the same for all teams so whomever was the cleverest or quickest around would win.

Would Anneka Rice be involved?

I wouldnt my following her bottom running down a corridor

Wouldn't you get reported for acting suspiciouisly on Underground platforms?