How long would it take to travel on each TOC?

[crispy1978]

Wondering how long it would take to cover one journey on each TOC?

So, one journey on Arriva Wales, one on East Coast, one on Crosscountry, one on Scotrail, etc

May need to make (say) 2 journeys on some TOC but gotta travel on each once.

Usual Network Lines apply. May start anywhere.

Wonder how quick it could be done?

 

[Eagle]

Can be done in one day (or at least it could four timetables ago).

 

[crispy1978]

Can be done in one day (or at least it could four timetables ago).

Interesting. Thanks for posting, shall have a good look at that

 

[andyb2706]

You know I quite like the sound of this challenge. Would you mind if I gave it a go? Although what are the ground rules?

I've had a look at what TOC's there are on the National Rail website and there are 28. These include Eurostar, Island Line and London Underground. Should these three be excluded? As one you need a passport, another isn't mainline railway and the third involves a boat trip!

Let me know what you think Crispy1978, would be really interesting to see how many hours it would take. Already trying to figure out a route

 

[Lrd]

Start off at Ryde Esplanade in the morning,

Island Line - Ryde Pier Head
Southern - Pompey Harbour - Pompey and Southsea
FGW - Cosham
SWT - Southampton Central
XC - Basingstoke
FGW - Reading - Banbury
Chiltern - Sollihull
LM - Brum Moor Street

Etc etc, easily done.

 

[N Levers]

Start off at Ryde Esplanade in the morning,

Island Line - Ryde Pier Head
Southern - Pompey Harbour - Pompey and Southsea
FGW - Cosham
SWT - Southampton Central
XC - Basingstoke
FGW - Reading - Banbury
Chiltern - Sollihull
LM - Brum Moor Street

Etc etc, easily done.

Island line no longer exists as a TOC. It is part of SWT.

 

[Lrd]

Island line no longer exists as a TOC. It is part of SWT.

I'm aware of this but if andyb2706 is going by the TOC list on NRE then he may wish to use them.

 

[andyb2706]

Right, I have had a look at this and have come up with a route, some operators you do have to do more than one journey with them but I can not see that this can be done in 24 hours. Here is the route I have come up with.

Manchester Piccadilly-Liverpool Lime StreetTPE
Liverpool Central-Chester Merseyrail
Chester-Crewe ATW
Crewe-Stafford LM
Stafford-Birmingham New St XC
Birmingham Moor St-Banbury Chiltern
Banbury- London Paddington FGW
London Paddington-Heathrow HEX
Heathrow-London Paddington Heathrow Connect
Paddington-Waterloo London Underground
Waterloo-Dorking SWT
Dorking-Victoria Southern
Victoria-Herne Hill Southeastern
Herne Hill-West Hampstead First Capital Connect
West Hampstead-Stratford London Overground
Stratford-Upminster Great Anglia
Upminster-Fenchurch St c2c
Fenchurch St.- St. Pancras London Underground
St. Pancras-Sheffield EMT
Sheffield-Wakefield Kirkgate Northern
Wakefield Kirkgate- Doncaster Grand Central
Doncaster- Retford First Hull Trains
Retford- Doncaster East Coast
Doncaster-Edinburgh East Coast
Edinburgh-GlasgowScotRail
Glasgow-Preston Virgin Trains
Preston-ManchesterTPE/Northern

Now I need to work out timings and into that you have to calculate about 30 minutes at each station to try and take in any possible delays. Don't think in practice it could be done in 24 hours.

 

[crispy1978]

Right, I have had a look at this and have come up with a route, some operators you do have to do more than one journey with them but I can not see that this can be done in 24 hours. Here is the route I have come up with.

Manchester Piccadilly-Liverpool Lime StreetTPE
Liverpool Central-Chester Merseyrail
Chester-Crewe ATW
Crewe-Stafford LM
Stafford-Birmingham New St XC
Birmingham Moor St-Banbury Chiltern
Banbury- London Paddington FGW
London Paddington-Heathrow HEX
Heathrow-London Paddington Heathrow Connect
Paddington-Waterloo London Underground
Waterloo-Dorking SWT
Dorking-Victoria Southern
Victoria-Herne Hill Southeastern
Herne Hill-West Hampstead First Capital Connect
West Hampstead-Stratford London Overground
Stratford-Upminster Great Anglia
Upminster-Fenchurch St c2c
Fenchurch St.- St. Pancras London Underground
St. Pancras-Sheffield EMT
Sheffield-Wakefield Kirkgate Northern
Wakefield Kirkgate- Doncaster Grand Central
Doncaster- Retford First Hull Trains
Retford- Doncaster East Coast
Doncaster-Edinburgh East Coast
Edinburgh-GlasgowScotRail
Glasgow-Preston Virgin Trains
Preston-ManchesterTPE/Northern

Now I need to work out timings and into that you have to calculate about 30 minutes at each station to try and take in any possible delays. Don't think in practice it could be done in 24 hours.

Certainly couldn't be done in a day if 30mins buffer is at each station. Would need some very quick changes if its even possible in a day.

Is there a ticket which would suit the purpose of this trip?

As for rules - anything which is a UK TOC sounds like it should count to me. But that presumably is open to interpretation?

 

[andyb2706]

Certainly couldn't be done in a day if 30mins buffer is at each station. Would need some very quick changes if its even possible in a day.

Is there a ticket which would suit the purpose of this trip?

As for rules - anything which is a UK TOC sounds like it should count to me. But that presumably is open to interpretation?

Well, it would be great if you could work out a timetable where you only spend a few minutes at each station, however can we really rely on getting the connecting train every time? Probably the best way to do it would be to plan a 30 minute buffer at each station and then if it so happens you can get an earlier train then....WOO-HOO!!

As to tickets I don't think there is a day rover for all lines I think the best you can do is a 7 day all line rover ticket (which isn't cheap!)

 

[crispy1978]

Well, it would be great if you could work out a timetable where you only spend a few minutes at each station, however can we really rely on getting the connecting train every time? Probably the best way to do it would be to plan a 30 minute buffer at each station and then if it so happens you can get an earlier train then....WOO-HOO!!

As to tickets I don't think there is a day rover for all lines I think the best you can do is a 7 day all line rover ticket (which isn't cheap!)

Would be a good thing to try one day on the ALR.

It is like a national version of the tube challenge!

Wonder if such a challenge officially exists?

 

[andyb2706]

The only thing I am not sure about is would the ALR be valid on Grand Central and First Hull Trains with them being Open Access operators?

Would love to give it a try some day.

 

[crispy1978]

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/pr20780b0a0400020167ed620a7e504e.aspx

Subject to the restrictions shown below, the All Line Rail Rover (7 day) ticket allows unlimited travel on most National Rail services for 7 consecutive days.
It does not include the charge for seat reservations, where payable.
The All Line Rail Rover is also valid for travel on:
ScotRail Caledonian Sleeper services in seated coaches (reservations compulsory) or in a berth with the payment of the appropriate supplement.
First Great Western Night Riviera Sleeper services in seated coaches (reservations recommended but not compulsory) or in a berth with payment of the appropriate supplement.
Ffestiniog Railway.
The All Lines Rail Rover is not valid for boarding or alighting train services operated by CrossCountry, East Coast, East Midlands Trains, or Virgin Trains before 10:00 Mondays to Fridays at the following stations:
Birmingham New Street
Bedford
London Euston
London Kings Cross
London St Pancras International
Luton
Luton Airport Parkway
Milton Keynes Central
Stevenage
Watford Junction
No restrictions apply on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.
The All Lines Rail Rover is not valid for travel on:
Eurostar
Heathrow Express
Heathrow Connect services between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow.
London Underground
Docklands Light Railway
Croydon Tramlink
Private heritage railways (except Ffestiniog Railway)
Shipping services.

Participating train companies
Arriva Trains Wales; c2c; Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; East Coast; East Midlands Trains; First Capital Connect; First Great Western; First Hull Trains; First TransPennine Express; Gatwick Express; Grand Central; Greater Anglia; Heathrow Connect; Island Line; London Midland; London Overground; Merseyrail; Northern Rail; ScotRail; South West Trains; Southeastern; Southern; Stansted Express; Virgin Trains;

That should give a comprehensive list

 

[Crossover]

As a side note, you could do Manchester - Liverpool (EMT)

That would probably save a few hours of not having to trundle up the MML!

Also:
Waterloo-Dorking SWT
Dorking-Victoria Southern

Save yourself a fair bit of time by just taking each as far as Clapham Junction, if distance doesn't matter (8 mins each way rather than 47-54 mins each way)

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Lets have a go then, starting from home and using each TOC once only. (I'm going by the NR website list - so including Island Line and the Gatwick/Stansted expresses but, lacking a passport, ignoring Eurostar.) So, here it is:
Monday
Rochdale - 0605 Northern to...
Halifax - 0707 Grand Central to...
Doncaster - 0926 Hull Trains to...
Kings Cross - 1115 FCC to...
Cambridge - 1210 AXC to...
Stansted Airport - 1300 "Stansted Express" to...
Liverpool St - 1355 GA to Southend Vic
Walk via Macdonalds to...
Southend C - 1520 c2c to...
Limehouse - 1641 DLR to...
Lewisham - 1708 SET to...
Victoria - 1802 GATEX to..
Brighton (didn't know they went that far) for tea
then 2003 SN to Portsmouth Harbour for a boat to Ryde. Walk up the pier.

Tuesday
06wibble RydeEspl to Pier Head - Island Line (forgot to write time down)
Boat back to...
Portsmouth Harbour - 0729 SWT to...
Clapham Jc - 1016 Overground to...
West Brompton - 1034 Sub Surface Underground (fudging here) to...
Earls Court - 1042 Tube to...
Heathrow T4 - 1126 HX to...
T123 - 11xx HC to...
Ealing Broadway - 1205 FGW to...
Banbury (OK, change at Oxford) - 1543 Chiltern to...
Snow Hill - Tram (might as well whilst passing) to...
Wolves - 1754 LM to...
Liverpool LS - 1942 Miseryrail to...
Chester - 2050 ATW to...
Warrington BQ (for a pint) - 2222 Vermin to...
Preston (for a curry) - 0052 Scotrail Sleeper to...
Edinburgh (have to sneak offf here during the uncoupling of portions!), then 0548 EC to...
Doncaster - 0942 TPE to...
Meadowhall - SYPTE tram to...
Sheffield - 1042 EMT to...
Manchester Oxford Rd, then walk to St Peters Square for...
Metrolink back to Rochdale for a kip.

Now - what have I missed??

 

[crispy1978]

Once I've got access to a proper Internet connection ill have a look myself
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I wonder where the optimum starting place might be?

 

[andyb2706]

As a side note, you could do Manchester - Liverpool (EMT)

That would probably save a few hours of not having to trundle up the MML!

Also:
Waterloo-Dorking SWT
Dorking-Victoria Southern

Save yourself a fair bit of time by just taking each as far as Clapham Junction, if distance doesn't matter (8 mins each way rather than 47-54 mins each way)

Good point Crossover about Manchester to Liverpool, forgot about EMT operates between them, thanks.

Already picked up on the London/Dorking return with SWT and Southern.....need to read everything before posting, could do it to Clapham Junction but I would feel like I was cheating doing just an 8 minute journey.

Hmm... would have to do Virgin from Glasgow to Lancaster, TPE Lancaster to Preston and Northern from Preston to Manchester to get all the TOC's in then.

 

[Crossover]

Good point Crossover about Manchester to Liverpool, forgot about EMT operates between them, thanks.

Already picked up on the London/Dorking return with SWT and Southern.....need to read everything before posting, could do it to Clapham Junction but I would feel like I was cheating doing just an 8 minute journey.

Hmm... would have to do Virgin from Glasgow to Lancaster, TPE Lancaster to Preston and Northern from Preston to Manchester to get all the TOC's in then.

The timings on the first meeting point are actually terrible, but what scope would there be to only do ScotRail from Carlisle to somewhere on the line to Dumfries? (Gretna is a +2!)

 

[andyb2706]

D841 Roebuck I can't believe you have been able to do one journey per TOC!!

Actually you haven't missed any....I think but you could cut out GATEX a I think it has merged with Southern.

Congratulations.....although this is the easy bit. The hard bit is actually putiing it into practice.

 

[crispy1978]

D841 Roebuck I can't believe you have been able to do one journey per TOC!!

Actually you haven't missed any....I think but you could cut out GATEX a I think it has merged with Southern.

Congratulations.....although this is the easy bit. The hard bit is actually putiing it into practice.

It's a shame there isn't a one-day ALR! I've not actually had a chance to look at this as yet - might get chance tonight - but I wonder what it would cost with a combination of advance tickets and local rovers?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Quite a few little sub-challenges which could be researched here

- Shortest time actually on trains
- Shortest mileage covered
- Smallest number of trains used

 

[eastwestdivide]

If you took the Scotrail sleeper as the very last segment of the journey, then I don't think you'd ever have to go north of a Liverpool-Manchester-Doncaster axis (for Merseyrail and Transpennine).
This would help save criss-crossing the country north to south as in posts 8 and 15 where you're starting in the middle of the country and retracing your steps to a certain extent.
Maybe.

 

[Gathursty]

For a challenge like this, it could be smart to use Haymarket - Edinburgh and Manchester Piccadilly - Stockport journeys judiciously on the appropriate TOC before going to London.