[Trivia] Two routes to London

[Andyjs247]

Manchester Piccadilly deserves a mention. I'm not sure if there is anything that actually goes via Chat Moss, Newton le Willows and Warrington to London currently but it's possible now that it has been wired. It would be possible to turn a Pendolino set that way.

Aside from that I reckon Manchester Piccadilly (London Road) has the most routes to London. Apart from the usual routes to Euston (via Wilmslow and Crewe or via Macclesfield and Stoke) there's also a multitude of diversionary possibilities e.g. if you were to go via the West Midlands. And there have also been services to St Pancras, Paddington, Waterloo and Marylebone as well as Euston. Has anywhere else had more London routes/services?

 

[FenMan]

From Blackwater, on the Hants/Surrey border, with the right tickets I can travel to London Terminals via:-

1. Reading
2. Wokingham
3. Farnborough North - walk - Farnborough Main
4. North Camp - walk - Ash Vale
5. Guildford
6. Dorking Deepdene - walk - Dorking Main
7. Redhill

So, no shortage of options if things go t*ts up!

 

[GazUk]

I might be clutching at straws now , but how about Heathrow terminal 4,and does it even count??

North Via the LU piccadilly line to KGX

and South-west via the Heavy rail line into Paddington

 

[thenorthern]

Both Aberdeen, Inverness, Falkirk Grahamston and all stations in between have both the Virgin Trains East Coast and the Sleeper trains.

 

[greaterwest]

Bonus points go to me as I mentioned them in the first reply.

This has become a good example of a thread where people are not reading the original poster's question though, as he was explicitly looking for places like these where you can leave in either direction.

The thread title unfortunately doesn't adequately summarise the original question.

I read your reply and was adding to it, your original post didn't make it clear. I admit I missed the OP's meaning though, I was on a mobile device at the time (which doesn't always help!)

I suppose I'd better contribute properly this time

One I haven't found in this thread is Weymouth - you can use the Summer Saturday SWT service via Yeovil Pen Mill, or go the direct route via Poole.

Also some diversions for Weymouth - Waterloo, via Havant.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Edenbridge; from Edenbridge to London Victoria via Redhill and Edgenbridge Town to London Bridge.

 

[JamesRowden]

The stations on the Kent HS1 rounder service.

 

[transmanche]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Edenbridge; from Edenbridge to London Victoria via Redhill and Edgenbridge Town to London Bridge.

That's because they are two separate stations. The OP asked about services which leave a station in opposite directions to reach London.

 

[swt_passenger]

I read your reply and was adding to it, your original post didn't make it clear. I admit I missed the OP's meaning though, I was on a mobile device at the time (which doesn't always help!)

I suppose I'd better contribute properly this time

One I haven't found in this thread is Weymouth - you can use the Summer Saturday SWT service via Yeovil Pen Mill, or go the direct route via Poole.

Also some diversions for Weymouth - Waterloo, via Havant.

.

You cannot leave Weymouth in two different directions though...

 

[infobleep]

Back in the distant past there was trains from Guildford to Waterloo, which headed north and trains from Guildford to London Bridge which headed south and then east towards Redhill and up. I think the Redhill route to London Bridge was taken out in the 60s

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Martin S Heron]

Tilbury Town possibly? Westward direct to Fenchurch Street or eastwards to Tilbury Riverside (by bus, but it would have been the eastbound platform when Riverside was still open), ferry to Gravesend and from there to London. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe both are valid routes from Tilbury Town.

 

[transmanche]

Tilbury Town possibly?

Do any trains to London depart from Tilbury Town heading east?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe both are valid routes from Tilbury Town.

What's that got to do with the OP's question?

 

[SpacePhoenix]

What's the longest possible return journey to London without doubling back anywhere (apart from where two routes share a section of track leading out of a terminus)?

 

[AlterEgo]

What's the longest possible return journey to London without doubling back anywhere (apart from where two routes share a section of track leading out of a terminus)?

Anywhere between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Fauldhouse is a good station for this as it allows you to travel on both the east and west coast routes. I always buy tickets to Fauldhouse....

 

[Envy123]

But again both depart eastwards. The OP asked about trains departing to London in opposite directions. eg Exeter St Davids.

Oh, I thought the OP meant "two different directions", not "opposite directions".

 

[341o2]

Exeter St Davids. Where trains can run to either London Waterloo or London Paddington from either direction.

And Westbury. GW to Paddington, SWT to Waterloo.

Re Exeter, you beat me to it.

Southampton, either direct via Basigstoke or via Salisbury. Steam charters to Weymouth or Swanage invariably use a variant of this via Andover since they are composed of steam loco down end, carriages then diesel to rear. On the up journey, the diesel will be leading until the train reverses at Southampton ugl

 

[Saltleyman]

Birmingham New Street
Leicester

 

[A0]

All stations from Kings Lynn to Cambridge do too - GA to Liverpool St, GN to Kings X.

Not what the OP was looking for though.

To go to London from those stations the train has to be heading south - whereas with Oxford the GW services to London will head south whereas the Chiltern ones will head north.

 

[341o2]

That's because they are two separate stations. The OP asked about services which leave a station in opposite directions to reach London.

What I would like clarifying is a change of train permitted or do they have to be through trains to qualify

 

[transmanche]

What I would like clarifying is a change of train permitted or do they have to be through trains to qualify

It seemed obvious to me there was an implication it referred to direct trains.

You can probably construct a route in any direction to London for anywhere that isn't on a dead-end branch if you include changes; e.g. Watford High Street to Euston direct by heading south on the DC lines, or head north to Watford Junction and change onto a train on the AC lines. That would make for a very dull thread...

 

[Martin S Heron]

Do any trains to London depart from Tilbury Town heading east?

What's that got to do with the OP's question?

The OP was looking for stations where there are routes to London in both directions. The route via Tilbury Riverside and Gravesend, whilst initiallyon busand ferry departs eastwards - before Riverside was closed the train would have left eastbound. While this isn't a direct route it is, as far as I am aware still a valid one. From Grays onwards however the direct westbound service to Fenchurch Street is the only valid route. If I'm right andvia Riverside and Gravesend is a valid route you can travel to London from Tilbury Town in both east and west direction and it's the only station On the LT&S line where that is allowed.

Does this meet the OP's criteria? Maybe, which is why I said "Tilbury Town possibly?"

 

[transmanche]

The OP was looking for stations where there are routes to London in both directions.

I see no mention of 'routes' in the OP's question.

Does this meet the OP's criteria?

Clearly not.

 

[Richard_B]

To me the "best" two examples of this are Exeter St David's and Edinburgh, for they both have routes that depart completely opposite directions that then stay separate all the way to London, and both have regular services along both routes

 

[swt_passenger]

Southampton, either direct via Basigstoke or via Salisbury.

No, because that isn't a bona fide 'route to London', because tickets would not be valid, it would never be advertised as a London service at Southampton, and it isn't a through train.

Just about any station in the country that is not on a dead end will allow you to do that somehow, if changes are allowed, as transmanche pointed out above. It surely isn't what was asked about.

 

[Martin S Heron]

I see no mention of 'routes' in the OP's question.

Clearly not.

You're right, there's no mention of routes, they say leave in either direction which is possible at Tilbury Town.

You do say throughout this thread that direct routes are implied in the OP, in the main I agree with you, I believe both yourself and swt passenger have stated that given an unlimited amount of changes it's possible from anywhere On the network, but with invalid routing. However I feel that implicit in the OP are those stations where it's possible through a quirk of routing, with changes and On this basis Tilbury Town qualifies. You obviously have a different opinion, and that's fine.

The OP has come to check their thread a few times. I suggest we let them adjudicate.

 

[Envy123]

The Southern service from London Bridge to London Victoria, via Crystal Palace.

 

[JamesRowden]

Hampden Park. The Eastbourne to Victoria service calls at the station northbound. The Ore to Victoria service calls at the station southbound, reverses at Eastbourne and then runs non-stop through Hampden Park northbound.

 

[reddragon]

There used to be some real interesting routes pre-Beeching.

Liverpool Street to Doncaster via GE/GN joint lines
London Bridge to Reading (North downs route was SER to Reading)
Paddington to northern Wales
Paddington to Edinburgh

Once trains from Paddington, Euston, St Pancras and King Cross would have gone to Edinburgh's 2 main Stations, so forget just 2 routes!

Reading was Paddington, Waterloo & London Bridge / Charing Cross!

 

[transmanche]

However I feel that implicit in the OP are those stations where it's possible through a quirk of routing, with changes and On this basis Tilbury Town qualifies.

Really? The specific example given by the OP was of two direct trains to London which left Oxford station in opposite directions. To infer that changes are allowed en route seems to me to be a somewhat 'creative' interpretation.

 

[JamesRowden]

Really? The specific example given by the OP was of two direct trains to London which left Oxford station in opposite directions. To infer that changes are allowed en route seems to me to be a somewhat 'creative' interpretation.

The question was ambiguous leading to people intuitively interpreting it differently. You have created restrictions to fill the gaps in the definition and Martin S Heron has created options to fill the gaps in the definition.

 

[transmanche]

tly. You have created restrictions to fill the gaps in the definition

No, just following the example given by the OP...