Waterloo to Elstree & Borehamwood

[davews]

Now that we have Crossrail there are quite a few ways of doing this|:

Jubilee to West Hampstead then Thameslink (TFL recommended, suggests 43 minutes)
Northern to Tottenham Road, Elizabeth to Farringdon then Thameslink (TFL suggests 47 minutes)
Or change at KX or walk to Blackfriars and pick up Thameslink there.

I did the Tottenham Court Road one last week. Fairly easy interchanges despite being at the back of the train so loads of platform walking. Going via W Hampstead is out of station interchange but don't think that would take me TFL's suggested 9 minutes. Changing at KX St Pancras may be loads of walking.

Gut feeling is there is not a lot in it and TCR/Farringdon is the best.

 

[miklcct]

I have posted the same thing a few months ago and got the following different options:

1. Bakerloo to Oxford Circus, then Victoria to St Pancras
2. Northern to Tottenham Court Road, then Elizabeth line to Farringdon
3. Walk Blackfriars
4. Southeastern to London Bridge
5. Bakerloo or Northern to Embankment then District to Blackfriars
6. Waterloo & City then Northern
7. (in the future) Jubilee to Bond Street then Elizabeth line to Farringdon
8. Jubilee to West Hampstead Thameslink
9. Northern to Kentish Town
10. Bus 26 to City Thameslink

and, if connecting from a South Western Railway train which stops at intermediate stations:

• direct Victoria line from Vauxhall to St Pancras
• direct Overground from Clapham Junction to West Hampstead
• Thameslink from Wimbledon

Now my usual preference is, if the South Western Railway train stops at Clapham Junction, Overground to West Hampstead, otherwise, Jubilee from Waterloo to West Hampstead.

 

[davews]

Thanks, as you say loads of options.... I did it again the other day Northern to TCR and Farringdon. Starting Waterloo around 1010 I just missed the 1029 from Farringdon and arrived at Elstree & Borehamwood at 1105. Whether I could have done it any quicker from Clapham Junction/West Hampstead I don't know. I considered the out of station exchange at West Hamstead probably a bit longer than the two tube changes, even with the long platforms on the Elizabeth.

 

[miklcct]

Thanks, as you say loads of options.... I did it again the other day Northern to TCR and Farringdon. Starting Waterloo around 1010 I just missed the 1029 from Farringdon and arrived at Elstree & Borehamwood at 1105. Whether I could have done it any quicker from Clapham Junction/West Hampstead I don't know. I considered the out of station exchange at West Hamstead probably a bit longer than the two tube changes, even with the long platforms on the Elizabeth.

The official tube time for Waterloo to West Hampstead is 15 minutes. This is generally the fastest way to make the connection between the South West main line and Thameslink (Midland branch). The distance between the tube and the Thameslink station at West Hampstead, entrance to entrance, is approximately 220 m. The Overground station is half-way between the Underground and the Thameslink station.

Therefore, if you started at Waterloo at 10:10 you would be well in time to catch that Thameslink train.

However, in general I prefer Clapham Junction because I can avoid zone 1, the time is similar (especially going north when I don't need to wait for a platform at Waterloo) and Overground trains are much nicer than a deep-level tube train, plus I can get mobile reception all the way through (there is no mobile coverage north of Westminster on the Jubilee). The only drawback is that the West London line runs at 15-minute headway - a missed train can make my journey much slower!