Fermiboson
Member
The idea is simple - go in a full circle around London avoiding non-rail transport options where possible, without going inside the M25 (except at QEII bridge, that being the most easternly option to get across the Thames now that the Gravesend-Tilbury ferry is out), within 24 hours.
Formally, the rules are as follows:
- The path taken must not go inside the M25 except at the QEII bridge, and must not exceed a distance of x km from Bank underground station. (The values of x I find work best are either 90km or 120km.)
- The booked duration (e.g. bus schedule, Google Maps walking time, etc.) of any non-rail leg must not exceed 60 minutes.
- There must be no changing between non-rail modes of transport. (i.e. you can't change b/t two buses or walk to the next town over then take a bus, but you are allowed within reason to walk within a city centre from the rail station to the bus/coach station.)
- No TfL, XC or LNER services may be used. (LNER and XC make the 120km challenge a bit too easy at limited times of the day and for limited starting points.) Additionally no TfL buses may be used.
- Where a journey between two points is possible with rail services within the above rules, rail must be used.
- The journey must start at a station satisifying condition 1 after 0430 and end at the same station before 0430 the next day.
Perhaps surprisingly considering the distances involved, this challenge is only barely doable with some uncomfortable connections and surprisingly little room for delay. Below is an example itinerary starting and ending at Oxford, taking the 120km challenge (not going to bother to write out full station names) and using the published summer weekday timetable:
1Y10 CH OXF > MYB OXF 0637 PRR 0718
2A07 CH PRR > AYS PRR 0722 AYS 0738
Bus X4 AYS 0811 > LBZ 0900
1Y21 LM EUS > BHM LBZ 0925 BLY 0931
2S09 LM BLY > BDM BLY 0945 BDM 1027
Bus 72 BDM 1035 > SDY 1120
9J27 TL PBO > HRH SDY 1125 SVG 1146
9S20 TL BTN > CBG SVG 1202 CBG 1241
2W17 LE CBG > IPS CBG 1247 IPS 1402
1P41 LE NRW > LST IPS 1410 COL 1429
1N41 LE CLT > LST COL 1433(!) SNF 1508 (note - I believe next service is an hour later, despite this change being below MCT.)
1K58 LE LST > SOV SNF 1519 SOV 1554
Walk 9 mins SOV > SOC
1B27 CC SRY > FST SOC 1627 PSE 1642
2R17 CC PSE > FST PSE 1648 GRY 1707
2D63 CC GRY > FST GRY 1717 CFH 1721
Bus X80 CFH 1745 > CNH 1820 (but this is peak times, so allow +30 mins for traffic over the bridge)
9P51 TL KTN > RAI GNH 1907 SOO 1930
2T62 SE SOO > PDW SOO 1933(!) PDW 2020 (should be a same platform interchange)
2W68 SE RAM > CHX PDW 2028 TON 2037
2A65 SN TON > RDH TON 2101 RDH 2133
1V90 GW GTW > RDG RDH 2147 RDG 2321
1W45 GW PAD > WOP RDG 2330 OXF 2356
The route in the south is more or less fixed Greenhithe - Strood - Maidstone - Paddock Wood - Tonbridge - Redhill - Guildford - Reading. Late-night Tonbridge-Rehill connections, however, are really annoying and often take an hour. Perhaps different options may be available for starting stations on the Coastway. One or two 5-10 minute delays in the wrong places on the network is enough to knock this itinerary back 2 hours so that the last Reading-Oxford train will be missed.
Interested to see if this idea could be developed further.
Formally, the rules are as follows:
- The path taken must not go inside the M25 except at the QEII bridge, and must not exceed a distance of x km from Bank underground station. (The values of x I find work best are either 90km or 120km.)
- The booked duration (e.g. bus schedule, Google Maps walking time, etc.) of any non-rail leg must not exceed 60 minutes.
- There must be no changing between non-rail modes of transport. (i.e. you can't change b/t two buses or walk to the next town over then take a bus, but you are allowed within reason to walk within a city centre from the rail station to the bus/coach station.)
- No TfL, XC or LNER services may be used. (LNER and XC make the 120km challenge a bit too easy at limited times of the day and for limited starting points.) Additionally no TfL buses may be used.
- Where a journey between two points is possible with rail services within the above rules, rail must be used.
- The journey must start at a station satisifying condition 1 after 0430 and end at the same station before 0430 the next day.
Perhaps surprisingly considering the distances involved, this challenge is only barely doable with some uncomfortable connections and surprisingly little room for delay. Below is an example itinerary starting and ending at Oxford, taking the 120km challenge (not going to bother to write out full station names) and using the published summer weekday timetable:
1Y10 CH OXF > MYB OXF 0637 PRR 0718
2A07 CH PRR > AYS PRR 0722 AYS 0738
Bus X4 AYS 0811 > LBZ 0900
1Y21 LM EUS > BHM LBZ 0925 BLY 0931
2S09 LM BLY > BDM BLY 0945 BDM 1027
Bus 72 BDM 1035 > SDY 1120
9J27 TL PBO > HRH SDY 1125 SVG 1146
9S20 TL BTN > CBG SVG 1202 CBG 1241
2W17 LE CBG > IPS CBG 1247 IPS 1402
1P41 LE NRW > LST IPS 1410 COL 1429
1N41 LE CLT > LST COL 1433(!) SNF 1508 (note - I believe next service is an hour later, despite this change being below MCT.)
1K58 LE LST > SOV SNF 1519 SOV 1554
Walk 9 mins SOV > SOC
1B27 CC SRY > FST SOC 1627 PSE 1642
2R17 CC PSE > FST PSE 1648 GRY 1707
2D63 CC GRY > FST GRY 1717 CFH 1721
Bus X80 CFH 1745 > CNH 1820 (but this is peak times, so allow +30 mins for traffic over the bridge)
9P51 TL KTN > RAI GNH 1907 SOO 1930
2T62 SE SOO > PDW SOO 1933(!) PDW 2020 (should be a same platform interchange)
2W68 SE RAM > CHX PDW 2028 TON 2037
2A65 SN TON > RDH TON 2101 RDH 2133
1V90 GW GTW > RDG RDH 2147 RDG 2321
1W45 GW PAD > WOP RDG 2330 OXF 2356
The route in the south is more or less fixed Greenhithe - Strood - Maidstone - Paddock Wood - Tonbridge - Redhill - Guildford - Reading. Late-night Tonbridge-Rehill connections, however, are really annoying and often take an hour. Perhaps different options may be available for starting stations on the Coastway. One or two 5-10 minute delays in the wrong places on the network is enough to knock this itinerary back 2 hours so that the last Reading-Oxford train will be missed.
Interested to see if this idea could be developed further.
