Zone 1 & 2
Posted: 23 Oct 2017, 11:25
On Saturday, I took advantage of a rare day free of planned engineering works, and had a go at adding a second entry to the "Zone 1 & 2 Challenge" league table. No disrespect to Richard Standing, but it has to be the least impressive "fastest time" there is.
Things almost went pear-shaped on my first change. Having arrived at Edgware Road on a "Wimbleware", I managed to get onto a Circle line train as the doors were closing, only to discover that it was not going to Hammersmith, but back the way I'd came. So I had to get off at Paddington and cross the mainline station. I'd chosen my start time so that, just over an hour later, I'd comfortably be able to get the District to Olympia followed by Overground or Southern to Shepherd's Bush with the shortest wait. After my cock-up, I knew it wouldn't be comfortable. Thankfully, all the following changes were optimal, and I changed platforms at Earl's Court just as the Olympia train was pulling in, a minute or two late. Pulling into Olympia I could see the Overground arriving on the parallel track and the doors opened on the District about 5 seconds before they opened on the Overground. I was very fortunate.
Everything then went well until I had covered the Jubilee line up to Willesden Green, then backtracked one station to Kilburn, intending to use the Overground from Brondesbury to Willesden Junction to join the Bakerloo. Arriving at Brondesbury all the westbound departures on the board were cancelled, due to damage to the overhead lines somewhere along the line. A quick check on the local information board outside the station revealed that the 316 bus to White City would stop at Queen's Park. The stop outside Brondesbury was not in use, so I had to return to Kilburn station. After a while the iBus electronic voice lady revealed that "this bus is on diversion, please listen for further announcements", of which there were, of course, none. By the time I realised where it was going, I decided to bail somewhere on Harrow Road around the corner from Westbourne Park! So, I had to go back to Paddington, and across the mainline station again, in the opposite direction, to join the Bakerloo. I'd arrived at Kilburn 13 minutes ahead of my schedule and finally left Willesden Junction 35 minutes behind, so I reckon that cost me 48 minutes.
Apart from that, there were not really any great delays, and my final time was a new best of 8 hr 2 min 35 sec. My conservative schedule (no lightning fast interchanges and walking pace interchanges on foot) was for 7 hr 32 min. I'm sure better planners and faster runners will do better. However, I don't know how you would make it work with the weekday Olympia service and a weekend with no planned works anywhere in zones 1 & 2 is rare.
Things almost went pear-shaped on my first change. Having arrived at Edgware Road on a "Wimbleware", I managed to get onto a Circle line train as the doors were closing, only to discover that it was not going to Hammersmith, but back the way I'd came. So I had to get off at Paddington and cross the mainline station. I'd chosen my start time so that, just over an hour later, I'd comfortably be able to get the District to Olympia followed by Overground or Southern to Shepherd's Bush with the shortest wait. After my cock-up, I knew it wouldn't be comfortable. Thankfully, all the following changes were optimal, and I changed platforms at Earl's Court just as the Olympia train was pulling in, a minute or two late. Pulling into Olympia I could see the Overground arriving on the parallel track and the doors opened on the District about 5 seconds before they opened on the Overground. I was very fortunate.
Everything then went well until I had covered the Jubilee line up to Willesden Green, then backtracked one station to Kilburn, intending to use the Overground from Brondesbury to Willesden Junction to join the Bakerloo. Arriving at Brondesbury all the westbound departures on the board were cancelled, due to damage to the overhead lines somewhere along the line. A quick check on the local information board outside the station revealed that the 316 bus to White City would stop at Queen's Park. The stop outside Brondesbury was not in use, so I had to return to Kilburn station. After a while the iBus electronic voice lady revealed that "this bus is on diversion, please listen for further announcements", of which there were, of course, none. By the time I realised where it was going, I decided to bail somewhere on Harrow Road around the corner from Westbourne Park! So, I had to go back to Paddington, and across the mainline station again, in the opposite direction, to join the Bakerloo. I'd arrived at Kilburn 13 minutes ahead of my schedule and finally left Willesden Junction 35 minutes behind, so I reckon that cost me 48 minutes.
Apart from that, there were not really any great delays, and my final time was a new best of 8 hr 2 min 35 sec. My conservative schedule (no lightning fast interchanges and walking pace interchanges on foot) was for 7 hr 32 min. I'm sure better planners and faster runners will do better. However, I don't know how you would make it work with the weekday Olympia service and a weekend with no planned works anywhere in zones 1 & 2 is rare.