Roads Streets and Lanes - Tim Brooke-Taylor

[greatkingrat]

2020 is due to be an all lines challenge

[EastActionWoman]

I had a go at this today in a cautious, socially-distant manner and very happy with my time of 3:58:32. Personal rules were:
- stick to off peak times, so started at 10.30 from Gloucester Road
- mask at all times when on tubes or stations (the only time I took my mask off was the OSI between Warwick Avenue and Royal Oak). I started with my normal cloth reusable one, but switched to a disposable one at Royal Oak. It wasn't uncomfortable, and I quickly forgot I was wearing it.
- no running in stations if it means going past other people
- use hand sanitiser regularly (a lot of stations have this available near the ticket barriers)
I like my route. It's definitely got the potential to be a fast one. Going to try again next time I have a day off and the temperature isn't too high.

Highlights:
- Manor House and Stepney Green are still closed, so saved a few seconds passing through rather than stopping.
- Getting stuck behind some American students on the escalator at King's Cross, but the train was still waiting on the platform when I got there.
- Most people are wearing masks.

Annoyances:
- Idiot bloke tailgating me through the barriers at Cannon Street ... he wasn't wearing a mask either. Luckily there were station staff on hand to give him a hard time.
- Huge gap between Piccadilly Line trains meant losing 10 minutes on the Hanger Lane to Rayners Lane section.
- Victoria Line is hotter than the Central Line

Notes:
- Lifts at Edgware Road (Bakerloo) are for max six people at a time. They've marked out squares on the floor. I imagine this applies to most lifts on the Underground at the moment.
- Exit from Northern Line to street level at Bank is closed off (presumably because of the lifts). You have to go up to the Central line platform and exit from there.
- TfL Journey Planner is almost unusable at the moment. They've changed the program so it assumes you're at street level for each journey. Ask it for times between Mile End and Bow Road and it'll tell you it takes 6 minutes. It also says that trains on the Paddington to Hammersmith route run every 15 mins. They don't, it's every 5 mins.
- District and Central lines were busy in the East End, but most other trains were quiet.

[trains 500]

great read up thanks for posting

[Lunaticonthegrass]

It's really nice to read a new post about someone's adventures on the tube - the first such post in quite a while!

Hmmm, I had an outing myself not too long ago. Maybe I should post about that. (Not here though, as it was nothing to do with RSL.)

[EastActionWoman]

Had the day off again yesterday, the weather was a perfect 15 degrees, so went out to give RSL another go. And I did it in a new record time - 3:46:16! However, before I started I checked all the lines were running but didn't check stations. When I got there, I discovered that Goodge Street was closed until Sunday, so is it OK to have a pass through? I think a faster time is possible, so will have to do it again once all the stations have reopened.

Started at Gloucester Road and had a frustrating first hour just missing connections. It got to the point where I even thought about giving up and starting again. In the end I decided to carry on. I'd changed the route from last time to avoid Bank as much as possible, so wanted to check that I'd got door positions and interchanges correct. I'm really glad I did, as from that moment on it went like a dream.

- no problems on the Hanger Lane to Rayners Lane section (lost 10 mins on this part last time)
- perfect interchanges at Blackhorse Road (21 seconds!), King's Cross (43s), Mile End (27s) and no more than two and a half minutes elsewhere
- at Moorgate I'd hoped to get the H&C direct to Bow Road, but just missed it after getting stuck behind a slow moving couple on the escalator. Luckily a Met train came in almost straight away and I was able to do Central line from Liverpool Street and caught up with the Barking train at Mile End
- not too busy, so I was able to run through most stations. This included my final connection at Tottenham Court Road. I'd been debating whether I would run even if people were around as I knew the record was a possibility. Luckily the corridors were clear and I made the change in 1m10s.
- Manor House and Stepney Green stations are still closed so saved a few seconds there as well

This is a lovely route and someone who could run the out-of-station interchanges would be able to get a really fast time (as well as a few lungfuls of diesel on the Hanger Lane/Park Royal section).

I'll submit route and interchange times to Tangy and see what he says about the pass through.

[Lunaticonthegrass]

I'll submit route and interchange times to Tangy and see what he says about the pass through.

Have you heard back from Tangy yet? explorerticket.co.uk hasn't been updated since March, but was wondering if he'd told you anything directly.

[EastActionWoman]

Not yet. From his Facebook feed looks like he's gallivanting around the country on various bus routes. So imagine he won't reply to my email until he gets home.

[EastActionWoman]

I've heard back from Tangy - the pass-through has been accepted and I officially have the record

Post-pandemic and once all the lines/stations are open, I'll try this one again. Might even get fit beforehand so I can run some of the interchanges.

[Lunaticonthegrass]

Well done! Good to have a new name on the leaderboard - especially at the top.