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Trivia: Locations that are significantly quicker to travel between by train than other methods

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Intermodal

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I wonder how long I can make my location on this f
Allens West and Eaglescliffe on the Saltburn to Darlington line are 2 minutes apart by train - only around 800 meters - it would be even quicker if it wasn't for the low line speed across Eaglescliffe South Junction. To walk between these two stations, though, would take 22 minutes according to Google Maps - that's a 11x reduction in journey time by train than by the next quickest method of transport.

Does anyone have any similar examples?
 
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headshot119

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Bootle (Cumbria) to Ravenglass is 5 minutes by train, but to walk between the two would take around 2 hours 36 minutes according to Google maps.
 

al78

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Allens West and Eaglescliffe on the Saltburn to Darlington line are 2 minutes apart by train - only around 800 meters - it would be even quicker if it wasn't for the low line speed across Eaglescliffe South Junction. To walk between these two stations, though, would take 22 minutes according to Google Maps - that's a 11x reduction in journey time by train than by the next quickest method of transport.

Does anyone have any similar examples?

22 minutes to walk 800 meters? Is Google Maps set up for SE England walking pace? It would take me 10 minutes max to walk that distance.
 

Intermodal

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I wonder how long I can make my location on this f
22 minutes to walk 800 meters? Is Google Maps set up for SE England walking pace? It would take me 10 minutes max to walk that distance.
I should clarify that 800 metres is the track distance. The walker is forced to take a more roundabout route, although Google Maps still does estimate at the pace of a granny. See here:

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al78

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Any journey that starts/terminates at Corrour station.
Rannoch station to Fort William.

Is there a pedestrian path across the rail bridge from Culrain to Invershin?
 

al78

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I should clarify that 800 metres is the track distance. The walker is forced to take a more roundabout route, although Google Maps still does estimate at the pace of a granny.

Ah, that makes sense.
 

DanNCL

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Newcastle to Durham - takes less than 15 minutes by train, about 45 minutes by road.
Newcastle to Darlington - takes 30 minutes by train, more than an hour by road.
In contrast, Newcastle to Carlisle is quicker by road than by train
 

bramling

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Allens West and Eaglescliffe on the Saltburn to Darlington line are 2 minutes apart by train - only around 800 meters - it would be even quicker if it wasn't for the low line speed across Eaglescliffe South Junction. To walk between these two stations, though, would take 22 minutes according to Google Maps - that's a 11x reduction in journey time by train than by the next quickest method of transport.

Does anyone have any similar examples?

Fairbourne to Barmouth. A few minutes by train, can take up to 30-45 minutes by road on a bad day. Similar but less extreme is Tywyn to Tonfanau, again a couple of minutes by train versus about 15-20 minutes by road. Naturally Tywyn to Barmouth is also quicker by train, but less so as there’s a slightly more direct way of doing it by road if avoiding Fairbourne.

I’d suggest Aberystwyth to Barmouth is also quicker by train providing one gets a decent connection.
 

Y Ddraig Coch

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Llandudno Junction - London Euston approx. 2hr 50 mins on the train can be almost double that driving.
 

HOOVER29

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Tamworth to London Euston.
92 mins for 110 miles.
Not a prayer of doing that in the car legally.
It can take 30-40 mins just to drive the 8 miles to the M1.
The above probably applies to any journey train versus car into the capital.
 

Dr_Paul

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Tywyn to Tonfanau: one has to go via Bryn Crug if in a motor. There used to be a road bridge over the Dysynni river by the railway bridge. I think this was when large sections of that area belonged to the army, but it has been removed; I've no idea if this was a public road. It's not shown on any of the OS maps in the NLS collection, although the abutments are clear to see on aerial photography. The latest OS maps show that a footbridge has been built, this must have been done pretty recently (it wasn't there when I visited the place 10 years back), and is a sensible idea as it enables a useful walking and cycling route along the coast.
 

Essan

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Any journey that starts/terminates at Corrour station.
Rannoch station to Fort William.

Rannoch to Bridge of Orchy is 27 minutes by train, but (according to Google) will take 2 hours 31 minutes to drive the shortest road distance of 74 miles. That's slightly further/longer than Rannoch to the Fort (or anywhere else)

How long it would take to get any other station from Corrour, other than by train, would depend on whether you had permission to drive on the private track.
 

DavidGrain

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Google maps assumes a walking speed of 3 mph irrespective of terrain. Sorry I can't do that anymore.
Google does not always work out the best route either. Recently I had to check the walking route from Holyhead Station to the Travelodge. Google would have sent me round a figure of 8, 0.9 miles for what was only a few hundred yards. A check of Street View showed me that two roads came so close together you could step from one to the other across the middle of the figure of 8.
 

flitwickbeds

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You'd struggle to get between Luton and Luton Airport Parkway quicker than the 2 minutes it takes by train.

However, something to consider - are we talking about simply departing from the platform and arriving at the platform, or is it station entrance to station entrance? If so you'd need to take into account the time it takes to walk down the platform and over footbridges, and entering/exiting the gateline. Plus any time waiting for the train to arrive. So maybe we should add the usual train frequency into the question. So for example LUT<>LTN trains are about every 10 minutes, plus 2 minutes for the journey. You could definitely do it quicker than 12 minutes in the car.
 

Parallel

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Barmouth to Morfa Mawddach. Much faster to get the train than drive.
 

d9009alycidon

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Any City Centre to City Centre transit is always going to be quicker by rail, for example Edinburgh Waverley to Kings X by car is given as typically between 6 h 40 min and 9 h 20 min (probably nearer the higher figure) against 4hr 19mins by train
 

Esker-pades

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Any City Centre to City Centre transit is always going to be quicker by rail, for example Edinburgh Waverley to Kings X by car is given as typically between 6 h 40 min and 9 h 20 min (probably nearer the higher figure) against 4hr 19mins by train
The competition there is from the plane, which (even with transit to/from airports) won't be too far over the 4h20m.
 

AlbertBeale

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If we're not limited to the UK, then along the Cinque Terre region of Ligurai in Italy - along the coast east of Genoa - there's a station (or two?) serving a coastal settlement with no road access st all. The alternative is by boat, or a serious hike over the hills. So from there to the next town along, the ratio of rail travel time to any other method would be massive.

Actually, there must be a slightly similar situation on the Heart of Wales Line where a station is a long way away from the nearest proper road - I think Cynghordy, for example, is a mile up and down hill along more or less a track to get to the main road.
 
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Dr_Paul

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Barmouth to Morfa Mawddach: in a motor one has to go up to the Penmaenpool toll bridge, or up to Llanelltyd if driving anything bigger (or if the toll bridge is closed). Pedestrians and cyclists can, of course, go alongside the railway on the viaduct across the estuary.
 

AlastairFraser

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The competition there is from the plane, which (even with transit to/from airports) won't be too far over the 4h20m.
Are you sure? To get to any airport from King's Cross is going to be an hour plus check-in times are at least an hour's, let's say an hour's flight and up to 45 mins tram into Edinburgh and then that puts it very close to rail times. London City would be probably 40 mins and I'm not sure that even serves Edinburgh
 
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