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

[Kite159]

Shiplake to Wargrave, 3 minutes by train, 16 minutes by car

 

[InOban]

Once over 200 miles then I would think a plane is faster. Tried many a time to see which is fastest, Manchester Town Hall to Parliament;
By train 15' walk; 5' spare, 2hr10' journey, 10' walk to tube and then, what, 20' to Westminster? That's around 3 hrs.
By plane 15' walk to station, 5' spare, 15' to airport. 10' to T1, 30' thru fast-track to gate, 1hr10' BA to Heathrow, then what, 30-45' train/tube to Westminster which is 3hrs 10' But I think you would need more time to make sure you clear security and find the gate, I wouldn't leave any less than one hour from the airport station to gate.

You don't take into account waiting for the next service. Aren't there only five planes a day, and they're the first services to be cancelled by BA, while there are three trains an hour?

 

[Dr_Paul]

Kew Gardens to Gunnersbury: a couple of minutes on the train, a much longer drive via Kew Bridge, which is usually pretty much jammed through the day, or even longer via Chiswick Bridge, although the road is usually less jammed.

Clapham Junction to Imperial Wharf: five minutes on the train, quite a lot longer in distance and time via Battersea Bridge. A footbridge alongside Cremorne Bridge would be useful, especially now the Sands End riverside is much more residential than it used to be.

 

[Howardh]

You don't take into account waiting for the next service. Aren't there only five planes a day, and they're the first services to be cancelled by BA, while there are three trains an hour?

Fair point but one assumes we work to the timetable given by the airlines. Your excellent point will apply to business men., football fans, concert goers etc where time of arrival is an issue. But for a day tourist as long as there's a plane roughly when you want to go then the comparison is valid.

 

[DerekC]

Somebody already mentioned Dalmeny to North Queensferry but didn't do the calculation. According the Bing Maps (which I like better than Google) it's 11h 24m walking via the Kincardine Bridge (which makes sense because I guess you aren't allowed to walk across the Forth Road Bridges) compared with 3m by train - so a multiple of x228!

Update - looks as though nobody told Bing that you can walk across the old Forth Road Bridge - so scrap the x228!!

PS to Update - (sorry, off topic) while digging for this I see that Network Rail is intending to build a visitor walkway to allow people to go up to the top of the south truss of the Forth Bridge (the real one). I will put my name down now!!

 

[AlexB]

Pewsey to Westbury. 17-18 mins by train, 42 mins in clear traffic

 

[Metal_gee_man]

I can't possibly manage to drive Ashford Int to St Pancras in the 35mins it takes by high speed train, its funny when you travel alongside the M20 or the M2 you leave cars standing it's quite funny

 

[Morgsie]

What about Parkstone and Branksome in Dorset?

 

[Comstock]

Reedham to Haddiscoe?

 

[Sheepy1209]

Bitterne to St Denys.
My student house in the 80s was almost next to Bitterne station, and the pub was next to St Denys - so this was a regular trip. Station staff at St Denys didn't like selling us six railcard returns for a journey that short and thought we were taking the mickey - the route used non-corridor stock and fare evasion was a way of life for many, but not us!

 

[IceAgeComing]

I don't know if the DLR counts for this but I'll include it anyway: Woolwich to... basically anywhere on the DLR but especially the line up to Stratford is significantly quicker than other methods. Woolwich to King George V is like three minutes; walking is maybe ten to fifteen minutes if you're quick through the foot tunnel which, well, sometimes isn't a nice place to be while driving is half if the Woolwich Ferry is running factoring in waiting time; probably the same going through Blackwall if the traffic isn't a standstill and an hour over the Dartford crossing at least and its similar for other places in North East London.

 

[mpthomson]

Which doesn't beat Arnside to Grange-Over-Sands!
(5mins - 4h:46; 57x)
Although I understand that it is sometimes possible to actually walk across the bay

It is but the walks across the bay take roughly the same time as the walk round due to the terrain and general timings of the day (it can be up to a 10mile walk by the time it’s completed, dependent on where the channels are running, it doesn’t just go straight across and the pace isn’t quick).

I lived in Arnside for a long time and there was discussion between the council and Network Rail about providing pedestrian/cycle access over the viaduct when the deck was replaced just over 10yrs ago, but this sadly came to nothing. There was a local tradition of walking over the viaduct on Christmas Day for a long time.

 

[mpthomson]

Cark to Ulverston. 14 mins by train. 11 miles by car. but google maps saying 17 minutes is hogwash. more like half hour.

Never taken me anything like as long as half an hour, even in the summer (unless road works or an accident) and I grew up in that area and still visit regularly. Seventeen mins is about right.

 

[cyclebytrain]

Which doesn't beat Arnside to Grange-Over-Sands!
(5mins - 4h:46; 57x)
Although I understand that it is sometimes possible to actually walk across the bay

It's typically between 8 - 10 miles to walk across the bay (following the Queen's guide) and it's quite slow walking on the sand. I'd have to check the times, but I'm not sure it's much quicker. Using the inshore hovercraft on the other hand...

 

[mailbyrail]

An interesting theoretical question but trains run from station to station but passengers rarely want to get only from one platform at one end to another platform (rail enthusiasts excepted!)
If it's business or commuting or simply heading to the city centre for shopping, then there's almost certainly one journey to the station to add on and often both ends. If it's leisure then almost always there's extra time at both ends.
That's only for through services with a reasonably frequent timetable as highlighted above by InOban.

 

[Kingspanner]

It's typically between 8 - 10 miles to walk across the bay (following the Queen's guide) and it's quite slow walking on the sand. I'd have to check the times, but I'm not sure it's much quicker. Using the inshore hovercraft on the other hand...

That's it! Idea for a new thread! "Should we abolish all railways and roads and give everyone a personal hovercraft instead?" Would save on infrastructure maintenance...

 

[urbophile]

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.

Five stations. The clue is in the name! Though I think some of the villages do have road access , but virtually no parking spaces and circuitous routes to get anywhere.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Five stations. The clue is in the name! Though I think some of the villages do have road access , but virtually no parking spaces and circuitous routes to get anywhere.

Yes - I can count in Italian! In fact most of them have road access (albeit sometimes with non-locals forced to stop a long way out of town) - there's only definitely one with a rail station but no road. (Though there are other places on that coast with neither road nor train, where it's boats only. I got a single ticket to one once and had to walk miles over the hills to get back to somewhere ... luckily I had my sun-hat with me...)

 

[urbophile]

Yes - I can count in Italian! In fact most of them have road access (albeit sometimes with non-locals forced to stop a long way out of town) - there's only definitely one with a rail station but no road. (Though there are other places on that coast with neither road nor train, where it's boats only. I got a single ticket to one once and had to walk miles over the hills to get back to somewhere ... luckily I had my sun-hat with me...)

Sorry: I didn't read your post carefully enough to see that you were talking about the station(s)/ villages with no road access at all. Looking at Google maps it appears that only Vernazza and Corniglia fit that criterion. But certainly getting between them otherwise than by sea or rail is not easy.

 

[jkkne]

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

45 minutes from Newcastle to Durham. I drive that every day. 30 mins at worst.

Train is of course quicker though it does drop you off at the top of a horrible hill

Equally Darlo to Newcastle is 50 mins at most.

Are these based on your gran driving?

 

[306024]

There will be hundreds of examples. In this neck of the woods try doing Norwich to
Ipswich in less than 42 minutes by road and you'll get arrested. Only helicopter will beat the train.

 

[LewFinnis]

Nottingham to Beeston is 15 minutes by car or 8 minutes by train.

Nottingham to Beeston is usually 6 minutes out but anywhere between 8 and 11 back (allowing for 'recovery time no doubt). Centre to centre, tram would be an option, given that Beeston Station is some way south of the town centre, but takes 19 minutes.

 

[DanNCL]

45 minutes from Newcastle to Durham. I drive that every day. 30 mins at worst.

Train is of course quicker though it does drop you off at the top of a horrible hill

Equally Darlo to Newcastle is 50 mins at most.

Are these based on your gran driving?

That's my own experience of those journeys by road, city centre to city centre I find they take the times I've quoted in my experience, and no it's not "based on my gran driving". Obviously the outskirts of those places to the outskirts of Newcastle are going to be quicker but that's not a fair comparison with the train, which is city centre to city centre.

A quick look at google map's route planner suggests that Newcastle to Durham by road takes between 30 and 45 minutes (usually nearer the latter in my experience), and Newcastle to Darlington by road takes between 50 minutes and 1 hour 5 minutes (again, usually nearer the latter in my experience).

 

[AlastairFraser]

Shiplake to Wargrave, 3 minutes by train, 16 minutes by car

This may be an anomaly of Google Maps-going via Henley Bridge, the shortest route would take at least half an hour when it's clear(very rare) and when everyone's stuck at the bottom of White Hill queuing to cross Henley Bridge from the Berkshire side, sometimes you could count on it being an hour,especially with the 20 or less zones all the way through Shiplake. Tbh even though it's about 5 miles longer probably,it might be quicker using Sonning Bridge in rush hour given the traffic in Henley.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Once over 200 miles then I would think a plane is faster. Tried many a time to see which is fastest, Manchester Town Hall to Parliament;
By train 15' walk; 5' spare, 2hr10' journey, 10' walk to tube and then, what, 20' to Westminster? That's around 3 hrs.
By plane 15' walk to station, 5' spare, 15' to airport. 10' to T1, 30' thru fast-track to gate, 1hr10' BA to Heathrow, then what, 30-45' train/tube to Westminster which is 3hrs 10' But I think you would need more time to make sure you clear security and find the gate, I wouldn't leave any less than one hour from the airport station to gate.

True,although to be a pedant,you had to use other modes of transport,including another type of the mode of transport you're directly comparing the competing mode with. In short, you have to take the train to catch the plane. It proves planes only work because other modes are there to support them.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Platform to platform possibly but door to door? I have only ever done a genuine centre to centre journey once in my life and that was flying into London City after a trip to Dundee so as I had to be in the office at lunchtime.

No mode is really door to door in reality apart from cars/walking/bikes. For the purposes of this debate, we can argue that Dundee Airport is within walking distance of the city centre but unless you worked at or next to London City Airport, even London City isn't near the centre of London. Battersea Heliport is the wrong side of the river for the majority of London's CBD.

 

[AlbertBeale]

No mode is really door to door in reality apart from cars/walking/bikes. For the purposes of this debate, we can argue that Dundee Airport is within walking distance of the city centre but unless you worked at or next to London City Airport, even London City isn't near the centre of London. Battersea Heliport is the wrong side of the river for the majority of London's CBD.

Sorry - but CBD?

 

[AlastairFraser]

Sorry - but CBD?

Ah sorry-CBD is Central Business District, think the City, office blocks etc.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Ah sorry-CBD is Central Business District, think the City, office blocks etc.

Thanks - of course! CBD is an abbreviation I was only previously aware of in terms of a cannabis derivative...

 

[AlastairFraser]

Thanks - of course! CBD is an abbreviation I was only previously aware of in terms of a cannabis derivative...

I think that's the same for most of my generation, I learnt it as part of Geography GCSE. Anyway,we'd better get back onto trains before the mods kill us