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Journeys between stations that are quicker to cycle

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185143

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Geoff Marshall and Vicky Pipe tried this between Liskeard and Coome Junction Halt, with one on foot. Cant remember the outcome but I think the train lost.
I guarantee, from finding out the hard way, the train would win in the other direction!
 
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ForTheLoveOf

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Pedals only!

I’d much prefer Kilgetty to Pembroke though, much nicer part of the world and an easier ask. And a proper answer to the question, none of this changing trains nonsense.
Nicer part of the world? I must have went to the wrong side of Pembroke when I visited o_O

Stratford is about as genteel as it gets...
 

Bald Rick

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Nicer part of the world? I must have went to the wrong side of Pembroke when I visited o_O

Stratford is about as genteel as it gets...

Oh I don’t know, I’ve seen trouble in Stratford (OA). Pembroke itself is nice; Pembroke Dock isn’t. But Pembrokeshire is wonderful (if you avert your eyes when anywhere near Milford Haven)
 

girothedog

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Pewsey to Great Bedwyn any time after 07:20. Did it a couple of years ago on a loaded touring bike in 45 minutes after our up train was cancelled due to an incident further west. Arrived just in time to catch a Bedwyn starter.
 

jtuk

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Adlington to Wilmslow.

Which aren't city approaches or junctions facing away from the two stations? Those are most I find.

Got to be plenty like this. Poynton to Disley must be close, or (insert anywhere near Stockport) to the Airport
 

CaptainHaddock

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Two in my area that come to mind, Whitby to Scarborough, around 4 hours and nearly 130 miles by train, or cycle on the old railway track which is about 19 miles and traffic free for the most part.

Likewise Saltburn to Whitby, 18 miles by the coast road on a bike, 48 miles and over two hours by train via Middlesbrough.
 

BigCj34

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On the Furness coast Askam to Dalton in Furness; 3 miles by road but 12 miles and 25 minutes by rail.
Journey times to stations on the Cumbria coast line from the Furness line are a significantly lengthened by slowly meandering around Barrow. I believe some services used Park South junction avoiding Barrow in the past but do not now.

Ulverston to Kirkby takes around 39 minutes by train, 42 to Foxfield, a cyclist with a race bike and entry level fitness can beat that but it is very hilly!

I used to cycle from Ulverston to Kirkby/Foxfield to go to Millom to save a few quid on the train to see a mate there. As returns are only available for the same day and I stayed over, at today's prices it would be £3.60 against £11.80 with a railcard, a tidy saving for the same amount of time travelling.
 

leytongabriel

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Bits of the London Underground which grind slowly round - Mansion House to Liverpool St on the Circle for example, Paddington - Baker St especially with a change on the Circle now, or involve loops like Wanstead - Snaresbrook which is a sensible short cycle ride down Wanstead High St. A cyclist on the Cycle Superhighway could probably beat the District Line between Tower Hill say and Bow Rd too. If you count getting down to the platforms too then Old St - Moorgate would be a contender on either line and Stratford - Maryland.
 

AlbertBeale

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Bits of the London Underground which grind slowly round - Mansion House to Liverpool St on the Circle for example, Paddington - Baker St especially with a change on the Circle now, or involve loops like Wanstead - Snaresbrook which is a sensible short cycle ride down Wanstead High St. A cyclist on the Cycle Superhighway could probably beat the District Line between Tower Hill say and Bow Rd too. If you count getting down to the platforms too then Old St - Moorgate would be a contender on either line and Stratford - Maryland.

I seem to remember that someone's beaten the Circle Line from Liverpool Street to Mansion House on foot, let alone by bike.
 

gg1

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A couple of direct services which qualify (cycling journey times between stations taken from google maps):

Walsall to Wolverhampton - Just over an hour by train, 7 miles and 41 minutes cycling (assuming of course your journey doesn't coincide with the parliamentary service)
Liskeard to Coombe Junction - 6 minutes by train, 4 minutes to cycle the 0.6 miles horizontally and 220ft vertically.
 

BigCj34

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Scarborough to Whitby and Carmarthen to Aberystwyth could both be beaten by cycling, they are not too far apart but both groupings no longer have a direct rail link. It is quicler to cycle between Tulloch and Dalwhinnie never had a link between the two.
 
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Falkirk High is on a separate line to Falkirk Grahamston and it's a mile quite steeply downhill, but going there by train would involve changing at Polmont probably. Camelon and Larbert are slightly further away but still probably faster by bike. After Falkirk there are two parallel lines to Glasgow so hopping between the two by bike will be a lot faster, Ie: Croy - Cumbernauld/Greenfaulds and Lenzie - Stepps/Robroyston.

...But all of these are on different lines in the same town so they don't really count...

I think the question is unfair on bikes in that it's assuming the bike and train leave simultaneously. It takes 4-5 minutes for the train to leave my local station and reach the next one. but it only leaves every half hour, (or hourly at night) so there's an average waiting time of 15 minutes. Since late running is common let's add another minute too. The actual journey time is 20-21 minutes. But, on a good day I can cycle to the next station on the line in 10-15 minutes. If I gave up mountain biking and became a road biker I could do it in less. After 11pm or so I could do it faster walking (or crawling) since the train might take 4 minutes but there isn't another one for 6 hours.

So, I'm going to be annoying and suggest that the question is being set out wrong. Bikes are faster a lot of the time because they save on waiting time as well as time on the move.
 

The Ham

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Falkirk High is on a separate line to Falkirk Grahamston and it's a mile quite steeply downhill, but going there by train would involve changing at Polmont probably. Camelon and Larbert are slightly further away but still probably faster by bike. After Falkirk there are two parallel lines to Glasgow so hopping between the two by bike will be a lot faster, Ie: Croy - Cumbernauld/Greenfaulds and Lenzie - Stepps/Robroyston. Use

...But all of these are on different lines in the same town so they don't really count...

I think the question is unfair on bikes in that it's assuming the bike and train leave simultaneously. It takes 4-5 minutes for the train to leave my local station and reach the next one. but it only leaves every half hour, (or hourly at night) so there's an average waiting time of 15 minutes. Since late running is common let's add another minute too. The actual journey time is 20-21 minutes. But, on a good day I can cycle to the next station on the line in 10-15 minutes. If I gave up mountain biking and became a road biker I could do it in less. After 11pm or so I could do it faster walking (or crawling) since the train might take 4 minutes but there isn't another one for 6 hours.

So, I'm going to be annoying and suggest that the question is being set out wrong. Bikes are faster a lot of the time because they save on waiting time as well as time on the move.

Indeed, it also depends on where you're starting. Not rail, but I used to cycle to work as it took ~20 minutes (including get the bike out and locking up again at the other end) rather than walk 15 minutes to the bus stop and then only have the choice of 1 bus an hour.

I've not done it, however at 11 miles going between Hook and Alton should be possible to beat the 64 minutes by rail. However if you've got a 5 minute walk at each end then the bike would stand a better chance of winning.
 

DynamicSpirit

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A couple of journeys that I know you would make by train because I have *actually* done them...

Abbey Wood-Sidcup - 25 minutes by train. I'm pretty sure I could cycle it in that time (although not directly tested it). And that's a direct train too!
Abbey Wood-Orpington - I've done this both by train (about an hour, depending on connections) and cycling (about 50-55 minutes).
 

notlob.divad

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Out of the UK admitedly, but an old training collegue/friend/rival of mine beat the Oslo 'tube' without needing a bike. He is an insanely good runner, and in all honesty any 'rivalry' tended to result in him kicking my backside.

Video proof here
 

Bletchleyite

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Out of the UK admitedly, but an old training collegue/friend/rival of mine beat the Oslo 'tube' without needing a bike. He is an insanely good runner, and in all honesty any 'rivalry' tended to result in him kicking my backside.

Video proof here

I think even an average runner could probably beat the bottom bit of the District Line reasonably easily, it's grindingly slow.
 

DynamicSpirit

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I think the question is unfair on bikes in that it's assuming the bike and train leave simultaneously. It takes 4-5 minutes for the train to leave my local station and reach the next one. but it only leaves every half hour, (or hourly at night) so there's an average waiting time of 15 minutes. Since late running is common let's add another minute too. The actual journey time is 20-21 minutes. But, on a good day I can cycle to the next station on the line in 10-15 minutes. If I gave up mountain biking and became a road biker I could do it in less. After 11pm or so I could do it faster walking (or crawling) since the train might take 4 minutes but there isn't another one for 6 hours.

So, I'm going to be annoying and suggest that the question is being set out wrong. Bikes are faster a lot of the time because they save on waiting time as well as time on the move.

That's true. Living in London about 10 minutes walk from my local station, there aren't that many journeys I make where the cycle time is quicker than the time that would be spent actually sitting on a train. But there are rather more journeys where the door-to-door journey time is as quick or quicker by cycling. However, if you are going to look at end-to-end overall times you'd also need to factor in that cycling time may require time to lock the bike up, shower and get changed. If it's somewhere unfamiliar, I may also need to allow a short time to actually find somewhere suitable to lock the bike up - and that may be a few minutes walk from where I'm actually going. Also, packing whatever stuff I need into cycle panniers takes a bit longer than if I'm going by train and can just use a shoulder bag.

By the way, if it's absolute speed I'm concerned about - the absolute quickest journey times would probably involve cycling to the station and taking by bike with me on the train - although I don't often do that unless I'll be needing the bike anyway, as it's quite a bit of hassle to save, typically, just 5-10 minutes.
 

notlob.divad

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There is also aparently a Glasgow student challenge to race the Glasgow subway from Buchanan Street to St. Enoch, there are a couple of youtube videos of succesfull attempts using a bike.

In the area of the UK I know, I wouldn't mind betting some budding athlete could beat a Chester bound train between Newton-Le-Willows and Earlestown. It would have to be to platform 5 at Earlestown, and I am not sure of the exact layout of the new Newton station. It would also rely on good traffic / strategically placed assistants to get you across a couple of road crossings. But the path between the two takes pretty much the straightest route you could. Realtime trains gives you 6 minutes between NLW arrival and ERL depart to cover 1500 metres.
 
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However, if you are going to look at end-to-end overall times you'd also need to factor in that cycling time may require time to lock the bike up, shower and get changed. If it's somewhere unfamiliar, I may also need to allow a short time to actually find somewhere suitable to lock the bike up - and that may be a few minutes walk from where I'm actually going. Also, packing whatever stuff I need into cycle panniers takes a bit longer than if I'm going by train and can just use a shoulder bag.

By the way, if it's absolute speed I'm concerned about - the absolute quickest journey times would probably involve cycling to the station and taking by bike with me on the train - although I don't often do that unless I'll be needing the bike anyway, as it's quite a bit of hassle to save, typically, just 5-10 minutes.
I think it's a bit of a flaw of British cycling culture that people need to shower and get changed. British cyclists tend to ride like it's the Tour de France in full lycra on expensive road bikes, then inevitably end up arriving at work very sweaty and needing to shower. Places where cycling has really taken off like the Netherlands are far more casual about cycling, people ride slower, usually on old fashioned town bikes so there's no need to change out of their normal clothes. The downside of this is that it's far slower, and in many cases unsuited to our bad cycling infrastructure.

I've started bringing my bike on the train more and it's reminded me how annoying it is to try to travel by rail with a bike. Most train companies need a little more bike space.
 

BigCj34

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I think it's a bit of a flaw of British cycling culture that people need to shower and get changed. British cyclists tend to ride like it's the Tour de France in full lycra on expensive road bikes, then inevitably end up arriving at work very sweaty and needing to shower. Places where cycling has really taken off like the Netherlands are far more casual about cycling, people ride slower, usually on old fashioned town bikes so there's no need to change out of their normal clothes. The downside of this is that it's far slower, and in many cases unsuited to our bad cycling infrastructure.

I've started bringing my bike on the train more and it's reminded me how annoying it is to try to travel by rail with a bike. Most train companies need a little more bike space.
Interesting point. Might also depend on the distance, I bought a city bike to cycle 4 miles to work and needed to shower after, and there were bike lanes for half of it. While an improvement to casual cycling infrastructure will make cycling less of an "all or nothing" affair, every office should have a shower.
 

tornado

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Just posted a thread about London Paddington to London Victoria. Circle line is scheduled to take 14 minutes whereas google cycle directions says 17 minutes. With all the stairs and waiting time I'd say the bike wins (probably)
 

AlbertBeale

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Just posted a thread about London Paddington to London Victoria. Circle line is scheduled to take 14 minutes whereas google cycle directions says 17 minutes. With all the stairs and waiting time I'd say the bike wins (probably)

Given the low frequency of the Circle, I generally reckon that for Paddington-Victoria by Underground it's often quicker by Bakerloo Line, cross-platform change at Oxford Circus, and Victoria Line. Either way, with much of the route by bike being through Hyde Park, I'd say that a fit cyclist might beat either tube route if they know their way round the back streets at each end of the journey and go at a fair lick through the park.
 

Mikey C

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Given the low frequency of the Circle, I generally reckon that for Paddington-Victoria by Underground it's often quicker by Bakerloo Line, cross-platform change at Oxford Circus, and Victoria Line. Either way, with much of the route by bike being through Hyde Park, I'd say that a fit cyclist might beat either tube route if they know their way round the back streets at each end of the journey and go at a fair lick through the park.
Paddington and Lancaster Gate are so near as the crow flies, that it would be quicker to walk, never mind cycle!
 
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