Most pointless journey for which a fare is available

[Mcr Warrior]

£2.40 TFL fare for a Catford to Catford Bridge via Lewisham or London Bridge , its only a 40 second walk Just ask Geoff Marshall

Video Credit: Geoff Marshall

Great little video by Mr. Marshall but doesn't he admit that there is actually no point to point fare between the two Catford stations and so what he got charged on his Oyster card (was this £2.10?) was instead a zonal fare?

 

[Watershed]

Great little video by Mr. Marshall but doesn't he admit that there is actually no point to point fare between the two Catford stations and so what he got charged on his Oyster card (was this £2.10?) was instead a zonal fare?

There isn't a point to point fare you can look up in the fares finder, true. But, with few exceptions, Oyster doesn't work on the basis of point to point fares anyway. It works on the basis of zones during normal operation. There are default routes defined for almost all journeys, which tell the system what zones you're deemed to have travelled through, but not for all journeys, as in this example.

If there's no default route then I believe the system assumes you travelled through the minimum required number of zones to make the journey. So a Zone 2 to Zone 3 journey with no defined default route would be charged as a Zones 2-3 fare even if you actually travelled via Zone 1.

 

[4COR]

Whyteleafe to Upper Warlingham in 44 minutes for £6.50, change at East Croydon.

Or walk in 5 mins.

But no single fare exists: http://www.brfares.com/#!fares?orig=WHY&dest=UWL

Of course you can do it with PAYG/Oyster, but that's not how I read the question.


What about:

Walthamstow Central to Walthamstow Queens Road.

This is a recognised OSI for Oyster purposes, is only about a quarter of a mile walking, yet has a paper anytime day single of £8.10. Without walking to/from Blackhorse Road (which is far further than doing a direct walk!), or using the tube, I think you'd have to go via Hackney Downs, Seven Sisters, and then walking over to S Tottenham. Without walking between stations at any point, I'm not sure what you could do...

 

[CaptainBen]

What about:

Walthamstow Central to Walthamstow Queens Road.

This is a recognised OSI for Oyster purposes, is only about a quarter of a mile walking, yet has a paper anytime day single of £8.10. Without walking to/from Blackhorse Road (which is far further than doing a direct walk!), or using the tube, I think you'd have to go via Hackney Downs, Seven Sisters, and then walking over to S Tottenham. Without walking between stations at any point, I'm not sure what you could do...

Walthamstow Central - Liverpool St - Stratford - Gospel Oak - Walthamstow Queens Road.

Mind you, walking between the bits of Stratford is probably about quarter of a mile in its own right.

 

[Unstoppable]

Beasdale to Altnabreac

 

[Thebaz]

Sanderstead to Purley Oaks via South Croydon. £3.40 single. £5.70 return. Luckily if you miss the train to South Croydon at Sanderstead you could always walk to Purley Oaks in 4 minutes to pick one up there instead. It's a good job that option is there otherwise I don't know what you would do.

 

[island]

That’s actually an incredibly useful ticket. I’m sure plenty of people have used it over the years.

It’s good if you like 139s

 

[madjack]

Teesside Airport to Southend Airport (not via London)

EDIT: Heathrow might be a more pointless destination, as there aren't any residential places served, unlike Southend.

 

[Bletchleyite]

What on earth route would you take to get from the North East to Sarfend not via London?

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

What on earth route would you take to get from the North East to Sarfend not via London?

Via Scotland, Wales , sail rail and maybe GWR

 

[Peter Mugridge]

What on earth route would you take to get from the North East to Sarfend not via London?

I suspect it's routed Peterborough - Ipswich - Shenfield - Southend?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What on earth route would you take to get from the North East to Sarfend not via London?

Who cares! You'd still be saving an impressive £6.50 on the price of a "Via London" ticket!

Do we now have a winner?

 

[ASharpe]

How about Settle to Giggleswick, it's a 1.2 mile walk, or:

You could catch one of the 2 or 3 trains daily that allows the connection at Long Preston - although you will be waiting a while.

You could go a bit further and change at Hellifield which gives a few more journey opportunities and is even possible in just 49 minutes once a day.

Now this might be for another thread but unfortunately I don't think changing at Hellifield or Long Preston is permitted because the only fare available is via Skipton which takes about 2 hours. (Obviously it's fine in real life - just not journey planners)

 

[_toommm_]

What on earth route would you take to get from the North East to Sarfend not via London?

What on earth route would you take to get from the North East to Sarfend not via London?

The wackiest itinerary I can find is this (I’ve done it from the next stop down at Dinsdale):

- 11:45 Dinsdale to Darlington arr. 11:55
- 12:03 Darlington to Newark Northgate arr. 13:19
- 13:54 Newark Northgate to Stevenage arr. 14:57
- 15:02 Stevenage to Harringay arr. 15:50
- WALK Harringay to Harringay Green Lanes
- 16:14 Harringay Green Lanes to South Tottenham arr. 16:18
- WALK South Tottenham to Walthamstow Central
- WALK Walthamstow Central to Walthamstow Queens Road
- 17:09 Walthamstow Queens Rod to Barking arr. 17:27
- 17:32 Barking to Southend Central arr. 18:12
- WALK Southend Central to Southend Victoria
- 18:30 Southend Victoria to Southend Airport (finally) arr. 18:35

Only a mere 11 changes!

 

[madjack]

I first thought of pointless commutes - i.e. routes between stations serving only factories/works - but those have all gone now?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I first thought of pointless commutes - i.e. routes between stations serving only factories/works - but those have all gone now?

Lympstone Commando to Stanlow and Thornton? Though I think there is some form of public access to the former now (not the latter).

 

[4COR]

- WALK South Tottenham to Walthamstow Central
- WALK Walthamstow Central to Walthamstow Queens Road

That's some walking: not only is it ~3 miles, and not only does it take you ultimately between two stations served by the same train (!), but it also takes you to Central first and then you turn round and go back west to Queens Road!

 

[madjack]

Lympstone Commando to Stanlow and Thornton? Though I think there is some form of public access to the former now (not the latter).

For which the cheapest walk-up fare is via Hereford??!

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Lympstone Commando to Stanlow and Thornton? Though I think there is some form of public access to the former now (not the latter).

For which the cheapest walk-up fare is via Hereford??!

Obviously for the benefit of anyone breaking their journey and popping in to see the SAS. Which makes sense from Lympstone Commando, but is a little harder to justify from Stanlow and Thornton.

 

[Kite159]

Lympstone Commando has a public path between the station & the camp so it isn't just for camp users

 

[181]

What on earth route would you take to get from the North East to Sarfend not via London?

I suspect it's routed Peterborough - Ipswich - Shenfield - Southend?

Or maybe Peterborough-Cambridge-Tottenham Hale-Lea Bridge-Stratford?

 

[Kite159]

I suspect it's routed Peterborough - Ipswich - Shenfield - Southend?

Or Peterborough - Stevenage - Finsbury Park - Highbury & Islington - Stratford - Southend. Unless that gets classed as "Via London".

 

[Deafdoggie]

Lympstone Commando has a public path between the station & the camp so it isn't just for camp users

Although the signs on the platform saying you must have business at the camp remain. However, I can’t see anyone being bothered.

 

[island]

Exton to Lympstone Commando, a 9 minute walk of 0.4 miles according to Google Maps or a 2 minute train journey with a Off-Peak day single for £1.60 (without railcard)

Can you even get into or out of Lympstone Commando if you’re not attached to CTCRM?

Edit: oops, just been answered

 

[al78]

Crawley to Three Bridges.

 

[plugwash]

Crawley to Three Bridges.

How the hell is that pointless? It seems just like any other local hop to me.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Crawley to Three Bridges.

How the hell is that pointless? It seems just like any other local hop to me.

Done that a fair few times in the past. About a mile, far enough if you've shopping with you, and then connecting with a Southbound service on the Brighton main line at Three Bridges.

 

[al78]

How the hell is that pointless? It seems just like any other local hop to me.

It's a little more than a ten minute walk.

 

[urbophile]

It's a little more than a ten minute walk.

Which can often be useful. Especially as has been said above if you are carrying shopping. In pre-Covid times I would occasionally hop on a train for the similar distance to/from my next-to-local station. Saves time if you time it right, and if you're slightly tired from a longish walk. Mind you, I've got a free pass: I don't think I'd think it worth paying.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Have we had Polesworth to Bordesley?

Anytime day single at £9.70 so valid all day long!