Trivia: Furthest walk within "one" LU station?

[pne]

What is the furthest walk to change trains at "one" station -- that is, where the stations of the two lines are far enough apart that it feels nearly like two separate stations that just happen to have the same name?

Using regular signed connection pathways, on foot (i.e. no going out of your way towards a lift unless that is the most natural route), without leaving the station and re-entering it.

I think I heard the name Green Park mentioned in this context? (Though I don't know which pair of lines this was.)

 

[IanD]

King's Cross St Pancras if you actually follow the signs now has some ridiculously long walks since the recent refurb/rebuild/extension.

But Monument/Bank complex has to be a contender.

 

[edwin_m]

If you're allowing Underground to National Rail then I'd suggest Victoria Line to EMT at St Pancras.

 

[Busaholic]

What is the furthest walk to change trains at "one" station -- that is, where the stations of the two lines are far enough apart that it feels nearly like two separate stations that just happen to have the same name?

Using regular signed connection pathways, on foot (i.e. no going out of your way towards a lift unless that is the most natural route), without leaving the station and re-entering it.

I think I heard the name Green Park mentioned in this context? (Though I don't know which pair of lines this was.)

In my experience, Green Park can make you walk almost as far as at some Paris metro stations! Bank/Monument can't really be counted because there never used to be any pretence it could be called one station, and today's status is probably more to do with Oysters and ticketing, etc.

 

[hassaanhc]

I'd also go for Green Park, really must be one of the longest. However l 'm sure Waterloo would have been longer if the travelators weren't there. Other long interchanges that I recall are Charing Cross, Leicester Square, and possibly Holborn.

 

[EM2]

Oxford Circus? Central to Victoria seems to take forever...

 

[Deerfold]

I'd also go for Green Park, really must be one of the longest. However l 'm sure Waterloo would have been longer if the travelators weren't there. Other long interchanges that I recall are Charing Cross, Leicester Square, and possibly Holborn.

If you mean Green Park Victoria Line - Piccadilly Line it sounds like you're making the mistake of following the signs.

 

[hassaanhc]

If you mean Green Park Victoria Line - Piccadilly Line it sounds like you're making the mistake of following the signs.

Jubilee Line to Piccadilly Line. The last time I did this, I decided to go via the escalator to the Victoria Line and the ticket hall, but that seemed as long as the long corridor.

 

[pne]

In my experience, Green Park can make you walk almost as far as at some Paris metro stations!

What are candidates there? I think I changed at Chatelet-Les Halles once and walked for what seemed like forever through underground passageways.

Though now that I think about it, it reminded me of one of the exits of South Kensington which went halfway up Exhibition Road or something like that.

Bank/Monument can't really be counted because there never used to be any pretence it could be called one station

It's a borderline case I suppose, but the two are often mentioned together as if it were one complex - much more so, in my experience, than (say) Embankment/Charing Cross.

If you mean Green Park Victoria Line - Piccadilly Line it sounds like you're making the mistake of following the signs.

I thought there might be something like that Hence my posting about "when following the posted signs" -- that is, the "official" interchanges.

 

[Kristofferson]

I agree with KGX - ended up with a very long walk the other day, having followed the exit signs via the new ticket hall from the deep level platforms...

 

[Kite159]

Northern line to Waterloo & City line bay at Bank.

Bakerloo line to Northern Line at Charing Cross

 

[Busaholic]

Northern line to Waterloo & City line bay at Bank.

Bakerloo line to Northern Line at Charing Cross

Charing Cross is a cobbling-together of former stations Trafalgar Square (Bakerloo) and Strand (Northern) that may never have happened had it not been for the creation of the Jubilee Line which initially had its southern terminus at Charing Cross. Now it serves as one of three consecutive interchanges between the Northern and Bakerloo, being by far the most pointless one in view of the distance between platforms.

 

[gazthomas]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Manc Picc P13/14, or their friends Paddington also P13/14 (I think). Less bad now there's a travelator, though.

Neil

I thought of there too

 

[Mojo]

Shortly after first starting on the Underground I was given the unenviable task of measuring (in terms of walking time) long corridors at sub-surface stations. I don't remember the complete outcome but the corridor from the Victoria line to the bottom of the escalators leading to the Northern Ticket Hall at Kings + St Pancras was the longest.

At Geeen Park, it is the "new subway" from the Jubilee to Piccadilly line that is the longest. It is still however probably quicker to use this then go up to ticket hall level and back down again because you need to use two escalators to connect between the Jubilee line platforms and the ticket hall as well as walk along a short corridor.

 

[Busaholic]

Shortly after first starting on the Underground I was given the unenviable task of measuring (in terms of walking time) long corridors at sub-surface stations. I don't remember the complete outcome but the corridor from the Victoria line to the bottom of the escalators leading to the Northern Ticket Hall at Kings + St Pancras was the longest.

At Geeen Park, it is the "new subway" from the Jubilee to Piccadilly line that is the longest. It is still however probably quicker to use this then go up to ticket hall level and back down again because you need to use two escalators to connect between the Jubilee line platforms and the ticket hall as well as walk along a short corridor.

Do you know
whether if the original platforms for the Jubilee Line at Green Park had been built with a route to Westminster rather than Charing Cross in mind they might have been better able to integrate with the Piccadilly, or wouldn't it have made any difference?

 

[spinba11]

The Vic line to the Jubliee line at Green Park via lift is a pain, down to the interchange level, back up the long hill to where the Pic line is then turn right to the Jubliee line.

 

[Busaholic]

The Vic line to the Jubliee line at Green Park via lift is a pain, down to the interchange level, back up the long hill to where the Pic line is then turn right to the Jubliee line.

Other posters have suggested there is a much quicker way if you ignore the signs. Perhaps someone could elucidate on here - I'd be grateful to know for my next London trip.

 

[Mojo]

Other posters have suggested there is a much quicker way if you ignore the signs. Perhaps someone could elucidate on here - I'd be grateful to know for my next London trip.

There is; but his post refers to using the lift, to which you have to go down into the old subway, walk all the way along to the Picc then all the way along to the Jubilee.

 

[spinba11]

I use a wheelchair so lifts are my only option.

 

[londiscape]

Paddington H&C line to District line is a fair old trek, although does that count seeing as you have to pass out of the ticket barriers, through the NR terminus station and back in through the barriers the other side?

And I'm sure most people wanting to change between the two would do so at Edgware Road instead, in practice.

 

[Hophead]

The Crossrail interchanges are, I think, going to take this thread into a whole new league....

 

[Busaholic]

The Crossrail interchanges are, I think, going to take this thread into a whole new league....

It will be like happened in Paris when the RER lines first opened, superimposed on the metro system. Chatelet/Les Halles has already been mentioned on this thread and Liverpool Street, as an example, will be something similar in that there will be underground connections to Moorgate Station as well with full inter-connectivity. Bond Street may not be getting any physical connectivity with Oxford Circus, but the station will be able to be accessed from Hanover Square which is only a stone's throw from the Circus.

 

[Cletus]

"Ian Visits" posted some interesting King's Cross maps last week.
http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2015/01/24/layout-maps-of-kings-cross-tube-station/

 

[Abpj17]

Montparnasse is the worst metro one I came across (used to live in Loire Valley and so had to change from Gare du Nord from Montparnasse). I was usually lazy and got a taxi across Paris because it was so bad. I'm relatively sure it was that end and not Gare du Nord.

"Northern line to Waterloo & City line bay at Bank" wouldn't this be DLR to Waterloo? (As DLR is another layer below Northern.

 

[Busaholic]

Montparnasse is the worst metro one I came across (used to live in Loire Valley and so had to change from Gare du Nord from Montparnasse). I was usually lazy and got a taxi across Paris because it was so bad. I'm relatively sure it was that end and not Gare du Nord.

"Northern line to Waterloo & City line bay at Bank" wouldn't this be DLR to Waterloo? (As DLR is another layer below Northern.

It would definitely be the Montparnasse end - I believe you can walk through several arondissements while you're changing lines

 

[Abpj17]

It would definitely be the Montparnasse end - I believe you can walk through several arondissements while you're changing lines

I hated it. I often used to a get a train that where I could just change at Lille Europe instead, but it was such a cold station so not if the interchange was too long (time wise rather than walk wise!!)

 

[TUC]

Other posters have suggested there is a much quicker way if you ignore the signs. Perhaps someone could elucidate on here - I'd be grateful to know for my next London trip.

Similarly in terms of shorter routes through Kings Cross/St Pancras at present.

 

[leytongabriel]

Yes Montparnasse- result of the 70s rebuild which put the station back down the line and allowed the construction of a new shopping centre. The metro station stayed where it was lol. Les Halles is pretty terrible too.

But my pet hate is the new 'via the northern ticket hall' Kings Cross St Pancras. A right old shlep if you are unfortunate enough to be coming off the Victoria line. Again it's best to ignore the signs and go via the Met/Circle route if heading for St Pancras Eurostar. And are they deliberately undersigning the old Thameslink entrance so they can get away with closure?

Is making passengers walk further part of the current grandiosity fashion in station design or simply that it's no longer considered an important design factor? Seems to have started with the Jubilee line extension and the East London line extension suffers from the same malaise.

 

[swt_passenger]

Is making passengers walk further part of the current grandiosity fashion in station design or simply that it's no longer considered an important design factor? Seems to have started with the Jubilee line extension and the East London line extension suffers from the same malaise.

It's all about trying to prevent the safety issues that used to cause the station to regularly get closed in the peaks. Walking further by following the signs is something most people probably accept for the 'common good'.

I guess there'll always be a few people who think this should only apply to the rest of the public, but if everyone went the opposite way to the signs the station would probably seize up and be closed.

 

[edwin_m]

It's all about trying to prevent the safety issues that used to cause the station to regularly get closed in the peaks. Walking further by following the signs is something most people probably accept for the 'common good'.

I guess there'll always be a few people who think this should only apply to the rest of the public, but if everyone went the opposite way to the signs the station would probably seize up and be closed.

I don't think it's a a problem if the relatively few people "in the know" take their own route in the off-peak when there is little risk of overcrowding. The regulars have probably concluded that during the peak it's usually quicker to follow the signed route.

For what it's worth I think the quickest way to Eurostar is to surface in the KX forecourt and cross the road between the taxis, where there really ought to be a zebra crossing.