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

[Esker-pades]

Forsinard to Georgemas?

Only double. Google maps suggests 50-55 minutes by road (A897, A836 then down to Georgemas). The train takes 25 minutes.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Reading Station to Oxford Circus for example- 40 mins on the train but at least 2 hours by car.

 

[Esker-pades]

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

London City does serve Edinburgh.
The centre of London is not Kings Cross.
The thread is for the rail being "significantly quicker" than the alternative methods of transport. It certainly isn't in this case.

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

Machynlleth to Dovey Junction?

 

[AlastairFraser]

London City does serve Edinburgh.
The centre of London is not Kings Cross.
The thread is for the rail being "significantly quicker" than the alternative methods of transport. It certainly isn't in this case.

Oh OK that's a bit of a game changer,because,for a lot of London airports(Heathrow,Gatwick,Luton etc.),the transit time from most places in London is at least an hour plus the longer minimum check-in times as opposed to London City might make the train faster in some cases.

 

[Esker-pades]

Oh OK that's a bit of a game changer,because,for a lot of London airports(Heathrow,Gatwick,Luton etc.),the transit time from most places in London is at least an hour plus the longer minimum check-in times as opposed to London City might make the train faster in some cases.

I'm not disputing the fact that the train may be faster than the plane. I always take the train on my semi-regular hops between the two cities. But, such a difference in journey time will be in the factor of 30 minutes maximum (nothing significant for a journey in the order or magnitude of hours).

 

[AlastairFraser]

I'm not disputing the fact that the train may be faster than the plane. I always take the train on my semi-regular hops between the two cities. But, such a difference in journey time will be in the factor of 30 minutes maximum (nothing significant for a journey in the order or magnitude of hours).

True. It just shows though,for the most common journeys of 100-200 miles,trains are usually a lot faster than competing modes.

 

[EllieAquitrain]

St Budeaux Victoria Road to Bere Ferrers is 7min train, 38min car according to Google Maps

 

[Esker-pades]

True. It just shows though,for the most common journeys of 100-200 miles,trains are usually a lot faster than competing modes.

I've just spent the past few replies demonstrating that the time difference in this country is often negligable...

 

[bionic]

Ravensbourne to Beckenham Hill... 2 minutes on the train, 10 minutes in the car (if you are lucky).

 

[Ken H]

Ribblehead to Dent, or Dent to Garsdale. or even Ribblehead to Garsdale (even if you know the Hawes Bypass down Widdale to Appersett) that cuts out hawes)

Actually, I think most of the S&C anywhere,you would struggle to keep up with the train in a car. maybe on a motorbike you could win. but plod are often out with speed traps. Not aware of any parallel bus routes except for the 11 between Settle and Horton

 

[centraltrains]

Most stations in a suburban area into the main city station in rush hour?
Snow Hill Lines South tend to be less than 20 minutes by train or 30+ by bus/car.



On a more comparable example, Longcross to Sunningdale. Went there on a Saturday once (no services stop on Saturday) and took a good 45 mins to walk from Sunningdale (and back!).

 

[steamybrian]

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.

A bridge has been installed but only for pedestrians and cyclists.

 

[oddiesjack]

Chinley to Edale, or Grindleford to Dore

 

[Ken H]

and that's only because of the footbridge - it's a couple of miles by 'road'

Arnside to Grange-over-sands is a big detour if you go by road

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

 

[greaterwest]

Machynlleth to Dovey Junction?

Anywhere to Dovey Junction is quicker by rail...

 

[The exile]

Try doing Bristol - Bath in 10 minutes (or even the stoppers' 18!). And that's with the A4 running near enough parallel most of the way!

 

[D6975]

Try doing Bristol - Bath in 10 minutes (or even the stoppers' 18!). And that's with the A4 running near enough parallel most of the way!

And the nearby Severn Beach line has several pairs of adjacent stations that are 2 or 3 mins by train and much longer by road.

 

[MrEd]

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.

The private estate track to Corrour (which I believe leaves the A86 at Luiblea in Glen Spean, just east of Tulloch station), is a dirt track at best (no better than a forestry commission track) and may well be good as impassable in snowy/icy/very wet conditions (unless it’s been improved since I last saw it- though it’s very unlikely to ever be gritted). It probably takes about 35-40 minutes to drive to Tulloch station, so about ten minutes slower than the train at least.

Driving from Corrour to Rannoch would require a huge detour via Dalwhinnie and Pitlochry. I wouldn’t like to think how long that might take- walking probably wouldn’t be much slower.

 

[Esker-pades]

Driving from Corrour to Rannoch would require a huge detour via Dalwhinnie and Pitlochry. I wouldn’t like to think how long that might take- walking probably wouldn’t be much slower.

~2h45m according to Google Maps.

 

[MrEd]

~2h45m according to Google Maps.

That’s quite a trek! A fit and well equipped walker could probably cover the 7 miles or so across the moor between them in that time, or less, in summer conditions.

This is a picture of the private road to Corrour as it was in April 2010 (probably passable enough in summer conditions).

https://m.geograph.org.uk/photo/1831757

 

[mjmason1996]

Newcastle to peterborough is far, far quicker by train then by car at ~ 2 hours 20 versus ~4 hrs

 

[Amanda]

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

Newcastle Central to Edinburgh Waverley is 1h37m by train or 2+hrs by car.

 

[PeterC]

True. It just shows though,for the most common journeys of 100-200 miles,trains are usually a lot faster than competing modes.

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.

 

[mcmad]

North Queensferry to Dalmeny?

 

[Birkonian]

Cark to Ulverston is 8 minutes by train (7 minutes back). According to Google Map is it 22 minutes by car and quickest on foot is 3 hours 47 minutes, not that the walking route is safe. The train runs along a causeway similar to the Grange - Arnside section on the same route.

 

[Howardh]

True. It just shows though,for the most common journeys of 100-200 miles,trains are usually a lot faster than competing modes.

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.

 

[YorksDMU]

Well, I’ve got Hull to Cottingham. By train, 7minutes, car up to about 13 minutes and the bus about 21 to 23 minutes. Walking centre to centre, on Google is given as 1 hour and 21 minutes.

 

[Siemens Trains]

North Queensferry to Dalmeny?

As with many of the examples, only if you time it right. I live quite close to Dalmeny and if visiting North Queensferry I'd consider taking the car if I wasn't sure when I would be coming back even although there are usually two trains per hour. Sometimes you'd be quicker walking rather than hanging around waiting for the train given the distance is quite short.

 

[alistairlees]

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

I really don't think that's true
I would expect that these at least are quicker by car:
Sheffield to Bradford
Leicester to Coventry
Oxford to Milton Keynes
Cambridge to Lincoln
And probably many many more

Given the convenience of the car the train has to be considerably quicker to get people to switch modes. There's far too few cases where it is.