TRIVIA: Most circuitous shortest route by rail

[sad1e]

Catford and Catford bridge? They are visible from eachother but I have no idea how long the route between them is.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Walsall to Wolverhampton's one of the more circutous passenger services which regularly run; five and a half miles in a straight line but twenty-four miles via Birmingham New Street.

24 miles, 1h 9m, and a mind-numbing 15 stops ...

... I'd still rather do it than get the bus.

 

[RJ]

Catford and Catford bridge? They are visible from eachother but I have no idea how long the route between them is.

Shortest route is probably via Nunhead and Lewisham. The route is about 5 miles and the distance between them is about 0.06 miles, giving a sinuosity of 83.3.

 

[zwk500]

Catford and Catford bridge? They are visible from eachother but I have no idea how long the route between them is.

For either station, a loop of Peckham Rye - Stewarts Lane - Clapham Junction - Tulse Hill - East Dulwich - Peckham Rye (or reverse) would be the shortest route between them I think.

A similar thing exists for West and East Croydon, as they also have to use the Stewarts Lane curve as part of a south London loop to travel between each other by heavy rail (although there is, of course, a light rail route considerably more direct!)

 

[nw1]

Why not Dorchester West - Yeovil Pen Mill - Yeovil Junction - Crewkerne?

Realtime Trains | 1V23 0950 London Waterloo to Yeovil Junction | 30/06/2025

Real-time train running information for 1V23 0950 departure from London Waterloo to Yeovil Junction on 30/06/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I think I thought the Pen Mill-Junction service was one of those things that got cut at Covid.

 

[Bradford PA]

How about Penistone to Hadfield, was direct, now requires changing at Huddersfield and Manchester Piccadilly!

On the same theme, and similar original distances, we have Okehampton to Plymouth and Skipton to Colne. Now both significantly extended.

 

[Harpo]

Wigan Wallgate to Wigan North Western. (Via Manchester?)
Warrington Central to Warrington Bank Quay. (Via Manchester P?)
Birmingham New Street to Birmingham Moor Street. (Via Leamington?)
Heads of the Valleys. e.g. Rhymney to Ebbw Vale. (Via Cardiff C & Ebbw Jn.)

 

[A S Leib]

North Shields to South Shields is 24 miles using direct trains via Tynemouth or one mile by air.

Victoria and London Bridge are 2.6 miles apart in a straight line, 16 miles using direct trains via Crystal Palace, or 8.5 via Denmark Hill.

 

[Bradford PA]

North Shields to South Shields is 24 miles using direct trains via Tynemouth or one mile by air.

Presumably even shorter via the Shields Ferry ?

 

[Chilternblue]

Quickest rail route between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Moor Street would surely be via Smethwick Galton Bridge.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Wigan Wallgate to Wigan North Western. (Via Manchester?)

Are reversals permitted? If so, *could* be done by departing Wigan Wallgate in the direction of Ince and then reversing at or just beyond Wigan Station Junction before backing into Wigan North Western on the platform 1 side. (Assume the signalling allows such a move). Maybe just over half a mile if doing that.

 

[A S Leib]

Presumably even shorter via the Shields Ferry ?

1.4 miles. By air, I meant the straight-line distance.

 

[sad1e]

Quickest rail route between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Moor Street would surely be via Smethwick Galton Bridge.

The junction between the lines out of new Street and the lines out of moor Street faces towards Stourbridge so no without a reverse.

 

[plugwash]

Wigan Wallgate to Wigan North Western. (Via Manchester?)

There are passenger services from Hindly to Wigan north western, though not very many of them.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Hindley all day on 01/07/2025

Train information at Hindley all day on 01/07/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Warrington Central to Warrington Bank Quay. (Via Manchester P?)[/qoute]
You can shortern the manchester route to Deansgate if you are prepared to take stopper trains.

Not sure how it compares on distance to the edge hill or south parkway/frodsham options.

 

[zwk500]

Quickest rail route between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Moor Street would surely be via Smethwick Galton Bridge.

The junction between the lines out of new Street and the lines out of moor Street faces towards Stourbridge so no without a reverse.

Quite possibly a contender for most indirect route - due to the way the Junctions are, it looks like the shortest route would be via Cheltenham Spa, Swindon, Didcot, and Oxford.

 

[A S Leib]

Windsor to Detroit purely using passenger services via Aldershot and Chicago is 1072 miles compared to 4.5 miles in a straight line; 238 times longer.

 

[zwk500]

Windsor to Detroit purely using passenger services via Aldershot and Chicago is 1072 miles compared to 4.5 miles in a straight line; 238 times longer.

Windsor via Aldershot requires going via Clapham Jn, feels like it might be longer than just the 1072 miles

 

[A S Leib]

For another multi-level station example, Liverpool Lime Street high level to low level is 38 miles via Ellesmere Port (counting between the midpoint of the low level platform to platform 1 buffers, I've got 37.9 miles via Liverpool Central or 37.8 miles via Moorfields). The shortest distance between the platforms, excluding vertically, is around sixty metres / 197 feet; a ratio of 1:1014.

Windsor via Aldershot requires going via Clapham Jn, feels like it might be longer than just the 1072 miles

A tour via Tilbury, Chatham, London and Dorchester is also available.

 

[duffield]

Wigan Wallgate to Wigan North Western. (Via Manchester?)
Warrington Central to Warrington Bank Quay. (Via Manchester P?)
Birmingham New Street to Birmingham Moor Street. (Via Leamington?)
Heads of the Valleys. e.g. Rhymney to Ebbw Vale. (Via Cardiff C & Ebbw Jn.)

There is one ECS move from Wallgate Carriage Sidings to North Western:
5F65 2216 Wigan Wallgate Up C.S. to Wigan North Western (Saturday only).

It does actually stop at the platform at Wallgate "for staffing reasons" so maybe you could sneak on, and sneak off again at North Western.