Tuesday, October 04, 2022
Tubewatch (2) The Great Tube Race
Let's have a race. All the top vloggers are doing it, setting out from a common point using different means of transport to see who reaches a set destination first. It allows for all sorts of split screen shenanigans, not to mention jeopardy as the teams jostle for position throughout the quest for ultimate victory. I see no reason why bloggers shouldn't also jump on this competitive bandwagon, so I took two doppelgangers with me to Mile End and raced them to Ealing Broadway.
These are the westbound platforms at Mile End, with the Central line on the left and the District line on the right. Excitingly both trains terminate at Ealing Broadway, via entirely different routes, so I can send one of my doppelgangers on each to see who gets there first. I'm going to take Crossrail instead, which requires starting on the District line and changing at Whitechapel. Follow our westward progress below, and place your bets please!
CENTRAL DISTRICT CROSSRAIL 0 mins We're all at Mile End. Good luck everyone! We're all at Mile End. Good luck everyone! We're all at Mile End. Good luck everyone! 4 mins My train just left Bethnal Green. It's a swift start on the Central line. We've just reached Whitechapel. I'm staying on to the bitter end. We've just reached Whitechapel. I'm getting off here to change to Crossrail. 10 mins I'm already at St Paul's. I'm so winning. I'm already at Monument. I reckon I'm in second place. I've wasted ages hiking up and down steps to cross the station, then another minute on the escalator down to the purple platforms... but I only had two minutes to wait for a train. Here it is! 13 mins I'm already at Holborn. I'm acing this. I've nudged ahead to Mansion House. I'm making slow progress. I've caught up to Liverpool Street. This train is fast! 19 mins I'm at Marble Arch. I'm further west than Bond Street and that isn't even open yet. I'm at Embankment. I fear I'm about to be left behind. I'm at Tottenham Court Road. I can't believe it would've been quicker to get here on the Central line. 23 mins I'm at Queensway. I'm almost out of Zone 1. I'm approaching Victoria. This is not going well. I'm at Paddington. One day I'll be able to stay aboard but dammit, for now I have to head up to the main station and change trains. 29 mins I'm at Shepherd's Bush. This is dead easy. I'm at South Kensington. I could give up now. I've reached my second purple train but it's not due to leave for a few minutes. 33 mins I'm just leaving White City. I'm speeding ahead, I'm at Earl's Court. I'm going nowhere fast. Finally the doors close and we're easing out of Paddington. 39 mins I'm at West Acton. I'm so close to taking the prize. I'm still only at Hammersmith. I should never have come this way. I feel like I've been set up by the other two to fail spectacularly. I'm at Acton Main Line. I'm totally catching up here. 42 mins I'm just arriving at Ealing Broadway! Bugger, a purple train is just arriving on the Crossrail platforms so it looks like it's a tie! Who would ever have guessed? I'm way back at Stamford Brook. The District line was such a mistake. I'm just arriving at Ealing Broadway! Bugger, a train is just arriving on the Central line platforms so it looks like it's a tie! When through trains start next month it'll be so much quicker by Crossrail, indeed I could have been ten minutes ahead. Instead, amazingly, I wasted all that effort on interchanging twice and still got here at the same time as the Central line train. 56 mins Where did everybody go?
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