Somewhere on the tube map are four consecutive stations containing the same word.
It happens on the South East rail map too.
I'll let you try and work out where they are while I run down some lesser combinations.
Two consecutive tube stations containing the same word is easy.
• Baker Street/Great Portland Street
• Bounds Green/Wood Green
• Caledonian Road/Holloway Road
• Oxford Circus/Piccadilly Circus
• Queen's Park/Kilburn Park
• Warren Street/Goodge Street
There are also numerous occasions where a place name is used at two consecutive stations, for example Dagenham, Kenton, Northwood, Putney, Sudbury, Tooting, Upminster, Wembley, Wimbledon and Woodford.
Three is rarer.
• Clapham North/Clapham Common/Clapham South
• East Acton/North Acton/West Acton
• East Finchley/Finchley Central/West Finchley
• Hounslow East/Hounslow Central/Hounslow West
• West Ruislip/Ruislip Gardens/South Ruislip
• Stratford International/Stratford/Stratford High Street
And if you allow two changes of trains there's this for four.
••• West Ealing/Ealing Broadway/Ealing Common/North Ealing
But all those threes and fours have involved place names.
The long chain I'm thinking of repeats an ordinary word.
I noticed when I was sitting on a train and they announced the next four stations and all four stations ended in the same word.
Here are those four consecutive stations.
They're on the Overground.
This is an impressively repetitive section of line.
Four Roads followed by two Parks followed by two Barkings.
By contrast the Victoria line has no consecutive stations with repeating words.
And nor does the Waterloo & City line.
The only other repeating foursome I've found is on the South Eastern High Speed line.
Again the onboard announcements give it away.
...calling at Ashford International, Ebbsfleet International, Stratford International and St Pancras International.
This is particularly stupid because Stratford International has never had any international services, and Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International haven't seen any international services since 2020.
But it's still four consecutive stations called 'International' and that totally counts.
I can find no other quadruples anywhere on the UK rail network.
Only these triples, most of which involve repeated place names.
• Ardrossan Harbour/Ardrossan Town/Ardrossan South Beach
• Barry Docks/Barry/Barry Island
• Exeter Central/Exeter St Davids/Exeter St Thomas
• Raynes Park/Motspur Park/Worcester Park
• Ryde Pier Head/Ryde Esplanade/Ryde St John's Road
• West Worthing/Worthing/East Worthing
Which means the UK's best consecutive station chain is on the Goblin in east London.
• Blackhorse Road/Walthamstow Queens Road/Leyton Midland Road/Leytonstone High Road
