Hi channel. Today we're going on Britain's shortest train journey, that's right, the shortest train journey in Britain.
That's because every other train journey is longer than this one - I should say longer in terms of distance rather than time. No other train journey traverses fewer metres than this journey, that's how short it is.
You might think I should be at Covent Garden but no, Covent Garden to Leicester Square is merely the shortest tube journey and we can beat that. Those two stations are 260m apart, a tad shorter than Charing Cross to Embankment, and at both distances it's better to walk. But the London Underground is not where Britain's shortest train journey is because Britain's shortest train journey is somewhere else.
The shortest train journey is not on National Rail either because I checked. Lots of rail journeys are really short like Newhaven Town to Newhaven Harbour or Ryde Pier Head to Ryde Esplanade or City Thameslink to Blackfriars. But those are all over 500m so not them, they're much too long. Closest of all are Ty Glas and Birchgrove in south Wales which are 340m apart, or alternatively Rotherhithe and Canada Water on the London Overground which are 320m apart. But Covent Garden to Leicester Square beats all of those, so they're not the shortest either.
I should say we're not counting heritage railways because they're a law to themselves and often have halts in close succession. Also we're not counting miniature railways because that would be stupid, even if some of those distances would be titchy. For this query it's proper trains only, not even trams, and trams wouldn't actually be the shortest journey either.
I'm here at Canary Wharf station because this is where Britain's shortest train journey begins. Not on the Lizzie line or the Jubilee line, obviously not, but on the Docklands Light Railway because Britain's shortest train journey starts here.
Here we are looking south towards Heron Quays, but no that's not Britain's shortest train journey either. Canary Wharf to Heron Quays is 280m, so shorter than every proper rail journey but beaten by the tube and also by Britain's actual shortest train journey which is in the opposite direction.
Yes Canary Wharf to West India Quay is Britain's shortest train journey. It's only 199m which is ridiculously short, indeed short enough to be Britain's shortest train journey. For comparison an Elizabeth line train is 205m long so this journey is shorter than walking from purple carriage 1 to purple carriage 9. Amazeballs.
I should say we're measuring like to like here. If you get on a DLR train at Canary Wharf and get off at West India Quay you will have travelled 199 metres. It is NOT the case that the platforms are 199 metres apart, in fact the gap is only about 100 metres, but it's also above water which is why people take the train.
The amazing thing about Britain's shortest train journey is that there's a choice of routes. You can get a Bank train from platforms 5 and 6 OR you can get a Stratford train from platforms 3 and 4, and they both do Britain's shortest train journey. Sometimes two trains are doing Britain's shortest train journey at the same time! This of course doesn't work in the opposite direction because trains from Bank skip West India Quay, but it's still amazing northbound.
So come on then, let's ride Britain's shortest train journey. Starting here at Canary Wharf and finishing over there at West India Quay at the end of Britain's shortest train journey. Doors are beeping, start the stopwatch!
Actually no, the doors beep separately on either side because these are double platforms. So we need to wait for the Passenger Service Agent to close the doors on the other side before Britain's shortest train journey can begin. Doors are beeping, start the stopwatch!
And we're off, admittedly not very fast, but wow this is it, this is Britain's shortest train journey. We're edging out from the giant canopy at Canary Wharf, the lady beside me is jabbering into her phone, look it's all bright daylight out here, the train continues to move forwards, we're past the first office block now, look there's a giant rubber duck down there in the dock, also several big cranes, we're past the 20 second mark now, imagine sitting in the driver's seat for Britain's shortest train journey, that's Crossrail Place over there, yes it has a lobster restaurant on top, ooh here come the platforms at West India Quay, here they come, here they are, we're still moving forwards, I swear that huge office block wasn't here last year, the signs on the platform say 'for Museum of London Docklands' but it's actually London Museum Docklands now, do you think they'll ever change it, we're slowing down now, almost at a stop, now stopped, just waiting for the doors, there's the beeps, stop the stopwatch!
If you look back you can see where we just came from, which perhaps isn't surprising because that was Britain's shortest train journey. And it only took 46 seconds from beep to beep, indeed if you count time spent actually travelling it was less than 40. But the important thing isn't the time it's the distance, which was 199 metres remember, and that's why this is Britain's shortest train journey.
Thank you for joining me on Britain's shortest train journey which is from Canary Wharf to West India Quay on the Docklands Light Railway. No other train journey is shorter, except for West India Quay back to Canary Wharf which is actually the same distance so not shorter either.
It's possible that nobody has ever made Britain's shortest train journey before, given how short it is, so thanks for joining me for this unique minimal safari. Seems anyone can churn out a train video these days. Like and subscribe.
