How far can you go in 5 hours?

[dseagull]

Just saw this on Twitter. Very clever (though it would benefit from a zoom function!)

 

https://chronotrains-eu.vercel.app

 

 

[Wickham Green too]

Interesting - and seemingly random - selection of starting points on this side of the Channel.

I wonder why they chose FIVE hours rather than any other length of time ?

[Kris]

1 hour ago, Wickham Green too said:

Interesting - and seemingly random - selection of starting points on this side of the Channel.

I wonder why they chose FIVE hours rather than any other length of time ?

It seems you can pick just about any station as the start point if you hover over the correct one.  

[Wickham Green too]

In my neck of the woods I'm getting Bromley South, Orpington and Shortlands - then nothing further east except Ashford and Folkestone West ........ as you say, a zoom function would be beneficial.

( Presumably Bromley South, Orpington or Shortlands to the Continent would be via St.Pancreas and Ashford or Folkestone West would be limited to the few Eurostar that actually bother to stop at the former.)

[StuAllen]

I’m using an iPad and zoom seems to work fine - just use normal pinch action to zoom in and out. Can feel slow while is calculates but no more than a couple of seconds

Edited July 30, 2022 by StuAllen

[spamcan61]

Pinch zoom works fine for me on Android, map gives contour lines for 1,2,3,4,5 hours.

[Wickham Green too]

OK - there IS a zoom function .......................................... trouble is, of course, there won't be ANY trains at my local station within five hours anyway !

[melmerby]

Works fine on a Windows PC use the + & - to zoom in & out.

[Michael Hodgson]

9 hours ago, dseagull said:

How far can you go in 5 hours?

 

 

 

All the way !

 

 

Does it really make sense to ask this when ASLEF are out and there's not even replacement buses?

[pH]

Interesting effect if you start from a Scottish station outside Glasgow, going south. Coverage for ‘5 hours’ is continuous down the WCML to about Stanford. After that, there are only ‘islands’ around specific stations as far as Milton Keynes. 
 

(Why do I now have an earworm of “24 Hours from Tulsa”?)

[Nearholmer]

It seems to deal with interchange onto TfL quite conservatively. I know from far too much experience that I can cover a large dollop of London inside an hour (thirty minutes to Euston, thirty more minutes to get to a lot of places, even walking), but it seems to believe it all takes a bit longer, which is what various journey planner softwares say too.

[rogerzilla]

How far you can get with £50 (or €50) at standard single fares would be an interesting one.

[adb968008]

19 hours ago, Wickham Green too said:

Interesting - and seemingly random - selection of starting points on this side of the Channel.

I wonder why they chose FIVE hours rather than any other length of time ?

Realistic competition against air travel time ?..

 

ie c1 hour to Airport, upto 3 hour flight and c1 hour onward transit ?

[KingEdwardII]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

deal with interchange onto TfL quite conservatively.

National Rail's own app/website does the same - typically allows far too much time for Tube connections across London. I suppose that there is an element of allowing for late arrival of a train into London, particularly for tickets tied to specific train departures. Last time I checked a Winchester to Newcastle journey, I could easily have caught a train from Kings Cross 15 mins earlier than the one recommended by the NR system and probably have made one 30 mins earlier.

 

Yours, Mike.

[adb968008]

3 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

It seems to deal with interchange onto TfL quite conservatively. I know from far too much experience that I can cover a large dollop of London inside an hour (thirty minutes to Euston, thirty more minutes to get to a lot of places, even walking), but it seems to believe it all takes a bit longer, which is what various journey planner softwares say too.

Since Covid, Connecting in London takes much longer than it used to.

 

A lot of trains have disappeared, meaning if you just miss one, your wait is much longer, and risk of penalty fare charge on your oyster greatly increases.
 

Elizabeth line to TL connections at Farringdon is a trap for that, especially if you just miss one, and your next is late, canceled or requires you to make an extra change.

 

Weekend tubes can have much longer gaps than we used to see too… that 1-2 min gap ive seen go as far as 15 mins before now.

Coupled with Southern now finishing Metros  c11pm on many lines, means you cannot do last orders in the city any more, so nights out in the city are becoming harder too, unless your prepared to pony up taxis from places like Wimbledon or East Croydon etc, which are equally over subscribed by other victims caught by this and makes very long drunken queues waiting for cabs.

 

Its London as a city that will suffer in the end, as businesses lose local customers, in addition to losing pre-Brexit tourists.

 

Conversely Ive noticed Londons suburbs are becoming much busier in evenings, as people are staying local more, indeed the high street is recovering, after 5 years our local theatre even reopened.

Edited July 31, 2022 by adb968008

[Nearholmer]

Interesting. I was out of it before covid, at least out of five days a week, and you’ve made me realise that I’ve not been into London at all since February 2020!! By golly, I have become parochial.

 

PS: actually, I’ve been through/under a few times, thinking about it, using Thameslink to get to Sussex.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Nearholmer

[jjb1970]

I used to walk in London, if you're confident about where you are and are staying within the central zone 1 walking is often no slower than tube or bus and it's a great way to see more of the city (London is a great walking city).

[Michael Hodgson]

3 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I used to walk in London, if you're confident about where you are and are staying within the central zone 1 walking is often no slower than tube or bus and it's a great way to see more of the city (London is a great walking city).

The main problem with walking any distance in central London is the number of busy streets you need to cross.  However a few routes - such as along either side of the river - are much easier.  I often walked from Westminster-London Bridge.  I calculated that in total I would walk five miles on a typical day, by the time you added together the walk to the station, changing trains/ tubes, station to the office, visits to our other offices or to clients, lunchtime sandwich shopping etc.

[jjb1970]

I used to walk from Euston to my office in Fenchurch Street or St Mary Axe in the morning then back to Euston in the evening. I found it a great way to wake up and then unwind, and working in an office it kept me reasonably active when added to cycling to Bletchley station etc. I had several routes. For a while I worked in an office opposite Victoria railway station and that was a lovely walk through Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square and down the Mall. Although I have never missed commuting I do miss walking around London.

[Nearholmer]

Yes, I used to walk to Victoria, St James’s Park, and (very easy) Holborn at different times, and even a couple of times to and from Canary Wharf, but that one was not intentional! I confess that I was a fair weather man though, rain put me off. I also went through a phase of using hire bikes, but I really did not get on with that, despite being a keen cyclist; the traffic was bad enough, but what I truly hated were the bikes themselves, like riding lumps of depleted uranium.

Edited July 31, 2022 by Nearholmer

[adb968008]

Unfortunately for me it used to be visiting customers, so cycling and walking would result in a sweaty mess, from heat or rain, so no go for me. Though I did have an extended period at a major bank, who had a shower and a keen cyclist as a pm, so that used to burn off the nandos lunch.

Edited July 31, 2022 by adb968008

[adb968008]

I played around with the app, and in the most part, aside of Benelux, 5 hours from a capital, 5 hours really only gets you around the host country.

 

Even France with its TGV routes gets you less distance from Paris than you’d expect… Nice is 6 hours, 579miles, 6 stops and 3 hours 186mph running, compares well to KX to Aberdeen in 7hr, 545miles, max 125mph, and with 14 stops !

Edited July 31, 2022 by adb968008