Diverted

[caddyman]

Some poor sap ended up under a train at Bond Street this morning so I was unceremoniously dumped off the Jubilee Line at London Bridge.

The odd thing about the layout London Transport links is that had I caught the bus from London Bridge, it would have taken about 45 minutes to get to the office (assuming no traffic snarl ups), or I could have walked it in just over an hour or so – though I am far from sure of the best, or indeed actual, route.

It turns out that the best way to get from London Bridge, unless you are there at exactly the right time to get the South London Loop to Victoria, which only runs twice an hour, is to take the Northern Line south to Stockwell and then the Victoria Line north to Victoria. The whole thing takes about twenty minutes, even though it adds about 5 miles to the journey.

I am constantly amazed by the fact that the arcane geometry of London is such that the shortest route is almost never the fastest.

Comments

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

London Bridge to Cannon St (or Charing Cross, but CST is more pleasant), then District and Circle on, isn't much longer, if you have a rail-enabled travelcard. The majority of the time is coming above ground at LBG

[rotwang.livejournal.com]

Walk to Monument and then Circle Line would be my approach I think.

[sixtine.livejournal.com]

What is more amazing is the religion that has grown up around knowledge of the tube map. At S & R's party last weekend we were talking with some locals we'd never met and discussing our sightseeing on Sunday plans. A 15 minute conversation about the best way to get from A to B ensued. It might as well have been martian but it was fascinating.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

It's the same with cars though. Ask Anita at some point about the best route from A to B and she'll usually have a very strong (and informed) opinion on it, including options.

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

I remember, when I first came to London, I travelled everywhere by Tube. The only trouble with that was that I didn't know where everything was in relation to everything else. Once I started finding my way about, it's amazing how easily one can get about on foot.