Shortest distance between two tube stops?

[Pip]

One day when I was at school, a British Transport Police Officer came in and gave a talk about the kind of thing him and his colleagues do. For some reason, he asked the class if anyone knew what the shortest distance between two stops was, and which stops they were. I'm assuming he meant on the same line. I suggested loads, including Covent Garden to Leicester Square, and Tottenham Court Road to Oxford Circus, but they were all wrong, and what's more he wouldn't tell me what the answer was

Urbanites, this question has been troubling me for over ten years. Every single time I make a tube journey it's at the forefront of my mind, niggling away and bugging me. Every underground travelling companion is forced to come up with suggestions, and none of them have ever been satisfactory. It's time to put this to rest! I need answers! Won't somebody help me?

 

[cesare]

<guesses>

Embankment and Charing Cross

 

[Maggot]

<guesses>

Embankment and Charing Cross

I would guess that too.



I bet Lang Rabbie knows.

 

[marty21]

covent garden - leicester square 260m

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covent_Garden_tube_station

 

[cybertect]

I'd hazard a guess it would be on either the Metropolitan, District or Circle lines somewhere in the centre of town - they're the oldest lines and were steam powered so needed frequent breaks.

 

[cybertect]

covent garden - leicester square 260m

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covent_Garden_tube_station

Must admit that was my first thought except Enid's BTP copper had already ruled it out

 

[cybertect]

It's official: Covent Garden to Leicester Square - as per Transport for London

 

[Sweaty Betty]

Royal oak and paddington?????

 

[beeboo]

Just goes to show, you can't trust the police

 

[marty21]

Must admit that was my first thought except Enid's BTP copper had already ruled it out

we can't go around believing coppers can we?


(eta dammit beeboo, u beat me to it )

 

[Maggot]

It's official: Covent Garden to Leicester Square - as per Transport for London

So it is!

I guess the distance between charing cross and Embankment is longer than you'd think, because the CC tube station is further away than CC train staion.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Dunno the distance, but Canada Water to Rotherhithe would have been my guess.

You can see the platform at Rotherhithe from Canada Water platform - can't be much more than 100m away.

 

[Sweaty Betty]

Shepherds bush to goldhawk rd???

 

[cybertect]

Charing Cross to Embankment on the Northern is only just pipped by Covent Garden to Leicester Square

http://lndn.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_lndn_archive.html

270m vs 260m - all of ten metres in it

e2a: I almost wonder if it's the other way round if you were to count getting to and from the trains?

 

[bluestreak]

i can't believe no-one has mentioned covent garden to leicester square. useless bunch.

in the old days there used to a station between holborn and tcr, which would have been even shorter.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

It's official: Covent Garden to Leicester Square - as per Transport for London

Damn the internet and its argument-settling ways.

 

[Pip]

It's official: Covent Garden to Leicester Square - as per Transport for London

He lied to me! That's it, I'm going for compo.

 

[cesare]

Charing Cross to Embankment on the Northern is only just pipped by Covent Garden to Leicester Square

http://lndn.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_lndn_archive.html

270m vs 260m - all of ten metres in it

e2a: I almost wonder if it's the other way round if you were to count getting to and from the trains?

Yes I reckon if you factored in street to platform, Embankment and Charing Cross would win - easy!

 

[lang rabbie]

Any ful nos that it is Leicester Square to Covent Garden if you only count currently open tube stations.

But once you allow closed stations, you start playing some three dimensional psychogeographical variant on Mornington Crescent - further complicated by whether you only allow platforms that were open to passenger traffic at the same time.

On the most liberal rules, probably British Museum (opened 1900 by the Central London Railway) to the 1933 Central Line platforms at Holborn- about 100 yards.

Being more purist, I'd guess probably either Brompton Road to South Kensington, or Down Street to Green Park, both adjacent pairs on the Piccadilly Line until the early 1930s

 

[academia]

If you count the DLR then it's West India Quay to Canary Wharf (about 130 metres).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_India_Quay_DLR_station

 

[PacificOcean]

Being more purist, I'd guess probably either Brompton Road to South Kensington, or Down Street to Green Park, both adjacent pairs on the Piccadilly Line until the early 1930s

Wasn't Down Street just renamed Green Park?

Mile End to Bow Road is very short too.

The longest gap is Chalfont and Latimer to Chesham at three miles.

I wonder what the longest undergound gap is? Finsbury Park to Seven Sisters?

 

[davesgcr]

Kings Cross - Caledonian Rd

 

[Chz]

Did they specifically say it was the tube? Leicester Square <-> Covent Garden is indeed the shortest tube journey, but I'm pretty sure that Blackfriars <-> City Thameslink is at least as short. Google tells me that the distance from the centre of the platforms is 400m, but City Thameslink has enormous platforms (I think they could hide two trains in there), so the end-to-end distance would be considerably less.

Finsbury Park to Seven Sisters is a long way.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

So how far is Royal Oak to Paddington?

 

[boozybirdie]

And what about Chancery Lane & Holborn

 

[cybertect]

So how far is Royal Oak to Paddington?

Roughly 800m, scaling off this map

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&h....184107&spn=0.010415,0.020728&om=1&iwloc=addr

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Not a terribly helpful map as it doesn't tell us where the platforms start and finish.

 

[cybertect]

And what about Chancery Lane & Holborn

About 500m

 

[cybertect]

Not a terribly helpful map as it doesn't tell us where the platforms start and finish.

Indeed, but it's clearly much more than Covent Garden to Leicester Square at the same scale.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&h...l=51.5116,-0.12763&spn=0.010416,0.020728&om=1

e2a: Switch to Satellite/Hybrid view, and you can see the platform of Royal Oak quite clearly. Might knock a little over 100m off the total.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Indeed, but it's clearly much more than Covent Garden to Leicester Square at the same scale.

Well not necessarily, because the platform at Paddington is very long indeed. My recollection is that you can see it from Royal Oak.