Tom Anderson wrote:
On Mon, 24 Jan 2005, Dave Arquati wrote:
One might think that a journey from the outskirts of London into the
centre would be quickest via a fast National Rail operator,
^^^^^^
I made a journey from High Wycombe into Kensington last week.
^^^^^^^^^^
Dave, are we going to have to go over this again? 
Oh dear, not this old chestnut... you'll just have to accept that Dave's
definition of Central London is Zone 1 :-)
I'm having flashbacks to the whole "Metropolitan Kent" argument.
I definitely didn't expect to travel from Wycombe to Gloucester Road in
almost exactly an hour.
Sit down with a map - a real map, not Mr Beck's filthy propaganda - and
have a look at the routes. The surprisingly fast route is also
surprisingly direct!
Yes, should have thought of that... it happens to be extremely similar
to the route I take on the rare occasion that I drive it (Western Avenue
then either West Cross + Cromwell Road or Westway + Hyde Park).
But then again, the direct route is not necessarily the fastest
(especially when Chiltern makes a maximum of 4 intermediate stops, but
the Central makes 9).
I take your point, though - by rights, a non-stop train from Ruislip to
Marylebone should be faster than a stopper to Notting Hill. The Central is
a bit of a speed demon, but i suspect the problem is really that the
Chiltern trains are a bit slow. I have no idea why; probably some line
speed thing, or else complications arising from congestion.
Sometimes they sit outside Marylebone for a bit, but I don't think
that's the main problem - line speed between Northolt Junction and
Neasden seems to be a bit slow.
(including a stop at the fantastic Denham Golf Club).
Do expand on that.
The king of Chiltern's rural stations. I've never seen anyone get on or
off there - not even with any golf clubs. I reckon most people
travelling to Denham Golf Club do so by BMW rather than Chiltern Turbo
(although the latter has more plentiful room for one's clubs).
--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London