In message of Mon, 13
Mar 2006 00:42:44 in uk.transport.london, Richard J.
writes
Ian F. wrote:
"DrTeeth" wrote in message
oups.com...

Hi, I will be getting the Heathrow Express on Sunday evening
(8ish) to Paddington and then need to travel onwards to the
Holiday Inn Express Old Street, near Old Street underground
station. Can you advise the best route and approx time/cost of a
taxi?

The Transport for London Journey Planner
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/ suggests taking the London
Underground Circle Line from Paddington to Kings Cross and then
Northern Line to Old Street, with a journey time of (a very
optimistic) 19 minutes. I'd say 30 minutes is more likely.

I would prefer a change at Moorgate as there are no steps upward in the
change (unless the train terminates at Moorgate) while there are about
30 at KX. In both cases, boarding the front carriage gives a little time
saving.

The continuing lack of weekend service at Moorgate is a PITA. Yesterday
at about 11.30, no booking office window was open. At Liverpool Street,
only one window was open with a queue of about 15. (My business was
complicated and not amenable to a ticket machine.)


That may be the case normally, but (assuming the OP means next Sunday
19 March), the Journey Planner is not showing any routes that involve a
Circle Line train to Kings Cross. It evidently thinks that this
stretch of line is closed for engineering work, as it was on 11/12
March, but this doesn't match other information on the TfL site.

However, the 205 bus runs from Paddington directly to Old Street
station. On Sundays, the frequency is about every 12 minutes, and the
journey should take about 25 minutes (timetable) or 40 minutes (Journey
Planner estimate). Last bus at 00:26.

According to the Journey Planner, the bus departs from stop H. Take
the exit from the station opposite platform 8, go up the slope, turn
left at the top (Praed Street) and walk about 50 yards to bus stop H.


The 205 is a round the houses service which diverts to visit Marylebone,
Euston (eastbound only) and Liverpool Street stations. I find it a handy
parallel for the Metropolitan and Circle lines given the grotesque
difference between 0.80 for an Oyster bus fare and 1.50 for an Oyster
Zone 1 tube fare. I am really impressed by the success of the recent
draconian price war against cash. On buses, I estimate less than 5% of
passengers now use cash.

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en
between Moorgate and Paddington stations by bus shows "fastest" journey
now takes 2 buses and 66 minutes. The minimum change route takes 57
minutes. (sic) It compares very badly with 18 minutes by tube.
--
Walter Briscoe