In late July we'll be coming into King's Cross Station with a fair
amount of luggage. Ideally we'd like to take the tube from there to
Southfields. What we haven't been able to determine from the available
information is whether we'd have multiple stairs to descend and climb
to do so (I know we'll have them at Southfields). I'd welcome advice
on what we'll encounter and whether we should just gulp and take a
taxi.

It seems to me that there are two possible routes
1) King's Cross - High Street Kensington - Southfields
2) King's Cross - Victoria - Southfields

Is either of these more or less a problem - it looks online as though
Victoria has more escalators?

Also, my research seems to indicate that an "oyster card" is the smart
thing for us to get for tube and bus travel during our week in London.
Does that make sense? If so, can I buy one at King's Cross?

My thanks for whatever advice you can give.

wrote:
In late July we'll be coming into King's Cross Station with a fair
amount of luggage. Ideally we'd like to take the tube from there to
Southfields. What we haven't been able to determine from the available
information is whether we'd have multiple stairs to descend and climb
to do so (I know we'll have them at Southfields). I'd welcome advice
on what we'll encounter and whether we should just gulp and take a
taxi.

It seems to me that there are two possible routes
1) King's Cross - High Street Kensington - Southfields
2) King's Cross - Victoria - Southfields

Is either of these more or less a problem - it looks online as though
Victoria has more escalators?

Also, my research seems to indicate that an "oyster card" is the smart
thing for us to get for tube and bus travel during our week in London.
Does that make sense? If so, can I buy one at King's Cross?

My thanks for whatever advice you can give.
You didn't mention the time of day. Victoria can get very busy so best
avoided if you have a lot of luggage for that alone but would be
quicker than Circle/District.

Kevin

yped


In late July we'll be coming into King's Cross Station with a fair
amount of luggage. Ideally we'd like to take the tube from there to
Southfields. What we haven't been able to determine from the available
information is whether we'd have multiple stairs to descend and climb
to do so (I know we'll have them at Southfields). I'd welcome advice
on what we'll encounter and whether we should just gulp and take a
taxi.

Journey Planner has various options for mobility problems. Access this
from the main tfl website (tfl.gov.uk) and click on the 'more search
options' phrase.

Tfl have a pdf somewhere giving the number of stairs at every station.
Maybe you can search for it.

It seems to me that there are two possible routes
1) King's Cross - High Street Kensington - Southfields
2) King's Cross - Victoria - Southfields

Is either of these more or less a problem - it looks online as though
Victoria has more escalators?

Also, my research seems to indicate that an "oyster card" is the smart
thing for us to get for tube and bus travel during our week in London.
Does that make sense? If so, can I buy one at King's Cross?

You can, but you can buy one online if you have a UK credit card. Follow
the Oyster links from the tfl website.

Much nicer to have the postman to deliver your Oyster than to queueueue
when laden with the kitchen sink.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Helen Deborah Vecht typed

Tfl have a pdf somewhere giving the number of stairs at every station.
Maybe you can search for it.

Actually, it's an Excel spreadsheet you can get at:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/downloads...essibility.xls

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
Helen Deborah Vecht typed

Tfl have a pdf somewhere giving the number of stairs at every station.
Maybe you can search for it.

Actually, it's an Excel spreadsheet you can get at:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/downloads...essibility.xls


Oh the irony! An accessibility document in a proprietary format!

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 23:47:50 +0100, Dave Newt
wrote:

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
Helen Deborah Vecht typed

Tfl have a pdf somewhere giving the number of stairs at every station.
Maybe you can search for it.

Actually, it's an Excel spreadsheet you can get at:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/downloads...essibility.xls


Oh the irony! An accessibility document in a proprietary format!

Excel Viewer is free.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=EN

Plus I know OpenOffice opens .xls files.

--
James Farrar
. @gmail.com

James Farrar wrote:
On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 23:47:50 +0100, Dave Newt
wrote:

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
Helen Deborah Vecht typed

Tfl have a pdf somewhere giving the number of stairs at every station.
Maybe you can search for it.
Actually, it's an Excel spreadsheet you can get at:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/downloads...essibility.xls

Oh the irony! An accessibility document in a proprietary format!

Excel Viewer is free.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=EN

Plus I know OpenOffice opens .xls files.

I know - I was going for (admittedly poor) humour over accuracy :-)

wrote:
In late July we'll be coming into King's Cross Station with a fair
amount of luggage. Ideally we'd like to take the tube from there to
Southfields. What we haven't been able to determine from the available
information is whether we'd have multiple stairs to descend and climb
to do so (I know we'll have them at Southfields). I'd welcome advice
on what we'll encounter and whether we should just gulp and take a
taxi.

It seems to me that there are two possible routes
1) King's Cross - High Street Kensington - Southfields
2) King's Cross - Victoria - Southfields

Is either of these more or less a problem - it looks online as though
Victoria has more escalators?

There are lifts from the mainline station at KX to the Circle Line
concourse and also down to the Circle Line platforms (for High St
Kensington), whereas getting to the Victoria Line platforms at KX
requires a flight of stairs and an escalator.

Then at High Street Kensington, the District Line train to Southfields
will come on the *same* platform as the Circle Line train that you've
just left, whereas changing at Victoria will involve an escalator and a
flight of stairs.

The journey via High Street Kensington will be a bit, but not more than
10 mins, slower than the journey via Victoria. I'd strongly recommend
taking the Kensington route if you've got luggage.

Also, my research seems to indicate that an "oyster card" is the smart
thing for us to get for tube and bus travel during our week in London.
Does that make sense? If so, can I buy one at King's Cross?

Yes to both. As Helen says, online might be less hassle than at KX
laden with luggage.

You also need to think about how much travelling you're going to be
doing - an Oyster card comes in two varieties. It can either be a
Travelcard (a season ticket, in your case lasting a week) or
Pay-as-you-go (you put cash on it and then get money deducted per
journey).

If you're going to make more than about two Tube journeys a day within
central London, a Travelcard is a good idea; if you're going to make
fewer than that it will probably be cheaper and easier to get
Pay-as-you-go.

However, Pay-as-you-go is only valid on some ex-British Rail train
services (and is not valid on any ex-BR services from Wimbledon),
although it is valid on all trams, Tubes, buses and DLR trains, so if
you plan to use those then it complicates the picture again.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

John B wrote:
wrote:
In late July we'll be coming into King's Cross Station with a fair
amount of luggage. Ideally we'd like to take the tube from there
to Southfields. What we haven't been able to determine from the
available information is whether we'd have multiple stairs to
descend and climb to do so (I know we'll have them at
Southfields). I'd welcome advice on what we'll encounter and
whether we should just gulp and take a taxi.

It seems to me that there are two possible routes
1) King's Cross - High Street Kensington - Southfields
2) King's Cross - Victoria - Southfields

Is either of these more or less a problem - it looks online as
though Victoria has more escalators?

There are lifts from the mainline station at KX to the Circle Line
concourse and also down to the Circle Line platforms (for High St
Kensington)

I assume you're referring to the new lifts from the Western Ticket Hall,
which is actually under the forecourt of the original St Pancras station
building. This can be reached at street level from King's Cross
mainline station.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Richard J. wrote:
There are lifts from the mainline station at KX to the Circle Line
concourse and also down to the Circle Line platforms (for High St
Kensington)

I assume you're referring to the new lifts from the Western Ticket Hall,
which is actually under the forecourt of the original St Pancras station
building. This can be reached at street level from King's Cross
mainline station.

I have an idea that they've also now commissioned the lift from KX
forecourt to the Tube ticket hall, which is at the same height as the
WTH ticket hall and is directly linked to it by subway. I might be
wrong though - I'm not a big lift traveller...

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org