The Anonymous Widower

A New Route Between New Cross Gate And Queen’s Park Stations

In Does The Elizabeth Line Offer Similar Benefits To The Bakerloo Line Extension?, I said this.

I suspect that the easiest way between New Cross Gate and Harrow & Wealdstone will be with changes at Whitechapel and Paddington.

I also said, I would try out the route today.

I did a shorter route between New Cross Gate And Queen’s Park stations, with the same two changes.

For each extra station, I can apply Irene’s Law, by adding two minutes for each station.

I took these pictures on the route.

Note.

1. On the Overground and the Elizabeth Line, there were few spare seats and a number of standees.
2. Quite a few passengers changed at Whitechapel.
3. The tunnel at Paddington between Elizabeth and Bakerloo Lines wasn’t very busy.
4. The Bakerloo Line wasn’t very busy.

I have a few thoughts.

First Time Riders

I got the impression, a lot of passengers were first-time riders.

This could explain the passenger numbers.

Timings

These were my timings.

• It took me forty-six minutes for the fourteen stations.
• The interchange at Whitechapel was about four minutes.
• At Paddington, I walked between the Elizabeth and Bakerloo Line platforms in under five minutes and then just missed a Northbound train.

Irene’s Law

I talk about Irene’s Law in Irene’s Law – Estimating Tube Journey Times, where I define it like this.

If you want to get an estimate of how long a journey will take on the London Underground, you count the number of stations and multiply by two, before adding five for every interchange.

For the Overground, I’ve found that using three minutes for the number of stations gives a reasonable answer.

So how does it fit for my journey?

• The base time is forty-six minutes.
• Deduct ten minutes for the two changes gives thirty-six minutes.
• 36/14 gives 2.6 minutes.

I’ll go with that! But it looks like for a mixed journey like this, 2.5 might give a rough estimate.

How Would This Time Compare With An Extended Bakerloo Line?

Consider.

• New Cross Gate station could be on an extended Bakerloo Line.
• The Bakerloo Line timetable gives a time of 26 minutes between Queen’s Park and Elephant & Castle stations.
• There are three extra stations, which would probably be two minutes per station.

So the time between Queen’s Park and New Cross Gate stations would be 32 minutes via an extended Bakerloo line.

Conclusion

It looks like an extended Bakerloo Line will be a few minutes quicker.

But that the Elizabeth Line will be a good alternative for a few years.

My feeling is that the Elizabeth Line will have enough capacity for several years, but that eventually the Bakerloo Line will need to be extended.

May 28, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Bakerloo Line, Elizabeth Line, London Overground, New Cross Gate Station, Paddington Station, Queens Park Station, Whitechapel Station