please empty your brain below
Now - can you do the same with a Northern line train and complete Liverpool Moorgate Bank Monument station?

Kirk | 26.05.22 - 7:27 a.m. | #

I suppose if you walked really slowly, and started off at one end of the train as it was leaving a Liverpool Street, you could get to the other end at it was arriving at Paddington.

martin | 26.05.22 - 7:36 a.m. | #

If walking along trains is allowed, a similar trip is possible between the South Bank and Holborn Viaduct, using a Thameslink from Blackfriars to City Thameslink.

A similar walk is available between Waterloo and Blackfriars Road (Southwark Station)

The French do it so much better - a subterranean walk between the Metro stations at from Opera and St Augustin is possible using pedestrian links via Auber, Havre Caumartin and St Lazare

Timbo | 26.05.22 - 7:40 a.m. | #

Successfully clickbaited :( I was looking forward to finding out how to do this

Alfie | 26.05.22 - 7:42 a.m. | #

Ingenious: a beautiful illustration of the length of these Crossrail stations. I salute your ambition.

But by these rules we could walk underground between any two below-surface stations by walking up and down connecting trains, and ignoring if we temporarily return to the surface.

In this case, simply catch the Circle line at Liverpool Street, and walk up and down until it gets to Farringdon. Job done.

Andrew | 26.05.22 - 7:44 a.m. | #

Timbo: No, it is the Canadians who have it right with the mega PATH system in Toronto (and other cities)

Kirk | 26.05.22 - 8:01 a.m. | #

I thought lifts were prohibited according to your rules (as per the diagonal lift at Liverpool Street), or were you continously walking laps of the lift as it descended at Barbican?! :)

dg writes: Vertical lifts don't contribute to horizontal progress.

Steve1 | 26.05.22 - 8:03 a.m. | #

'You may quibble that the train ride was a cheat...'

I blame the barrage of marketing e-mails for turning you to the dark side.

Still Anon | 26.05.22 - 8:05 a.m. | #

I once walked from Southwark to Waterloo via Waterloo East and it was tremendously exciting. Now they need to do that Euston Square-Euston-King's Cross St Pancras connection to add to the list.

Scott | Homepage | 26.05.22 - 8:48 a.m. | #

I explored many of these areas yesterday, even taking lifts I didn't need and probably will seldom ever use again. I'm disappointed by the necessary cheat that you've employed, as it could used in any circumstance.

Frank F | 26.05.22 - 8:52 a.m. | #

Disappointed you didn't say you can take the lift if you're that way inclined.

daveid76 | 26.05.22 - 9:03 a.m. | #

How much were you grinning to yourself as you made your walk down the train?

Dazzling Darren | 26.05.22 - 9:32 a.m. | #

I'm planning to do the Moorgate/Liverpool St connection later today. I'll bring the Kendal mint cake along!

Mikey C | 26.05.22 - 9:48 a.m. | #

You mentioned signs that lie to you and pretend it's always rush hour. Here's another one. If you come in to Moorgate on the Northern City Line and want to get to Crossrail, the signage sends you all the way upstairs to the new concourse and then all the way downstairs again. Instead, drop down the short escalator to the Northern line and then take the new link tunnel.

Arkady | 26.05.22 - 9:59 a.m. | #

What a pedantic clapback to the commenter who pointed out the apparent error in your opening day coverage, love it.

Fenchurch Strasse | 26.05.22 - 11:05 a.m. | #

I was hoping you had found a tunnel between Moorgate and Barbican (e.g. Beech Street). There are loads of routes through the Barbican Centre that might be worth exploring.

Dave Jones | 26.05.22 - 11:16 a.m. | #

Both Moorgate and Barbican station have entrances to the Barbican complex highwalk system, so the whole route from Liverpool Street to Farringdon can be done on foot and without crossing the street. In Moorgate's case it involves crossing a pedestrianised street to access the highwalk, but at Barbican the highwalk is built into the station entrance.

Morden Man | 26.05.22 - 11:16 a.m. | #

I did the Liverpool Street to Moorgate walk yesterday without passing a ticket barrier, whereas Central to Elizabeth at Tottenham Court Road involved two.

Ian Paton | 26.05.22 - 11:21 a.m. | #

..the westbound platform, that's 244m in total [...] reflect on the fact that you're tackling the longest platform anywhere on the Crossrail core.

I'd have thought all the (new) Crossrail platforms would be the same length.

Jon Jones | 26.05.22 - 12:15 p.m. | #

Yes, the Paris metro offers many opportunities for sub-surface walking between stations, but it also has far too many stairs and too few escalators for comfort, especially if you’re carrying or pulling heavy luggage (Montparnasse a major culprit). Unlike the Elizabeth engineering, I suspect the Paris connections are the result of mash-ups of rival lines and stations; we may complain about the tube, but it’s vastly superior in escalators and lifts — even hidden ones. From this and the previous posts, though, it sounds as though Elizabeth navigation could be a tad disorientating, since there seems to be no architectural distinction (tile colour, signage) between tunnels in one station and another.

Labourer | 26.05.22 - 12:34 p.m. | #

Trying to work out if is possible to get from a Moorgate station entrance, to the Barbican station entrance, without crossing any roads (at road level) - I know the Highwalks have got reconfigured the last few years.

Oliver O'Brien | 26.05.22 - 12:40 p.m. | #

I finally managed to grab a ride on it yesterday and the thing that hit me most was the length of the platforms - they seemed huge!

Simon | 26.05.22 - 1:22 p.m. | #

Agree with Kirk re Toronto though not necessarily in a good way. I was visiting an office in the city when I had another appointment at Royal Bank of Canada (in an unmissable gold building). When asking for directions I was told to head underground through a series of 3 shopping centres which should take about 10 minutes. When I realised it was a gold building and that it appeared to be the one literally opposite the office I was in the response was 'that's a good point - I only ever walk underground so didn't know it was so close'!

Phil | 26.05.22 - 2:11 p.m. | #

I love your technicality of walking along the train!
I did this route yesterday but using the Elizabeth line itself, a one stop hop from Liv St to Farringdon while I was in London as that's all I had time for. It's beautiful.

Sam H | Homepage | 26.05.22 - 2:22 p.m. | #

Have to admit I'm slightly disappointed. Technically and pedantically perhaps, but not in the spirit in my humble opinion.

Some yellow walkways have appeared in the Barbican disused track and adjacent tunnels. So privileged operatives should indeed be able to walk through those tunnels, maybe even after (if) they get repurposed as Metropolitan train stabling. Perhaps all the way between Moorgate and the Farringdon (ex-)sidings, and pretty close to City Thameslink, via the labyrinth beneath Smithfield that is to become the Museum of London.

Strabismus | 26.05.22 - 2:37 p.m. | #

Note to self: Clickbait often disappoints.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 26.05.22 - 2:39 p.m. | #

Using a train is clearly cheating. BUT you CAN, as far as I'm aware, walk from nearly one edge of the City (the corner of Middlesex Street/Harrow Place outside Liverpool Street) to just outside the other edge of the City (as far as the corner of Clerkenwell Road/Farringdon Road) without crossing a single road. Walk via Central Courtyard, taking the relatively little-known passage under Bishopsgate into Liverpool Street station, then into Crossrail, walk to Moorgate, up out at Moorgate onto the Barbican High Walks (I believe you can do this without crossing a road right now, but I plan to find out next time I'm in London), then along the Barbican High Walks to Barbican station, then down and along into Farringdon.

You can ALSO get tantalisingly close to Bank station, but sadly I can't see any way of getting closer than Old Broad Street/Threadneedle Street. Just need a touch more pedestrianisation though and it might become possible...

If you want to play about with routes yourself, I define a "road" as any road that is open to general motor traffic. Local access roads do count as roads as you can drive up them if you have a reason, but roads that are "buses and taxis only" don't count as roads to me. Dead end roads of course do count as roads in theory, but are effectively fine as you can just walk all the way around the outside of them to "cross" them.

Muzer | 26.05.22 - 5:52 p.m. | #

I travelled back from Paddington this afternoon via the purple train to Liverpool Street with a view to catching the Met to Aldgate and then a walk to catch my homeward train from Fenchurch Street. What a trek through the labyrinth from Liz to Met! Big mistake. Next time I make that journey from Paddington I shall change at Farringdon. A much shorter interchange and probably a lot quicker getting to Aldgate too.

Also, why do the four sub surface routes deny the existence of the new line? None of the route diagrams on the trains show connections nor are there any verbal announcements made. It seems you have to be a local or a railway buff to know these things.

dg writes: I’m currently on a sub surface train with all connections clearly shown. No announcements though.

Bob S | 26.05.22 - 6:39 p.m. | #

Not that I've done it like this myself, and not that I can endorse it, but my favourite way to get from Moorgate to Farringdon is this.

As noted above, clickbait often disappoints.

Chris | 26.05.22 - 9:37 p.m. | #

Readers arriving in their hundreds from Hacker News are generally agreed that this was ciickbait.

• Clearly doesn’t count as walking underground!
• Riding a train is not reaching by walk. You insensitive liar!
• Yeah, I don't think that he technically did what he said he did since he took a train. I could walk up and down the aisles of a BART train and "walk" underground from Oakland to San Francisco.
• Yeah, IMO more like actually cheating. Otherwise any other two stations could be connected with you just walking really slowly.
• Riding a train is not reaching by walk. You insensitive liar!

diamond geezer | Homepage | 27.05.22 - 8:04 a.m. | #

It may be clickbait but it's also delivered the second highest number of daily visitors to this blog ever. And it's not even 5pm yet.

So I'm conflicted.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 27.05.22 - 4:44 p.m. | #

An opening to look forward to will be that of the restored highwalk connection from the new Moorgate entrance; combined with the existing overbridge across Aldersgate Street into Barbican station, this will at least make it possible to walk from Liverpool Street to Farringdon without a) crossing a street & b) putting foot on the pavement

barbicanman | 27.05.22 - 6:44 p.m. | #

This is prime diamond geezer content. Ignore the doubters.

Alison Scott | Homepage | 30.05.22 - 8:25 a.m. | #











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