Geoff: You do have the presenting skills to make weird little discoveries like this a fascinating watch. This is why you NEED to do a piece on Britain's longest level crossing at Helpston, north of Peterborough. Six lines to cross, including the ECML and 70-metres between the gates. And there are two crossings within half a mile. Nobody's ever done it justice. You are the man!
I managed that at Paddington! Wanting to see the Westbound purple line platforms, I entered at the concourse end and thought that there was some direct connection to the H&C. There isn’t, £2.50. Capping eventually covered my error😅
@@apuldram Not to the H&C, but you can get to the District & Circle line platforms via the Bakerloo line tunnel. But how long did you wait until tapping out again? On a few occasions I've exited a station quickly after tapping in, and it's charged me £0.00.
Aircon charge. Mind you, if you enter a station, lingered for five minutes then walked back out, you could only receive a refund if the trains were cancelled.
Hey Geoff I am a young viewer of your channel and have been doing some research into the train lines in my area and found evidence of 4 old stations, a branch line and an old turntable site. I love your content keep up the good work!!!
Please tell us what your area is. On second though: perhaps not. You might get: 'I thought everyone that wasn't an idiot knew that the Station pub on Manchester Road was named after the Great Northern station that closed in 1917! Not the tram stop on the pub sign!!'.
Hey Geoff - if you ever find yourself back in NYC, there's a variation of this along 42nd Street now (thanks to the shuttle reconstruction) involving the Flushing Line.
in Paris this might be possible in Chatelet-Les Halles, as Metro line 4 stops twice in the complex,, although you might be forced through ticket barriers between Metro and RER platforms.
Geoff, I just wanted to say a huge “thank you” for all your videos. I’ve been stuck in Beijing for the last 2 and a half years because of The Pandemic. Your videos have been a great reminder of home. Hope to get back to finally catch up with my family and ride the Elizabeth line early next year. Cheers.
We’ve been able to do something like this in Midtown Manhattan for about a year now. The #7 subway line now stops twice within one massive paid area. You could enter the subway at Times Square, walk through the connecting tunnels to the #7 platforms at Fifth Avenue-Bryant Park, then ride the 7 the one stop back to Times Square and repeat the loop. When they rebuilt the 42nd street shuttle platform at Times Square, they added a connection to the Bryant Park station one block east, resulting in a super station that connects the A, B, C, D, E, F, M, N, Q, R, W, 1, 2, 3, 7(twice) and 42nd street shuttle trains within one massive fare control. The only caveat is the new connection between the two stations is only open 42nd street shuttle is running.
PABT is also connected to this. So you can walk from Port Authority all the way to Bryant Park without ever getting rained on. Which is around half the width of Manhattan at that point. Only downside: $2.75 for that creature comfort. Also that loop that you described takes 10 minutes to complete 1 lap. So if you want to get a bit of a workout in during your lunch break in Manhattan, that's a good way to do it.
That is really handy for the loop between Farringdon and barbican. I now don't have to wait for the sub surface trains. Thanks geoff for making this video
This reminds me a lot of Chicago's longest subway platform (which I believe is still the longest subway platform in the world) that holds 3 stations. It's all open so you can walk the whole length of it, while the trains stop at 3 different stations along it.
@@rousedg the Red Line’s platform is longer. The Blue Line one only goes as far north as Washington (100N) whereas the Red Line’s goes to Lake (300N) and they both go as far south as Jackson.
CTA (or its predecessor) just decided that building individual stations that close together wasn’t worth the effort so they built one giant station with multiple stops and entrances
The Infinite Loop sounds fun but having worked in the area for many years, I might try it on the surface and can think of several pubs between Farringdon and Barbican stations!
The quickest way from Heathrow to Brighton-bound destinations like East Croydon and Gatwick airport is to come through Farringdon - but instead of taking the escalators to the ticketing hall then back down to the southbound platform, take the lift at the eastern end of the Purp platform (instead of the escalators) up one level then you’re there on the southbound platform. Much faster.
This kinda reminds me of the RER Station Chatelet-Les Halles in Paris. The Station is long enough to literally walk between two Line 4 stations. If I remember correctly there's a video by the Ferrovipathe explaining this. Btw, great video as always!
Cheers Geoff - just done the shortcut at Dean St end of Tottenham Ct Rd. 👍… just a few EL points: at Paddington you can walk to the District & Circle without having going out of the station ( and get charged) but very convoluted by following Bakerloo line signs from EL. Also with new lifts you can press the door close button rather than having to wait. Oh and Canary Wharf EL doesnt really connect with Jubilee line esp with elderly parents. Unless you fancy a look round the shopping centre 😂
Great to see you at Paddington today You very helpful let us know which side to get the lift down to the lizzy line platform level! - realised I’d not subscribed or liked your Elizabeth line videos so have done so today!
I'm actually trying to work out in my head what the definition of the "infinite loop" is. Obviously there are lots of ways to arrive back at the same station by taking train loops, e.g. Oxford Circus - Piccadilly Circus - Green Park - Oxford Circus. Or Bank - Monument (via the tunnels) - Liverpool Street - Bank. Maybe the goal is to use just one train though? In which case Hatton Cross - Hatton Cross around the Heathrow loop...
It's a shame the Barbican exit of the Elizabeth Line doesn't deposit you (via steps, escalators or lift) on the walkways of the Barbican complex, because then you could pretty much walk along those walkways to Moorgate station. That would mean you could walk from Farringdon to Liverpool Street using just tunnels, walkways, lifts, escalators, steps, stairs, etc. No walking along at street level at all, apart from perhaps a few seconds at Moorgate. Unfortunately, as it is, you have to walk about a quarter of a mile along the pavement from the Barbican Purple Train exit to where Barbican tube station and the Barbican complex walkways are.
I can almost guarantee if you actually rode this loop as a regular passenger too many times, TFL would kick you out straightaway. I tried taking a picture in a station years ago, got booted. No way they'd want someone riding around. But as always, cool video!
Surely if you do this on an Oyster (or contactless) card, the system is going to count it as a same station exit. In which case if you take more than 30 minutes, it is going to sting you for two maximum fares. Unless of course TfL has equipped Barbican with pink card readers just for Geoff and his viewers.
My first entry into the new Crossrail stations after leaving St. Pancras was through that side Barbican entrance. Probably the least glamorous way to walk into the new stations but I really wanted to see Barbican while I was at it since it's a pretty open-air station.
It is possible to do a loop where I live in Maidenhead. You get on a train at Furze Platt. Travel to Bourne End. Get on the number 37 bus and travel all the way back to Furze Platt. Would take a little longer than your Farringdon Loop, but it is a lot more scenic.
This same thing is possible in the Paris Haussmann-Saint-Lazare complex, where 5 different metro statyion and two mainline stations are connected underground, and you can actually take line 3 from Opera to Saint-Lazare (2 stations, via Have Caumartin, which is also connected) and walk back.
I chortle when I think of how some of these scenes were shot; you walked along, put your camera down, walked back to where you started, walked past the camera, then ran back to the camera and picked it up, then walked on and repeated it, just so you could get the scenes of you walking along :P
Actually, the word "escalator" came before the verb "to escalate". It's related to French "escalier", a staircase. "To escalate" first gained currency during my life-time. I remember thinking that the choice of meaning for the verb was a bit silly, as escalators go down as well as up.
LMAO. Love it ! I remember one of the crossrail team telling me about the length of the platforms a couple of years ago. I have to play with this. Call it 'nerd amusement'.
Did this exactly the other way around just a couple of weeks ago - took the tube to Barbican, and took the secret lift to the liz line to get where I wanted to go just a little faster.
i dont worry so much anymore. i think we determined that a TFL press officer often accompanies Geoff on his adventures. the person doesnt wish to be on camera. all Geoff needs to do is book this, and he already has a pass to allow his kind of filming/videoing (which might incur a fee). the TFL press officer exists for all press and movie TV stuff, not only for Geoff.
@@fumthings Interesting. I certainly know that taking photos and videos of loads of typically non tourist things is going to draw the attention of security services...so anyone trying to emulate Geoff may experience problems. I recall a person vlogging his walks in various parts of Switzerland had an issue when he was making a video of walking in the public area of Geneva airport and certainly could not film all of it
At 2:38 why do you press -3 in the lift? It says -3 is for the Elizabeth line, which is where you've just come from. I'd have thought you'd need to press 0 or -1?
@@aidenstanley7305 This is correct, I saw this with my own eyes today. Maybe TFL removed them to stop people using this method to get to Barbican platform?
Thanks for introducing a lot about Farringdon Station which is a station mean a lot to me as I worked there from 2019 when I went for my working holiday in UK and this was my first local job but now as I saw from your video,the station changed a lot haha 🤣 it's bigger and cleaner👍
Why do you get charged a penalty for not going anywhere? Doesn't make sense. I try to use a paper ticket as much as possible when I visit London to avoid these problems.
@@ajs41 they don't want people on the tube for the Aircon is my understanding but it's a bit strange. Paper tickets costs a surcharge of at least £1.50 more than an oyster or contactless fare so probably don't
My Favourite Station getting off the Thameslink service at Farringdon from the North as the new Elizebeth line has made my life easier connecting to Tottenham Court Road and i can avoid the crowds on the tube.
Have you done anything on the Elizabeth Line at Heathrow? I've just flown in from Oslo and there are some signs for it, and even one saying it's open, but it doesn't seem to be possible to actually get on it. The Elizabeth Line signs just send you to the Piccadilly Line platform. And I was too annoyed at that to even try to get out and try again, it was 11pm and I just wanted to keep moving in the direction of home.
Are you going to do a race, which is faster walk the Elizabeth line platform or take the circle/hammersmith line or even walk via street level for both Liverpool street/moorgate and Farringdon/barbican.
Yo that's crazy, if you get a train from London to Edinburgh then take a train back to London you get back where you started! An infinite loop! Jokes aside I love your videos! ❤
Just tried a slight variation - got off an eastbound purpletrain at Farringdon, went westbound on a Met train and back onto another eastbound purp to continue the journey 😀
To anyone thinking of trying this, bear in mind that you haven't got 2 hours. If you enter and exit at different stations then you've got 90 minutes weekday daytimes, rising to 110 minutes on Sundays. If you exit at the same station as you entered you've only go 30 minutes at any time. Exceed either limit and you'll be charged for 2 maximum journeys.
only if you are doing this using an Oystercard I should imagine. People in London forget that other people exist and maybe using a travelcard for tube travel. Id like someone to explain what would happen if a user did this. Surely as its prepaid they cannot charge you but I suppose its possible it could glitch barriers and they may not work. I doubt if anything happens
@@danteshydratshirt2360 Yes of course, if you have a day travelcard you can carry on going round in circles until 4.30am the next day (or until they close the station). I can assure you that it's not only Londoners that use PAYG though.
This makes me wonder, what's the longest distance you can walk without leaving stations (only tunnels, platforms, etc.) Also: missed opportunity of doing a timelapse of going round in circles ;)
At one point in your opening-week exploration videos, you said you weren’t going to do a “secrets of” video. But it feels like this one and the others are an expanded set of secrets of episodes. 😉
In Bucharest, we have something really similar. The M1 Metro line starts at the Dristor station and loops around the city before passing through Dristor again en route to the Republica station. You can technically take the metro from Dristor to Dristor and then just hop off and take another metro from Dristor to Dristor, forever.
That's more akin to Edgware Road station on the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines, where the Circle line goes round from Hammersmith via Edgware Road and King's Cross, only to terminate back at Edgware Road.
Hey Geoff, I have two games for you, but don't know if you've already done this. So... Game 1: LO and another line crosses each other at two points, which is the quickest? So, Whitechapel to West Brompton on the LO via Clapham Junction with fewer stops but longer distance or, the DL from Whitechapel to West Brompton albeit, more direct but with also more stops? Game 2: Starting from Oval, which is the fastest way to get to Camden Town on the Northern Line? There are 3 possibilities, you have: 1. Oval to Camden Town via CX which is 11 stops; 2. Oval to Camden Town via Bank which too is 11 stops; or 3. Oval to Euston, Euston to Camden Town so you skip Mornington Crescent, and therefore, you complete one less stop.
You said you could do similar between Moorgate & Farringdon???...... Did you mean Moorgate & Liv Street?...... The excitement of Crossrail opening is catching with you Geoff, perhaps it's time to have a liitle rest?...... (but not too long as we'd all miss your vids!)......
I completed the infinite loop at Farringdon station on my lunch break. Took me 11 minutes and that included leaving and returning to my office (right next to the station) It was a joy
At 4:40 you said it is possible to also do it between Morgate and Farringdon. As I know it is possible to walk from Liverpool St to Morgate and Farringdon to Barbican. Is a Liverpool St to Farringdon underground walk possible? I can’t find any information online!
You should try the super secret tunnel that takes you from Moorgate into the eliz line at Liverpool Street, very handy when coming off the northern line
@@ajs41 if you get off at the northern line station at Moorgate, you will start seeing signs for either Liverpool Street or one of the associated lines at LS. If you follow the signs, bit of a trek through the tunnels, you will eventually end up at the eliz line platform towards a by wood/Paddington at LS without having to go above ground. Really handy
If it takes 13 minutes to do it once, you can potentially do it 9 times (although that only leaves a 3 minute window for problems). You're more likely to only complete 8 loops.
it might be possible to do more- after all, Geoff may have used some of that time to place his camera for getting the shots he wanted, and he didn't seem to be pushing the pace on getting to and from platforms
@@keithpanda No. That "journey" is not free in any scenario. Under 2 mins: you get charged a maximum penalty fare Between 2 and 30 mins: you get charged the fare for the cheapest journey you *could* have made from the station Over 30 mins: you get charged 2 maximum penalty fares
@@artursdobrecovs they really need to sort out their pricing as it seems very messy. What about anyone using a Travelcard? I come into London from Kent so any uses of the tube is via travelcard. Does this weird payment stuff only happen with Oyster payments?
I believe that the lift in Crossrail house that links the gardens down to the Elizabeth line has a button that says "cross rail ticket hall" rather than ""Elizabeth line", why is this?
Could you not already do the same thing if you start at Waterloo East, go onto the Jubilee Line at the Eastern end of the platforms, which brings you into Southwark Station, travel one stop back to Waterloo and then up the escalators to Waterloo East.
We have crosswalk buttons that say ‘wait’ when pressed and I often make them say ‘wait... wait...wait wait wait’. It’s so annoying someone actually shouted at me about it across four lanes of traffic.
Did you try the following in Paris: enter Saint-Lazare métro station, walk through Haussmann-Saint-Lazare and Auber (skipping Havre-Caumartin) to Opéra, and then ride M3 back to Saint-Lazare?
I was pretty annoyed last week when I changed from Elizabeth line to national rail, oyster counts it as two separated jounery (and charges me an extra £3.2 ). I tapped out at Liverpool street high level, and tapped in at moorgate tube station, maybe if I tapped in at Liverpool street low-level then it saves me £3.2? (I mean its exactly the same services I used, only difference is changing via street level or via the crossrail platform)
Yes, you made a pointless walk to a different entrance on the other side of the EL platform and paid the price both physically and financially. That's like getting off at Cannon St, walking to Blackfriars tube, and expecting it to work as an OSI.
@@aidenstanley7305 i was changing from Liverpool Street high level (from Stratford), so the walk is necessary, either at street level or the crowded underground platform
@@memediatek Why do you get charged a penalty for not going anywhere? Seems silly. I sometimes make a mistake and enter the wrong station and come out straight away. I try to use paper tickets to avoid any of this.
If you tap out in under 2 minutes at the same station that you tapped in at, it will charge you a maximum penalty fare. Between 2 and 30 minutes, it will charge you the minimum fare from that station. Over 30 minutes it will charge you 2 maximum penalty fares.
@@artursdobrecovs What's the penalty for? Are you entitled to a refund if you get charged that penalty fare, or is it the set fare for a zero-length journey?
@@superfluidity the penalty fare is applied because it assumes that you've been fare evading. So if you spend more than 30 mins within the gateline, it assumes you tapped in, did *not* tap out at the end of the journey, did *not* tap in on a *second* journey, and then *did* tap out for the second journey. As it can't guess where exactly you "went", the maximum fare is charged. If you've not done this in the last 7 days, the penalty fare will usually be automatically refunded. If not, you can apply for a refund on the TfL website after 48 hours have passed. It used to be the case that you could only refund this 3 times per rolling month, but that has been removed from the website so I'm not sure if it's still the case
@@superfluidity i think the penalty is to discourage "bad" behaviour. and is automated as such. its kind of like short loitering (which seems to be a thing) and if you loiter for longer its on cctv anyway. its easier to arrive at a station by train go out and come straight back in and continue. afaik there is no penalty or bad use case for going "out then in" a station, but there is a penalty for going "in then out".
Thing is if you're really lazy and you happen to get off the Purple train on the Eastern end of Farringdon station, you can then get a train to the Western end of Farringdon station at no extra cost 😛
Yes - the Elizabeth line system is completely step free, although you'd have to ring into the control centre and hope they're in good spirits to get the ramp boarding sorted out at Barbican.
TIL: If you press the lift call button 3 times in quick succession, the TFL thinks your Geoff and the lift takes you to a secret level.
Nope, it will take you to the least used level on the lift
@@davidcurry5239 Ohoho yes!
Level 9 3/4?
@@Chrizz06041980 Oooh - the incline lift might be able to do that!
@@firesurfer Oh I really wish that happened, I would happily convert to pushing the button thrice!
Geoff: You do have the presenting skills to make weird little discoveries like this a fascinating watch. This is why you NEED to do a piece on Britain's longest level crossing at Helpston, north of Peterborough. Six lines to cross, including the ECML and 70-metres between the gates. And there are two crossings within half a mile. Nobody's ever done it justice. You are the man!
I suppose it's possible to enter at Farringdon, walk to the Barbican exit and leave, and pay TFL £2.50 for the privilege of waking in their tunnels...
I managed that at Paddington! Wanting to see the Westbound purple line platforms, I entered at the concourse end and thought that there was some direct connection to the H&C. There isn’t, £2.50. Capping eventually covered my error😅
See also Blackfriars and Southwark-Waterloo East as a friend of mine recently discovered.
@@apuldram Not to the H&C, but you can get to the District & Circle line platforms via the Bakerloo line tunnel. But how long did you wait until tapping out again? On a few occasions I've exited a station quickly after tapping in, and it's charged me £0.00.
@@Reason077 would be nice if there was a direct tunnel from the western end of the Elizabeth Line to the H&C too…
Aircon charge. Mind you, if you enter a station, lingered for five minutes then walked back out, you could only receive a refund if the trains were cancelled.
Hey Geoff I am a young viewer of your channel and have been doing some research into the train lines in my area and found evidence of 4 old stations, a branch line and an old turntable site. I love your content keep up the good work!!!
Please tell us what your area is.
On second though: perhaps not. You might get: 'I thought everyone that wasn't an idiot knew that the Station pub on Manchester Road was named after the Great Northern station that closed in 1917! Not the tram stop on the pub sign!!'.
Make a quick video and send/link it to Geoff..!!
4 years is a long time to wait in excitement - that alone deserves praise!
On top of the production quality!
in about a couple weeks I'm going to London and I'm definitly going with this secret lift! Thank you for sharing, greetings from the netherlands
Hey Geoff - if you ever find yourself back in NYC, there's a variation of this along 42nd Street now (thanks to the shuttle reconstruction) involving the Flushing Line.
in Paris this might be possible in Chatelet-Les Halles, as Metro line 4 stops twice in the complex,, although you might be forced through ticket barriers between Metro and RER platforms.
Ok - Flushing Line is my new favourite name for a line!
@@aeronautic2374 That’s our Purple Train (also called the 7 line)
@@joermnyc ...I seriously don't know why I didn't think of that (the color) when I made the comment. That was a genius observation.
@@joermnyc Well it certain a better name than "Elizabeth Line" - I still think "Elizabeth Rail" would have been better...
Geoff, I just wanted to say a huge “thank you” for all your videos. I’ve been stuck in Beijing for the last 2 and a half years because of The Pandemic. Your videos have been a great reminder of home. Hope to get back to finally catch up with my family and ride the Elizabeth line early next year. Cheers.
hope you get back soon, take it easy.
I just love this kind of nerdy, OCD level, videos !
We’ve been able to do something like this in Midtown Manhattan for about a year now.
The #7 subway line now stops twice within one massive paid area. You could enter the subway at Times Square, walk through the connecting tunnels to the #7 platforms at Fifth Avenue-Bryant Park, then ride the 7 the one stop back to Times Square and repeat the loop.
When they rebuilt the 42nd street shuttle platform at Times Square, they added a connection to the Bryant Park station one block east, resulting in a super station that connects the A, B, C, D, E, F, M, N, Q, R, W, 1, 2, 3, 7(twice) and 42nd street shuttle trains within one massive fare control.
The only caveat is the new connection between the two stations is only open 42nd street shuttle is running.
I tell people to just go outside and walk. It's quicker than going up and down stairs. The only time it's better is when the weather is bad outside.
Never been more confused using trains then I was using the NYC subway 🤯🤯
PABT is also connected to this. So you can walk from Port Authority all the way to Bryant Park without ever getting rained on. Which is around half the width of Manhattan at that point.
Only downside: $2.75 for that creature comfort.
Also that loop that you described takes 10 minutes to complete 1 lap. So if you want to get a bit of a workout in during your lunch break in Manhattan, that's a good way to do it.
Utterly pointless but that's the fun of it! Glad you're enjoying finding all these new quirks of the new station set ups.
@dueeh nyyu Nah they’d probably just know that its Geoff again!
That is really handy for the loop between Farringdon and barbican. I now don't have to wait for the sub surface trains. Thanks geoff for making this video
This reminds me a lot of Chicago's longest subway platform (which I believe is still the longest subway platform in the world) that holds 3 stations. It's all open so you can walk the whole length of it, while the trains stop at 3 different stations along it.
I forget if the Blue Line version is longer than the Red Line version...
I think it works the same way in Downtown Philadelphia, doesn't it?
@@rousedg the Red Line’s platform is longer. The Blue Line one only goes as far north as Washington (100N) whereas the Red Line’s goes to Lake (300N) and they both go as far south as Jackson.
@@Mergatroid Thanks.
CTA (or its predecessor) just decided that building individual stations that close together wasn’t worth the effort so they built one giant station with multiple stops and entrances
The Infinite Loop sounds fun but having worked in the area for many years, I might try it on the surface and can think of several pubs between Farringdon and Barbican stations!
Regarding pubs. The Farringdon end is for the kids, those in the know (hence the secret lift) go to the Barbican end😂
The quickest way from Heathrow to Brighton-bound destinations like East Croydon and Gatwick airport is to come through Farringdon - but instead of taking the escalators to the ticketing hall then back down to the southbound platform, take the lift at the eastern end of the Purp platform (instead of the escalators) up one level then you’re there on the southbound platform. Much faster.
The new stations are so pretty! These vids are getting me excited for the next time I’m in London☺️.
London : stations so near you can use another one to walk between them
Paris : station so big you can use two stops on the same line to cross it
No way! I discovered this myself when I was in London two days ago! The timing!
Great video, Geoff- this anomaly is like something from the mind of Escher 😂
'I want a return ticket.'
'Where to?'
'Farringdon.'
'But this IS Farringdon.'
'Yes, and that's where I want to return to!'
I do hope that now you have made us aware of the Infinite Loop challenge, that we will be seeing it in action very soon 😉
Exactly - he can't mention it and then not try it.
So, if you're at the "wrong" end of a CrossLizPurpLine train, which "double station" is the best to switch ends without walking up the train?
Farringdon/Barbican and Moorgate/Liverpool Street seem the best to do this.
🤣
This kinda reminds me of the RER Station Chatelet-Les Halles in Paris. The Station is long enough to literally walk between two Line 4 stations. If I remember correctly there's a video by the Ferrovipathe explaining this. Btw, great video as always!
I think thats the most fun, daft information every and a can’t wait to have a go my self next time I’m in London
Thanks Geoff, you have made my day.
Cheers Geoff - just done the shortcut at Dean St end of Tottenham Ct Rd. 👍… just a few EL points: at Paddington you can walk to the District & Circle without having going out of the station ( and get charged) but very convoluted by following Bakerloo line signs from EL. Also with new lifts you can press the door close button rather than having to wait. Oh and Canary Wharf EL doesnt really connect with Jubilee line esp with elderly parents. Unless you fancy a look round the shopping centre 😂
lol the transfer at canary wharf is a maze
Great to see you at Paddington today
You very helpful let us know which side to get the lift down to the lizzy line platform level! - realised I’d not subscribed or liked your Elizabeth line videos so have done so today!
This is where those shoes with the rollers in the heels would come in very handy
You departed Farringdon and arrived at Farringdon.
I did this the other day following your previous video and it was a life saver!!!
It's always a great day when Geoff uploads! 😁
what is this absolute sorcery! 🔮👀
Omg its youtube
Silence brand
only 7 likes???
@@Rowan66109 19
Dead
The “Infinite Loop Challenge” is the new tube challenge. Yay 😀
I'm actually trying to work out in my head what the definition of the "infinite loop" is. Obviously there are lots of ways to arrive back at the same station by taking train loops, e.g. Oxford Circus - Piccadilly Circus - Green Park - Oxford Circus. Or Bank - Monument (via the tunnels) - Liverpool Street - Bank. Maybe the goal is to use just one train though? In which case Hatton Cross - Hatton Cross around the Heathrow loop...
@@stephenholt4670 It’s an “infinite” conundrum 🥴
It's a shame the Barbican exit of the Elizabeth Line doesn't deposit you (via steps, escalators or lift) on the walkways of the Barbican complex, because then you could pretty much walk along those walkways to Moorgate station. That would mean you could walk from Farringdon to Liverpool Street using just tunnels, walkways, lifts, escalators, steps, stairs, etc. No walking along at street level at all, apart from perhaps a few seconds at Moorgate. Unfortunately, as it is, you have to walk about a quarter of a mile along the pavement from the Barbican Purple Train exit to where Barbican tube station and the Barbican complex walkways are.
I can almost guarantee if you actually rode this loop as a regular passenger too many times, TFL would kick you out straightaway. I tried taking a picture in a station years ago, got booted. No way they'd want someone riding around. But as always, cool video!
mind blown. I lived in the Barbican in the 90s. love you videos!
Surely if you do this on an Oyster (or contactless) card, the system is going to count it as a same station exit. In which case if you take more than 30 minutes, it is going to sting you for two maximum fares. Unless of course TfL has equipped Barbican with pink card readers just for Geoff and his viewers.
I was thinking the same. You'd have to exit from the other station so you'd have to do a half loop at the end.
You would never have to tap your oyster card again after the initial entry as you remain on the other side of the gate line throughout the loop
@@Jamstarii but then what? You’d still have to go somewhere else afterwards
Suburban stations on the Elizabeth line don’t have faregates, do they?
@@RoyalFlushFan I only visited one but it did.
My first entry into the new Crossrail stations after leaving St. Pancras was through that side Barbican entrance. Probably the least glamorous way to walk into the new stations but I really wanted to see Barbican while I was at it since it's a pretty open-air station.
It is possible to do a loop where I live in Maidenhead. You get on a train at Furze Platt. Travel to Bourne End. Get on the number 37 bus and travel all the way back to Furze Platt. Would take a little longer than your Farringdon Loop, but it is a lot more scenic.
Also not a loop, as you're changing fare zones' (train to bus to train to bus to train to bus to (is taken out and shot))
This same thing is possible in the Paris Haussmann-Saint-Lazare complex, where 5 different metro statyion and two mainline stations are connected underground, and you can actually take line 3 from Opera to Saint-Lazare (2 stations, via Have Caumartin, which is also connected) and walk back.
I feel like I've just been Incepted.....or something......good one, Geoff!
Only Geoff could find such a amusing tid-bit within the complexities of the underground
Now I gotta do it now when i get down to London next
I chortle when I think of how some of these scenes were shot; you walked along, put your camera down, walked back to where you started, walked past the camera, then ran back to the camera and picked it up, then walked on and repeated it, just so you could get the scenes of you walking along :P
4:39 min I believe you mean between Moorgate and Liverpool Street
I still think escalators that go down should be called de-escalators
Actually, the word "escalator" came before the verb "to escalate". It's related to French "escalier", a staircase. "To escalate" first gained currency during my life-time. I remember thinking that the choice of meaning for the verb was a bit silly, as escalators go down as well as up.
This is a fascinating video - thanks Geoff!
Put a 180 degree twist in there somewhere and get a Mobius loop!
Yeah, just turn yourself upside down!
It's morbing time
LMAO. Love it ! I remember one of the crossrail team telling me about the length of the platforms a couple of years ago. I have to play with this. Call it 'nerd amusement'.
what are they going to do with the now defunct platform at Barbican & will they ever re-institute the Class Canopy (see the cast iron wall posts
Having used the station several times changing between TL, LU and CR, they really need to add some Oyster/Contactless validators.
I finally used the new line last weekend and it is amazing. It looked so new and clean! Interesting shortcuts!
Did this exactly the other way around just a couple of weeks ago - took the tube to Barbican, and took the secret lift to the liz line to get where I wanted to go just a little faster.
Is Geoff now having ideas beyond his station?
Impossible. They're all his. All The Stations, you could say.
(Laughs) excellent vid- as ususl..
Does anyone else worry that someone will pinch Geoff’s camera when he leaves it for his “walk past” shots?
i dont worry so much anymore. i think we determined that a TFL press officer often accompanies Geoff on his adventures. the person doesnt wish to be on camera. all Geoff needs to do is book this, and he already has a pass to allow his kind of filming/videoing (which might incur a fee). the TFL press officer exists for all press and movie TV stuff, not only for Geoff.
@@fumthings Interesting. I certainly know that taking photos and videos of loads of typically non tourist things is going to draw the attention of security services...so anyone trying to emulate Geoff may experience problems. I recall a person vlogging his walks in various parts of Switzerland had an issue when he was making a video of walking in the public area of Geneva airport and certainly could not film all of it
I tried the Infinite Loop today. It was great fun! 😀
At 2:38 why do you press -3 in the lift? It says -3 is for the Elizabeth line, which is where you've just come from. I'd have thought you'd need to press 0 or -1?
Yes, when I did it, going TO Barbican, I had to press the -1 button.
@@JLBodhran you are correct John, did this on Friday and it was -1.
Not that the lift tells you that. I found it by fluke.
@@mushy3424 the labels have apparently been stolen, according to someone a couple of weeks ago.
I'm guessing Geoff went up and down several times, and accidentally included the wrong take in the video?
@@aidenstanley7305 This is correct, I saw this with my own eyes today. Maybe TFL removed them to stop people using this method to get to Barbican platform?
Thanks for introducing a lot about Farringdon Station which is a station mean a lot to me as I worked there from 2019 when I went for my working holiday in UK and this was my first local job but now as I saw from your video,the station changed a lot haha 🤣 it's bigger and cleaner👍
For the challenge you cannot enter the same station and exit as you'll be charged a penalty fare for not going anywhere.
Great vid as always
Why do you get charged a penalty for not going anywhere? Doesn't make sense. I try to use a paper ticket as much as possible when I visit London to avoid these problems.
@@ajs41 they don't want people on the tube for the Aircon is my understanding but it's a bit strange. Paper tickets costs a surcharge of at least £1.50 more than an oyster or contactless fare so probably don't
My Favourite Station getting off the Thameslink service at Farringdon from the North as the new Elizebeth line has made my life easier connecting to Tottenham Court Road and i can avoid the crowds on the tube.
That would just be fun to do and honestly a future video idea how many times you can go round in a loop in 2 hours! Great Video Geoff.
Hey Geoff....Will you be coming to watch the last 507s/508s on Mwrseyrail this year..and don't suppose you know when it will be......🤞🤞🤞
Going around in circles - the story of my life :)
is it a very similar thing at Chatlet/Les Halles on Paris metro line 4?
Have you done anything on the Elizabeth Line at Heathrow? I've just flown in from Oslo and there are some signs for it, and even one saying it's open, but it doesn't seem to be possible to actually get on it. The Elizabeth Line signs just send you to the Piccadilly Line platform. And I was too annoyed at that to even try to get out and try again, it was 11pm and I just wanted to keep moving in the direction of home.
Yeah, it's the national rail platforms. You probably followed the things that look like the right roundel but we're actually underground roundels.
@@aidenstanley7305 they were purple and said Elizabeth Line.
Geoff and the great glass elevator 👍👍👍
Are you going to do a race, which is faster walk the Elizabeth line platform or take the circle/hammersmith line or even walk via street level for both Liverpool street/moorgate and Farringdon/barbican.
This my man deserves a like. I have a freedom pass due to 5 slipped discs, but I recon I could get far on this infinite loop.
Yo that's crazy, if you get a train from London to Edinburgh then take a train back to London you get back where you started! An infinite loop! Jokes aside I love your videos! ❤
Was that TFL/EL Staff Geoff Marshall Spotting at Barbican lift exit?
Just tried a slight variation - got off an eastbound purpletrain at Farringdon, went westbound on a Met train and back onto another eastbound purp to continue the journey 😀
To anyone thinking of trying this, bear in mind that you haven't got 2 hours. If you enter and exit at different stations then you've got 90 minutes weekday daytimes, rising to 110 minutes on Sundays. If you exit at the same station as you entered you've only go 30 minutes at any time. Exceed either limit and you'll be charged for 2 maximum journeys.
100 minutes after 7pm on a weekday or all day on Saturday though.
@@artursdobrecovs yes, didn't want to overdo the figures.
@@oysterfarescentral fair enough
only if you are doing this using an Oystercard I should imagine. People in London forget that other people exist and maybe using a travelcard for tube travel. Id like someone to explain what would happen if a user did this. Surely as its prepaid they cannot charge you but I suppose its possible it could glitch barriers and they may not work. I doubt if anything happens
@@danteshydratshirt2360 Yes of course, if you have a day travelcard you can carry on going round in circles until 4.30am the next day (or until they close the station). I can assure you that it's not only Londoners that use PAYG though.
MC Escher would be proud.
Hello Geoff! I have been really interested in your videos and actually would like to see you make a series of “Secrets of the Elizabeth Line!”
And here I am at Belgade Centre, drowsily waiting for my 50-year-old sleeper train taking me to Bar.
This makes me wonder, what's the longest distance you can walk without leaving stations (only tunnels, platforms, etc.)
Also: missed opportunity of doing a timelapse of going round in circles ;)
Oh surely it's got to be that horrible walk from Monument to Bank i.e. District W&CL?
At one point in your opening-week exploration videos, you said you weren’t going to do a “secrets of” video. But it feels like this one and the others are an expanded set of secrets of episodes. 😉
In Bucharest, we have something really similar. The M1 Metro line starts at the Dristor station and loops around the city before passing through Dristor again en route to the Republica station.
You can technically take the metro from Dristor to Dristor and then just hop off and take another metro from Dristor to Dristor, forever.
That's more akin to Edgware Road station on the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines, where the Circle line goes round from Hammersmith via Edgware Road and King's Cross, only to terminate back at Edgware Road.
What a”hoot” of a journey into infinity’s jurisdiction of Central London , with great suggestions of what to do when one retires ?
Hey Geoff, I have two games for you, but don't know if you've already done this. So...
Game 1: LO and another line crosses each other at two points, which is the quickest? So, Whitechapel to West Brompton on the LO via Clapham Junction with fewer stops but longer distance or, the DL from Whitechapel to West Brompton albeit, more direct but with also more stops?
Game 2: Starting from Oval, which is the fastest way to get to Camden Town on the Northern Line? There are 3 possibilities, you have:
1. Oval to Camden Town via CX which is 11 stops;
2. Oval to Camden Town via Bank which too is 11 stops; or
3. Oval to Euston, Euston to Camden Town so you skip Mornington Crescent, and therefore, you complete one less stop.
You said you could do similar between Moorgate & Farringdon???...... Did you mean Moorgate & Liv Street?...... The excitement of Crossrail opening is catching with you Geoff, perhaps it's time to have a liitle rest?...... (but not too long as we'd all miss your vids!)......
What now defines a distinct and individual station ?!
I completed the infinite loop at Farringdon station on my lunch break. Took me 11 minutes and that included leaving and returning to my office (right next to the station)
It was a joy
At 4:40 you said it is possible to also do it between Morgate and Farringdon. As I know it is possible to walk from Liverpool St to Morgate and Farringdon to Barbican. Is a Liverpool St to Farringdon underground walk possible? I can’t find any information online!
What a wonderfully pointless video. Love it!!!
You should try the super secret tunnel that takes you from Moorgate into the eliz line at Liverpool Street, very handy when coming off the northern line
Which tunnel?
@@ajs41 if you get off at the northern line station at Moorgate, you will start seeing signs for either Liverpool Street or one of the associated lines at LS. If you follow the signs, bit of a trek through the tunnels, you will eventually end up at the eliz line platform towards a by wood/Paddington at LS without having to go above ground. Really handy
@@roboguard96 Thanks, I'll try it.
Nice video Geoff!
If you say Geoff’s name three times, you summon the devil.
If it takes 13 minutes to do it once, you can potentially do it 9 times (although that only leaves a 3 minute window for problems). You're more likely to only complete 8 loops.
it might be possible to do more- after all, Geoff may have used some of that time to place his camera for getting the shots he wanted, and he didn't seem to be pushing the pace on getting to and from platforms
If you're tapping in and back out at Farringdon, assuming 13 minutes per cycle, you can only do it twice. 4 minutes to spare.
Am I understanding this correctly. If you tap in at Farringdon then just under 2 hours later you tap out also at Farringdon the journey is free?
@@keithpanda No. That "journey" is not free in any scenario.
Under 2 mins: you get charged a maximum penalty fare
Between 2 and 30 mins: you get charged the fare for the cheapest journey you *could* have made from the station
Over 30 mins: you get charged 2 maximum penalty fares
@@artursdobrecovs they really need to sort out their pricing as it seems very messy. What about anyone using a Travelcard? I come into London from Kent so any uses of the tube is via travelcard. Does this weird payment stuff only happen with Oyster payments?
I believe that the lift in Crossrail house that links the gardens down to the Elizabeth line has a button that says "cross rail ticket hall" rather than ""Elizabeth line", why is this?
That'll be because it's quite old compared to the line and isn't managed by TFL.
@@aidenstanley7305 I wondered if TfL ownership came into it
I can’t wait for his video of the Euston KXSP Crossrail 2 station!
Geoff, why didn’t you use the incline lift!? It’s amazing!
He used it on a previous video I think.
Could you not already do the same thing if you start at Waterloo East, go onto the Jubilee Line at the Eastern end of the platforms, which brings you into Southwark Station, travel one stop back to Waterloo and then up the escalators to Waterloo East.
Not without going through ticket barriers.
@@JohnLeeming23 Yes, I agree, but my point is Waterloo East is one station which spans two other stations, those being Waterloo Tube and Southwark.
We have crosswalk buttons that say ‘wait’ when pressed and I often make them say ‘wait... wait...wait wait wait’. It’s so annoying someone actually shouted at me about it across four lanes of traffic.
Walking between Farringdon and Barbican costs how much?
Surely with that secret lift that says westbound only, I wonder if it will confuse people when they come out at Barbican. Instead of Farringdon.
You can cross over to the eastbound from the Westbound
Did you try the following in Paris: enter Saint-Lazare métro station, walk through Haussmann-Saint-Lazare and Auber (skipping Havre-Caumartin) to Opéra, and then ride M3 back to Saint-Lazare?
I was pretty annoyed last week when I changed from Elizabeth line to national rail, oyster counts it as two separated jounery (and charges me an extra £3.2 ). I tapped out at Liverpool street high level, and tapped in at moorgate tube station, maybe if I tapped in at Liverpool street low-level then it saves me £3.2? (I mean its exactly the same services I used, only difference is changing via street level or via the crossrail platform)
Yes, you made a pointless walk to a different entrance on the other side of the EL platform and paid the price both physically and financially. That's like getting off at Cannon St, walking to Blackfriars tube, and expecting it to work as an OSI.
@@aidenstanley7305 i was changing from Liverpool Street high level (from Stratford), so the walk is necessary, either at street level or the crowded underground platform
Would not 1 be assessed a penalty fare if they tap out at the same station they tapped in at...?
Not after 10 minutes usually, enough time for one loop
@@memediatek Why do you get charged a penalty for not going anywhere? Seems silly. I sometimes make a mistake and enter the wrong station and come out straight away. I try to use paper tickets to avoid any of this.
Question: do you pay anything if you do this or does the system think you changed your mind and let you out for free?
If you tap out in under 2 minutes at the same station that you tapped in at, it will charge you a maximum penalty fare. Between 2 and 30 minutes, it will charge you the minimum fare from that station. Over 30 minutes it will charge you 2 maximum penalty fares.
@@artursdobrecovs What's the penalty for? Are you entitled to a refund if you get charged that penalty fare, or is it the set fare for a zero-length journey?
@@superfluidity the penalty fare is applied because it assumes that you've been fare evading. So if you spend more than 30 mins within the gateline, it assumes you tapped in, did *not* tap out at the end of the journey, did *not* tap in on a *second* journey, and then *did* tap out for the second journey. As it can't guess where exactly you "went", the maximum fare is charged.
If you've not done this in the last 7 days, the penalty fare will usually be automatically refunded. If not, you can apply for a refund on the TfL website after 48 hours have passed.
It used to be the case that you could only refund this 3 times per rolling month, but that has been removed from the website so I'm not sure if it's still the case
@@superfluidity you might be, if you can be bothered to wait the hold time and get a sympathetic person on the phone.
@@superfluidity i think the penalty is to discourage "bad" behaviour. and is automated as such. its kind of like short loitering (which seems to be a thing) and if you loiter for longer its on cctv anyway. its easier to arrive at a station by train go out and come straight back in and continue. afaik there is no penalty or bad use case for going "out then in" a station, but there is a penalty for going "in then out".
Thing is if you're really lazy and you happen to get off the Purple train on the Eastern end of Farringdon station, you can then get a train to the Western end of Farringdon station at no extra cost 😛
Lol
Same at Liverpool Street/Moorgate
This is my kind of daft thing to do. Could I do it on my mobility scooter though?
I use a Rollator and am subject to the same restrictions as a wheelchair although I can, and do, walk holding on.
Yes - the Elizabeth line system is completely step free, although you'd have to ring into the control centre and hope they're in good spirits to get the ramp boarding sorted out at Barbican.