(upbeat music)
(traffic humming)
- So this is Covent Garden tube station,
on the Piccadilly Line,
right in the heart of London in zone one.
And this way-
- Is Leicester Square tube station
just one stop down the line.
- Now, it's a well-known fact-
Hi- - Hello.
that the shortest distance between
any two tube stations on the tube network
is the classic Covent Garden to Leicester Square.
It's the shortest journey you can make.
- It's also the most expensive for the distance,
which is just 270 metres between the two stations.
(upbeat music)
- [Geoff] Charing Cross to Embankment on the Northern Line
comes a very close second,
but the trip between Leicester Square and Covent Garden
really is the shortest, taking just half a minute
from the moment the train sets off
to the moment that it stops again.
- But what I wanna know is, I don't think,
maybe apart from some poor tourists
that don't know any better,
nobody really gets on a Leicester Square
and goes one stop to Covent Garden.
Do they? - True.
- Don't do that.
More likely, people do it as part of
their integrated journey - Yes.
if you're a commuter or you work at Govent Garden.
- 'Cause if you're on the Piccadilly Line already.
- It makes sense to
go to Covent Garden. - Just, just stay, yes.
- However, what if you're travelling on the Northern Line?
And that's what I want to test today.
- Right, okay.
- So, if you're coming down the Northern Line.
- Ah-ha?
- Is it quicker to get out a Leicester Square
and walk just a few seconds down Long Acre? Or-
- So, go up the escalators, up the stairs, okay.
- Or is it longer, as I think it is, to change,
at Leicester Square. - Yes.
- You've got to walk the steps to the corridor,
wait for a train, - Yep.
- At Covent Garden. - Okay.
- Got the lift or the stairs.
Surely that takes longer
than just coming out on the escalator.
- Okay.
- Especially if you walk up the escalator
at Leicester Square. - Yep.
- So as a test, we're going to do it
three times, that's six. - Yes.
- Then we're gonna do it three times.
- I'll hold two, you hold one.
Three times.
- And, we've already, I'm gonna-
- You're gonna get the train.
You're going to change trains.
- And you're gonna-
- I'm gonna walk.
- Time ourselves, but generally just be like,
who gets to Covent Garden first.
- Where are we going to meet?
- Outside Covent Garden tube station.
- Okay.
- See you there?
Oh no, we've gotta go down to- - See you there.
- Yeah. (laughs)
That was my cue for you
to cut. - Yeah, yeah.
- Let's do it from-
- Hold on.
- Tottenham Court Road.
(upbeat music)
- So I'm going to start my watch
from when the train moves.
- So, not when the doors close?
- Not when the doors close, when it moves.
We change at Leicester Square.
You take the street.
I go on the Piccadilly.
See you outside Covent Garden.
See who gets there first.
- [Vicki] At our designated.
- At our designated meeting spot. (laughs)
- [Vicki] Nice t-shirt.
- Thanks very much.
I wanna live forever.
Remember my name, Train.
- [Train Announcer] Station is Leicester Square.
(upbeat music)
(train breaks squealing)
- Okay.
We are walking up the escalator.
(upbeat music)
- I'm onto the Piccadilly platform
where there's a train approaching.
So I haven't had to wait.
So that's fortuitous that the train has arrived
fairly quickly.
- Just left the tube.
Time is 2:50pm.
There's a lot of stairs.
- I still think Vicki will win though, we'll see.
We'll see.
Also, we're going to time this run,
just the first time round, not every time,
but we'll time it.
(train doors beeping)
- So, we're green man.
So didn't need to wait at the crossing.
We're now headed to Long Acre.
(upbeat music)
(train breaks squealing)
- So, you can see there how ridiculously short it is.
And now I've got to head for the lifts.
- It's quite quiet on the weeker's day.
So not blumin' people
which has given me a good, clear run.
I mean walk, I'm not running.
- [Train Station Announcer] The steps at this station are
193 steps, which is equivalent to a 15-story building.
(traffic humming)
- So, there's the tube.
And this is our designated meeting spot.
The time is-
5:50pm.
What?
- And stopping at five,
at 5:55pm.
- [Vicki] I got 5:50pm.
- So, you beat me by five seconds?
- [Vicki] Yes.
- But a train did come almost straight away.
- [Vicki] Did you have to wait?
- I had to wait about 10, 20 seconds.
Already, I can sense this is going to be-
- [Vicki] Quite tight.
- But basically, if a train turns up straight away,
then you're tied, aren't you?
- [Vicki] Yeah.
- But if you have to wait for a Piccadilly Line train,
walking's quicker.
We'll do it two more times.
That's the whole point of doing it three times
on average to see,
'cause I bet I don't get a train straight away next time.
- Great, so I have to walk up the escalator again.
- [Geoff] Again.
- Two times.
- Yeah.
Shall we go again?
- [Vicki] Sure.
- Back to Tottenham Court Road.
(upbeat Music)
- Ready.
Take Two.
- Go.
(laughs)
Trip Two.
- [Vicki] Bye.
- See ya in a bit.
(train door beeping)
- [Geoff] To the Piccadilly.
(traffic humming)
- So, it's now 2:50pm.
Approaching the crossing.
- Interesting, I can already hear, hear the door's beeping.
So, I'm just missing a train right now.
- Another green man, tick.
- Yeah, it's pulling out.
So I've just missed one, which will mean
a two or three minute wait for the next one.
(train-line clunking)
- And, here we are on Long Acre.
I have to beat Geoff this time, surely.
- Wow. It's saying four minutes wait for the next one.
So I'm definitely not gonna beat Vicki.
- Okay.
Let's just swap hands so that I can grab the phone.
Five minutes, 45 seconds.
No, Geoff.
(train humming)
- [Train Announcer] To Cockfosters.
(train doors beeping)
- Still no Geoff.
He must have really had to wait for a train.
(traffic humming)
- Nine minutes, nine, nine, nine.
- I got, I got here at five, oh, hold on.
- [Geoff] Nine-o-five.
- I got here at 5:45pm.
- 'Cause I had to wait for three, four minutes
for a train at-
- [Vicki] I thought it might have something
to do with the cops.
- Nothing to do with the cops.
If you have to wait for the train, you always lose.
If the train comes straight away, you're tie.
So more often than not, you might as well walk.
But, let's do it one more time.
- [Vicki] Ahhh.
- To Tottenham Court Road.
Back at Tottenham Court Road.
We wait for train number three.
(train doors beeping)
Tip number three.
- Ready?
- Go.
- Great.
- See you at Govent Garden.
And then I guess we should do some kind of summing up.
- It's really windy. (laughs)
Okay.
- [Geoff] See you in a bit.
- See you later.
(train doors beeping)
(upbeat music)
(traffic humming)
- No green man.
(muffled train announcer)
- Oh, yet again, did I just miss one?
I was at the other side coming down the steps.
What we got?
Yeah, I just missed one.
He's going off into the distance.
Oh, but the next one is in one minute.
So, even though I just missed one,
it shouldn't be more than a minute's wait.
Which, London Underground minute's could be like,
90 seconds.
I think Vicki will still win.
(traffic humming)
- [Vicki] Okay.
We are at the destination.
Stop.
Six minutes exactly.
And, no Geoff.
(train-line clunking)
- One stop.
- [Train Announcer] This is a Piccadilly Line service
to Cockfosters.
- Again.
(train breaks squealing)
(traffic humming)
Six 50, six 52, six 53, six 53.
- Got here at six minutes.
- Six?
- [Vicki] Bang On.
I won.
- [Geoff] By a minute?
- Yeah.
- And I had to wait a minute for my train
which does rapidly with my-
(baby shouts)
- Where shall we go for our summing up?
Let's go over there.
What do we conclude from that?
- That it is quicker if you're
travelling from the Northern Line
and you need to get to Govent Garden.
It is quicker to get out at Leicester Square
if you walk up the escalator.
- In my summary, if a train comes
straight away or within a minute.
- Yep.
- Then, then, then you tie. - You sort of, yep.
- If you wait more than a minute.
And, really the Piccadilly Line train will
either come within sort of zero to one minutes, one to two,
two to three or three to four minutes.
- You shouldn't really have to wait
longer than four minutes.
- Unless there's a specific delay or problem on the line.
- Okay.
- So if you take those four.
Zero to one, one to two, two to three, three to four,
in like 75% of the cases.
- Yep.
- You will be slower than if you get out
at Leicester Square.
- Yeah.
- And in 25% of the cases, one in four, you will tie.
- Yes.
- So it's, it's never quicker to get the train one stop.
- If you're changing from - If you're changing from
the Northern Line. the Norther Line.
So, always get out at Leicester Square and walk.
- And it's good to walk.
- It's good to walk.
Helps Covent Garden
(laughs)
become unclogged.
Right.
Amusingly, we have to go home on the Northern Line.
(laughs)
Do you wanna get the tube
or do you wanna walk to Leicester Square?
(laughs)
- Please don't make me walk.
Taxi.
- Taxi.
We'll get the tube.
(upbeat music)