LT

This application for Windows provides a complete simulation of the London Transport Underground timetable, based on November 1989. It was first developed as a RISC OS application able to run in a 1Mbyte Wimpslot and was developed between August 1991 and April 1994. In 2010 it was converted to a Windows version and was further developed in 2013 and 2021. It used a draw vector of the LT underground map provided with Draw+ and it was only in 2021 that I created my own, geographic map of the LT system which would allow it to be distributed. The RISC OS application has also been updated (now at version 6.33).

What is the Guiness record?

It is a bit like timing yourself to run round the garden but then moving house several times. In 1959 the rules for this contest were rather simple: visit every London Transport Underground station. The definition of what constituted 'every station' looked simple but was anything but. In 1959 the tube lines were well defined but the sub-surface ones were not. There was an LT-owned station served by passenger trains at which no LT trains called - King's Cross CWL used to be a separate station, also used by the Circle/Met lines but the Met station was moved on 13.04.1941 to its present site offering better interchange and the old station was then only used by two or three LMS services each way to and from Moorgate, the LNER services using Kings Cross main line station. BR-owned lines that saw regular LT electric services (Richmond and Wimbledon) and steam services (Aylesbury) were clearly branded as 'Underground' at the time. Regular passenger services had run using LT stock to places as far afield as Southend (from Ealing Broadway via LT&S). Main line stock from Windsor running through to Liverpool Street via the connection at Paddington had also ceased but the four platforms 12 to 15 were still shared by both BR and LT services until their segregation in the early 1960s. The definition of what had to be covered has therefore focused on LT publicity material in the form of the Underground map.

In 1959 LT services still ran to Aylesbury but the branch to South Acton closed that year, reducing the number of stations from 276 to 275. The stations at Elephant & Castle and Hammersmith were actually separate requiring a road to be crossed but were shown as an interchange on the LT map: I have therefore treated them as a single location. The stations at Shepherds Bush (Met and Central) have always been entirely separate and regarded as such, as have those at Edgware Road (Bakerloo and Met). At Paddington the Circle/District station and its interchange with the Bakerloo has always been separate from the Met line which used the suburban part of the main line station and was named Praed Street to distinguish it until 11.07.1947. Since that time the Paddington complex has been regarded as a single location for interchange and I have therefore also treated Paddington as a single location. Whether the Waterloo and City line is included is moot as both its stations are included anyway.

Over the years the number of stations has changed, and this has been reflected in the various record attempts, shown thus:

• 276 in 1959, as described above;
• 275 when South Acton closed on 28.02.1959;
• 274 when White City (Met) closed on 21.10.1959
• A record attempt in December 1960 shows 273 stations
• A record attempt in September 1961 shows 274 stations
• 270 when LT services to Aylesbury became a B.R. responsibility in September 1961;
• A record attempt in 1964 shows 272 stations, presumably treating Hammersmith and Elephant as separate locations.
• A record attempt in November 1966 shows 273 stations, presumably treating Paddington as separate locations as well.
• 274 when Victoria line services started from Highbury to Walthamstow on 01.09.1968;
• 274 (no change) when Victoria line services reached Warren Street (01.12.1968) and Victoria (07.03.1969);
• 276 when Victoria line services were extended to Brixton on 23.07.1971;
• 277 when Pimlico opened on 14.09.1972;
• 278 when services were extended to Hatton Cross on 19.07.1975;
• 276 when Northern City services were closed for GN electrification on 03.10.1975;
• 277 when services were extended to Heathrow Central on 16.12.1977
• 276 when Trafalgar Square and Strand stations were combined from 01.05.1979;
• A record attempt in May 1980 shows 278 stations but this may be treating Hammersmith and Elephant as separate locations.
• 275 when Blake Hall closed on 31.10.1981;
• 269 when LT services north of Harrow & Wealdstone ceased on 24.09.1982;
• 264 when services north of Stonebridge Park ceased on the same date;
• 269 when services resumed to Harrow & Wealdstone on 04.06.1984;
• 270 when Terminal 4 opened on 12.04.1986;
• It is a simulation of 270 stations in November 1989 that is the subject of this software - in November 1989 services to Ongar, which had been cut down to a rush hour only service in 1982, were restored to a hourly service throught the day. From April 1991 to closure in 1994 they were, again, rush hour only.
• 268 when services to Ongar ceased on 30.09.1994;
• 267 when Aldwych closed on 30.09.1994;
• 260 when the ELL closed on1 25.03.1995;
• 266 when ELL services resumed Whitechapel to New Cross/Gate on 25.03.1998;
• 267 when services resumed to Shoreditch on 27.09.1998;
• 271 when Jubilee line services started from Stratford to North Greenwich on 14.05.1999;
• 272 when Canade Water (ELL) opened on 19.08.1999;
• 274 when Jubilee services were extended to Bermondsey on 17.09.1999;
• 275 when Southwark opened on 20.11.1999;
• A record attempt in April 2002 shows 275 stations
• 268 when the ELL closed in 2006 for its transfer to London Overground;
• 269 when Heathrow Terminal 5 station opened on 27.03.2008;
• 270 when Wood Lane station opened in October 2008;
• A record attempt in October 2013 shows 270 stations.

  Practicalities

  The rules were tightened up in the 1960s to prohibit the use of private transport to visit a station - the use of a cycle or car to get between stations had caused some ambitious attempts to reduce the time taken to nearer 16 hours. At least one of the arrival or departure at a location must now be by train. Public transport is still allowed between locations but the preferred method now seems to be an undignified sprint making the task more brawn than brain. I have offered a number of methods to transfer between obvious locations such as Cockfosters to High Barnet, Edgware to Stanmore, Uxbridge to West Ruislip, as well as Snaresbrook to Walthamstow and Ongar to Roding Valley. This makes the simulation a well-defined quest.

  With sparse services at the extremities of lines: Amersham had a half hourly electric service and an hourly service to Marylebone; 12 or 15 minute intervals were commonplace - Epping had a 20 minute service, as did the Woodford-Hainault section and some sections with a peak only service, deciding at what time of day to do the different parts could be very important. Ongar had only an hourly service in the off peak. Nowadays there seems to be a frequent service everywhere!

  Starting early is a sensible decision - in November 1989 the first train was from Terminal 4 (0457) closely followed by Upminster (0502) so they were favourite starting places. My best (virtual) attempt was 17 hours and 4 minutes shown here:

  

  This is an animated gif file which shows the virtual journey and the timings. It starts at 0502 and finishes at 2206.

  A detailed log of this journey is given. It includes the line between Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford Junction and between Old Street and Highbury (including Highbury to Finsbury Park as well would risk a connection for the hourly train to Ongar). Both stations at Elephant & Castle are visited but Hammersmith (H&C) is not visited to avoid missing a connection at Kensington Olympia and, subsequently, Aldwych. The visit to Amersham and Chesham is carefully arranged in the off peak shoulder to get reduced waiting times. A car is assumed to make quick hops as necessary. Since then I have refined this to start slightly later from Upminster (at 0522) but finish at the same time (2206) if I include the line from Harrow & Wealdstone to Watford Junction but at 2200 if I omit it. This journey breaks down into a total travelling time of 11 hours 44 minutes, with 97 minutes spent on inter-station transfers (some walking and some by car or bus), 42 minutes walking inside stations, 155 minutes waiting on the platform for a train, making a total elapsed time of 16 hours and 38 minutes.

  The Jubilee line extension is shown dotted to indicate that in November 1989 it had not yet been built. The lines are shown in their correct geographical locations but the scale has been expanded in the central area to show the necessary detail - some areas are accordingly stretched horizontally or vertically. Even so, a few station names have had to be abbreviated.

  Some unusual services

  Services from the Metropolitan District Railway to Windsor on the GWR via their junction at Ealing Broadway ran for a couple of years long before LT was formed. GW suburban trains from Windsor, Greenford and Uxbridge Vine Street were hauled over the Hammersmith & City Line between Paddington and Liverpool Street by Metropolitan electric locomotives until 1939 but were not featured in LT publicity material as LT services and the GW suburban lines from Paddington to Windsor are thus excluded. District & LMS services ran over the Middle Circle from Latimer Road to Addison Road (Kensington Olympia) until 1940 and were shown in LT publicity material as LT services: such services are, however, only a memory and are thus excluded. Outer Circle services provided by the District and LMS ran over the North London Line and the West London Line, continuing to Addison Road and Earls Court. By 1937 these ran between Earls Court and Willesden Junction and were treated as LMS services in LT publicity material and so the West London Line is excluded. District Line services east of Whitechapel started in 1902 when the Whitechapel & Bow Railway opened but ceased in 1905 with electrification to Whitechapel. Through running to Upminster resumed in 1932 and by 1937 LT publicity material showed four daily through services (one on Sundays) from Ealing Broadway to Southend and Shoeburyness. These were hauled by District Line electric locomotives to Barking and steam-hauled further east by LMS locomotives. Although shown on LT maps until 1941, services east of Upminster ceased in 1939 and the LTSR lines east of Upminster are therefore excluded.

  Lines owned by the Metropolitan Railway are generally included but Verney Junction in the north is excluded as through Metropolitan Line services to Verney Junction ceased in 1936 and those that ran to Quainton Road were curtailed to Aylesbury in 1948 and Amersham in 1961.

  The Waterloo & City Line became part of London Underground in 1994 (and was shown in publicity material from much earlier) and may be regarded as being included but makes no difference to the record as Waterloo and Bank are already included. Although the line from Queens Park to Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford Junction was never LT-owned, it saw regular and frequent Bakerloo Line services from 1917 until 1965, services north of Harrow ceasing in 1982.

  One thing that was very different to today is that off peak traffic was so light that uncoupling and coupling of units was routinely performed as late as 1965 on the District Line at Upminster, Parsons Green and Ealing Broadway (eight car trains reduced to six for off peak and evenings). Locomotive hauled passenger trains ran until 1961 on the Metropolitan Main Line between Liverpool Street and Aylesbury. Electrification had reached Ongar by 1957 and Amersham by 1961.

  Services on the South Acton and Aldwych branches were discontinued in 1959 and 1994 respectively and between Epping and Ongar in 1994. Through services north of Queens Park ceased in 1982, resuming to Stonebridge Park (where a new depot was built) and Harrow & Wealdstone by 1984. Through services beyond Amersham ceased in 1961. The Victoria Line and the first part of the Jubilee Line from Baker Street to Charing Cross opened in 1968 and 1979 respectively. The Northern City line (originally part of the Metropolitan Railway) was transferred to British Rail in 1975 to be used as part of the Great Northern Electrification. London Regional Transport was created in 1984 and was under direct state control. In 1985 London Underground became a wholly-owned subsidiary of LRT. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) opened in 1987 as a separate wholly-owned subsidiary of LRT and was included as part of the LT Travelcard system. The parallel Capitalcard scheme which included British Rail lines was subsumed in January 1989. DLR was not branded as an Underground line until after 1994 and is therefore ignored. On privitisation of British Rail in April 1994, the Waterloo & City line was transferred to London Underground.