The Tube Challenge

As mentioned yesterday, I (Annie) fulfilled a childhood ambition today to take the "Tube Challenge": that is, to visit every one of the 270 London Underground stations (more on the significance of that number in a moment) in less than 24 hours. Why? Good question - because it's a challenge, and difficult to do, um.... I went with my brother David who is similarly a bit odd.

There is a world record of 16 hours 14 minutes and 10 seconds which we were never going to get anywhere near (it involves sprinting). However, in my research beforehand I quickly found that as the tube is only open for around 20 hours in a day, a more leisurely pace gives no guarantee of completion. That makes it all the more fun - and for most of the day we reckoned we weren't quite going to make it. I won't keep the suspense going: the eagle-eyed amongst you will see the image above has 270 entries - we did it! I've cheated slightly, as the last 21 were in fact taken past midnight, but it was the same day to us!

You can read more about the challenge here. You don't need to get off at each station (you'd get in people's way if you did), but you do have to travel on a tube train either from, to or through the station (where the train stops at it). 270 includes a few stations where you have to count both of the same name - where the stations are separate even though called the same thing (such as Edgware Road or Hammersmith). In fact, we can only really claim 269, as the troublesome Kensington Olympia was shut that day - but we went to it on the Overground station and waved, so it's included in the pictures if not our final count.

We started at Chesham on the first train at 5:15am, and finished at Upminster at 01:15am the next morning on (we think) the penultimate train. Craziness. But - it was lovely to see all the Twitter and Facebook spectators staying up with us past midnight, determined to see if we made it - they're the really crazy ones!

It was brilliant fun, and being around 3 hours 45 minutes slower than the world record, if we were to ever try it again we've room to improve!

There's a tube map here if you want to match station names to locations. Go large on the picture and you should be able to see the individual images I hope - they're all fairly low quality iPhone rushed shots, but some are funny to look at. The man in a hat lurking on some of the shots is David - and he appears where we changed trains at a station.

The route, for those interested:

- Chesham (5:15am), Chalfont & Latimer
- Chalfont & Latimer (5:28), Amersham
- Amersham (5:47), Chalfont & Latimer, Chorleywood, Rickmansworth, Moor Park
- Moor Park (6:15), Croxley, Watford
- Watford (6:20), Croxley, Moor Park, Northwood, Northwood Hills, Pinner, North Harrow 
- H9 Bus to Rayners Lane
- Rayners Lane (7:04), South Harrow, Sudbury Hill, Sudbury Town, Alperton, Park Royal, North Ealing, Ealing Common
- 207 bus to Ealing Broadway
- Ealing Broadway (7:42), West Acton, North Acton, East Acton, White City
- White City (7:52), East Acton, North Acton, Hangar Lane, Perivale, Greenford, Northolt, South Ruislip, Ruislip Gardens, West Ruislip
- U1 Bus to Ickenham
- Ickenham (8:42), Hillingdon, Uxbridge
- Uxbridge (8:55), Hillingdon, Ickenham, Ruislip, Ruislip Manor, Eastcote, Rayners Lane, West Harrow, Harrow-on-the-Hill
- Harrow-on-the-Hill (9:16), Northwick Park, Preston Road
- Preston Road (9:29), Northwick Park
- Walk to Kenton
- Kenton (9:44), Harrow & Wealdstone
- Harrow & Wealdstone (9:52), Kenton, South Kenton, North Wembley, Wembley Central, Stonebridge Park, Harlesden, Willesden Junction, Kensal Green, Queen's Park, Kilburn Park, Maida Vale, Warwick Avenue, Paddington (a), Edgware Road (a), Marylebone, Baker Street, Regent's Park, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Charing Cross, Embankment, Waterloo, Lambeth North
- Lambeth North (10:40), Waterloo
- Waterloo (10:46), Bank
- Bank, St Paul's, Chancery Lane, Holborn, Oxford Circus, Bond Street, Marble Arch, Lancaster Gate, Queensway, Notting Hill Gate, Holland Park, Shepherd's Bush
- Overground train to West Brompton, waving at the closed Kensington Olympia on the way past
- West Brompton (11:32), Fulham Broadway, Parsons Green, Putney Bridge, East Putney, Southfields, Wimbledon Park, Wimbledon
- 93 bus to South Wimbledon
- South Wimbledon (12:06), Morden
- Morden (12:17), South Wimbledon, Colliers Wood, Tooting Broadway, Tooting Bec, Balham, Clapham South, Clapham Common, Clapham North, Stockwell, Oval, Kennington, Elephant & Castle, Borough
- Borough (12:38), Elephant & Castle, Kennington, Oval, Stockwell
- Stockwell (12:50), Brixton
- Brixton (12:57), Stockwell, Vauxhall, Pimlico, Victoria, Green Park
- Green Park (13:14), Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge, South Kensington, Gloucester Road, Earl's Court, Barons Court, Hammersmith (a)
- Hammersmith (13:25), Ravenscourt Park, Stamford Brook, Turnham Green, Gunnersbury, Kew Gardens, Richmond
- Richmond (13:54), Kew Gardens, Gunnersbury, Turnham Green
- Turnham Green (14:05), Chiswick Park, Acton Town
- Acton Town (14:06), South Ealing, Northfields, Boston Manor, Osterley, Hounslow East, Hounslow Central, Hounslow West, Hatton Cross
- Hatton Cross (14:41), Heathrow Terminal 4, Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 & 3
- Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 & 3 (14:58), Heathrow Terminal 5
- Heathrow Express train to Paddington
- Paddington (a) (15:41), Royal Oak, Westbourne Park, Ladbroke Grove, Latimer Road, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush Market, Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith (b)
- Hammersmith (a) (16:00), Barons Court, West Kensington, Earl's Court
- Earl's Court (16:08), High Street Kensington, Notting Hill Gate, Bayswater, Paddington (b), Edgware Road (b)
- Edgware Road (b) (16:29), Paddington (b), Bayswater, Notting Hill Gate, High Street Kensington, Gloucester Road, South Kensington, Sloane Square, Victoria, St James's Park, Westminster, Embankment, Temple, Blackfriars, Mansion House, Cannon Street, Monument, Tower Hill, Aldgate, Liverpool Street
- Liverpool Street (17:10), Bethnal Green, Mile End, Stratford, Leyton, Leytonstone
- Leytonstone (17:33), Wanstead, Redbridge, Gants Hill, Newbury Park, Barkingside, Fairlop, Hainault, Grange Hill, Chigwell, Roding Valley, Woodford
- Woodford (18:01), Buckhurst Hill, Loughton, Debden, Theydon Bois, Epping
- Epping (18:35), Theydon Bois, Debden, Loughton, Buckhurst Hill, Woodford, South Woodford, Snaresbrook, Leytonstone, Leyton
- 97 bus to Walthamstow Central
- Walthamstow Central (19:23), Blackhorse Road, Tottenham Hale, Seven Sisters, Finsbury Park, Highbury & Islington, King's Cross St Pancras, Euston, Warren Street
- Walk to Great Portland Street
- Great Portland Street (19:46), Euston Square, King's Cross St Pancras, Farrington, Barbican, Moorgate
- Moorgate (20:03), Old Street, Angel, King's Cross St Pancras, Euston, Camden Town, Kentish Town, Tufnell Park, Archway, Highgate, East Finchley, Finchley Central
- Finchley Central (20:32), Mill Hill East
- Mill Hill East (20:39), Finchley Central
- Finchley Central (20:44), West Finchley, Woodside Park, Totteridge & Whetstone, High Barnet
- 384 bus to Cockfosters
- Cockfosters (21:41), Oakwood, Southgate, Arnos Grove, Bounds Green, Wood Green, Turnpike Lane, Manor House, Finsbury Park, Arsenal, Holloway Road, Caledonian Road, King's Cross St Pancras, Russell Square, Holborn, Covent Garden, Leicester Square 
- Leicester Square (22:24), Tottenham Court Road, Goodge Street, Warren Street, Euston, Mornington Crescent, Camden Town, Chalk Farm, Belsize Park, Hampstead, Golders Green, Brent Cross, Hendon Central, Colindale, Burnt Oak, Edgware
- 340 bus to Canons Park
- Canons Park (23:06), Stanmore
- Stanmore (23:12), Canons Park, Queensbury, Kingsbury, Wembley Park, Neasden, Dollis Hill, Willesden Green, Kilburn, West Hampstead, Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage, St John's Wood, Baker Street, Bond Street, Green Park, Westminster, Waterloo, Southwark, London Bridge, Bermondsey, Canada Water, Canary Wharf, North Greenwich, Canning Town, West Ham
- West Ham (00:09), Bromley-by-Bow, Bow Road, Mile End, Stepney Green, Whitechapel, Aldgate East
- Aldgate East (00:22), Whitechapel, Stepney Green
- Stepney Green (00:43), Mile End, Bow Road, Bromley-by-Bow, West Ham, Plaistow, Upton Park, East Ham, Barking, Upney, Becontree, Dagenham Heathway, Dagenham East, Elm Park, Hornchurch, Upminster Bridge, Upminster (01:13)