AstraVanMan wrote:

"Raymond Kirk" wrote:
Thanks guys for the advice.

It worked a treat!

If you need to change from the Pic to the Vic line at Green Park, goto the
last car on the Pic line. The exit to the ticket hall is a min on the
esculator. And then another min going down.
Timed the interchange on my watch. 1 min 38 secs ( but I do walk really
fast!)

I think this is easier to get to Brixton from Alperton, as there is only 1
interchange. Compared with 2 using the D&C lines at South ken/ earls
court.

I wouldn't be too sure - it's a good few more stops, and if you stay on the
District line until Barons Court it's a cross-platform interchange (well,
probably not the right term, as the lines run in parallel anyway) to hop
from District to Picc or vice versa, instead of all the stairs/escalators at
South Ken/Earls Court. Same at Hammersmith, but Barons Court is probably
quieter. Might worth timing it a couple of times to see what the difference
is compared to Vic/District/Picc, changing at Barons Court instead.


Everything you say re cross-platform interchanges is most valid and
worth remembering, but nonetheless I suspect that the Picc - Vic route
might work out better. Why? Well the District isn't always the
zippiest of lines, and often gets in a right muddle at Earls Court
where the train often ends up just sitting in the platform waiting for
various other trains get out of the way first.

The Piccadilly meanwhile burrows under Earls Court and thus manages to
avoid any such problems, and once one gets to the Victoria line then -
if it's working properly, which IME it is most of the time - then
you're home and dry. The Victoria line is without a doubt the magic
line - frequent (never much of a wait), quick (the trains drive
themselves and do so with a near perpetual sense of urgency), and
choosy about where it stops (fewer stops = faster journey).

In years to come, when the District eventually gets equipped with
modern control systems, then it'll be a far more attractive prospect.

Meanwhile I could even suggest to the OP that they start their
Underground journey not at Alperton, but at Hangar Lane instead. The
Central line also has automatic train operation (or ATO in LU
parlance) and thus has some of the same advantages of the Victoria
line. That said it'll probably won't shorten the OP's end to end
journey, so don't try it out of you're trying to get to the church on
time! When the Central line finally gets a station at Park Royal [1]
then a Piccadilly to Central change would be another option.

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[1] alwaystouchout on Park Royal Central Line station
http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/33