One might think that a journey from the outskirts of London into the
centre would be quickest via a fast National Rail operator, like c2c vs
the District line from Upminster into the City.

I made a journey from High Wycombe into Kensington last week. Usually I
take a train into Marylebone, then either use Bakerloo+ Circle,
Bakerloo+Piccadilly or Circle from Edgware Road to reach Gloucester
Road, taking about an hour and a quarter in total.

However, this time, I only had a ticket between Wycombe and South
Ruislip, having used the Tube to reach Ruislip on the outward journey as
I started at Holland Park earlier in the day. The bonus of using the
Tube from South Ruislip is the cheap Oyster fare in the offpeak.

I definitely didn't expect to travel from Wycombe to Gloucester Road in
almost exactly an hour. It turns out that the Central is very quick from
Ruislip to Notting Hill Gate (23 mins), only a few minutes more than the
time it takes any Chiltern train stopping at Ruislip to reach Marylebone
(20 mins minimum). Obviously this is advantageous in reaching western areas.

This doesn't really apply to the faster trains which skip the Ruislips -
but even an ideal scenario with a non-stop train (usually taking around
33 mins) from Wycombe to Marylebone, followed by a 5-min walk and a
Circle journey from Edgware Road (13 mins) gets you to Gloucester Road
in 51 minutes.

Although my hour-only journey via the Central line involved just a
minute's wait at both South Ruislip and Notting Hill Gate, it also
involves a tortuous interchange at Notting Hill and, in this case, an
all-stations train from Wycombe (including a stop at the fantastic
Denham Golf Club).

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London