TfL’s curious travel suggestions

I start a new job on Monday, and need to start commuting again. Woohoo!

So, time to power up the TfL travel advisor and see what it says are the suitable routes to take.

I have two possible start locations, Loughborough Junction is the closest option, with Brixton as the emergency back up if/when FCC have problems.

One end location, at Stanmore tube station.

TfL dutifully suggests a whole range of options such as:

Journey time 1:18

  • Bus to Brixton Station
  • Victoria line to Green Park
  • Jubilee line to Stanmore

Journey time 1:17

  • Loughborough Junction to Elephant & Castle
  • Walk to Elephant & Castle tube
  • Bakerloo line to Baker Street
  • Jubilee line to Stanmore

Journey time 1:16

  • Bus to Brixton Station
  • Victoria line to Green Park
  • Jubilee line to Finchley Road
  • Metropolitan line to Wembley Park
  • Jubilee line to Stanmore

Journey time 1:18

  • Bus to Brixton Station
  • Victoria line to Oxford Circus
  • Bakerloo line to Baker Street
  • Metropolitan line to Wembley Park
  • Jubilee line to Stanmore

Curiously, none of them suggest what is likely to be the route I will probably take.

Journey time: 1:05

  • Loughborough Junction to Farringdon
  • Metropolitan line to Wembley Park
  • Jubilee line to Stanmore

Which is a much more convenient trip with far fewer changes, and also faster. Yes, I included at least 5 minutes at each interchange.

As an emergency back up for the regular occurrences of the FCC not working…

Journey time: 1:10

  • Walk from Loughborough Junction to Brixton tube
  • Victoria line to Green Park
  • Jubilee line to Baker Street
  • Metropolitan line to Wembley Park
  • Jubilee line to Stanmore

This is not to criticize TfL explicitly, as anyone who looks as the vast array of transport options that exist in London would be probably impressed that it is able to suggest anything at all.

I am just lucky that I know the network well enough to ditch the computer generated advice, and go by human intuition instead.

My preferred route also has better options for buying a morning coffee once I get the first wage packet in the bank 🙂