Tube Challenge

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The Tube Challenge is the accepted name for the Guinness World Record ('GWR') for visiting all London Underground stations in the shortest time possible, of which there are currently 269. Partakers who attempt to break the record are known as Tube Challengers.

GWR lay down numerous rules and conditions under which challenges must be completed in order to be eligible for consideration as a Guinness World Record. The main stipulation is that all stations must be visited by either arriving or leaving on a London Underground train (or a National Rail train which runs on the same tracks as the Underground, e.g. on the Richmond branch of the District Line) in normal public service ^[1]. It is permitted to travel between stations by other means (e.g. between two termini), but this can only be done by foot or by using public transport.

Generally, the length of time required to visit all stations on the network is around 18-19 hours, only slightly shorter than the daily operating hours of the system. Completing the challenge in a single day is therefore difficult, particularly considering some stations are not open at all times of day. Depending on the route used, there can be a fine margin between completing the challenge in a record time and failing to visit all stations (this contrasts with the New York Subway Challenge, where the Subway operates through the night, but the larger network takes around 24-25 hours to visit).

The current official Guinness World Record stands at 18 hours, 20 minutes and 26 seconds, as set on 25 July 2007, by Antony, Jamie, Kevin & Phillip Brown and John Stark for the 275 station configuration that existed prior to the closure of the East London Line.

Contents 1 The history of the challenge 1.1 The 1960s 1.2 1979 to 2000: The Bob Robinson era 1.3 2000 onwards 2 Route planning 3 Network changes 4 Tube Challenge in the media 5 Alternative challenges 6 References 7 External links

[edit] The history of the challenge

The first recorded instance of a World Record being set for the completion of the challenge dates back to 13 June 1959 when R.J. Lewis and D.R. Longley attempted the challenge. Unfortunately, no further information is available on this particular challenge, however, this attempt established what has become a fairly well-known and (particularly within circles of enthusiasts) well-respected challenge. Since then, there have been numerous recorded attempts at the record - a few successful, most unsuccessful - and doubtless many more unrecorded attempts. The list that follows is by no means exhaustive, but merely a record of those who have made notable efforts or who have even held the record themselves.

[edit] The 1960s

The first documented record was set on 3 December 1960 by K. and J. Branch, who completed the network of then 277 stations in a time of 20 hours and 27 minutes. Marshall^[2] has collated details of the progress of the record in the 1960's which, alongside the historical material at www.tubechallenge.com,^[3] form the source material for the following table.

Date	Record Holder(s)	Stations	Time (hr:min)
3 December 1960	K.Branch and J.Branch	277	20:27
1 June 1965	J.P.Chambers and M.P. Atkinson	273	18:45
12 July 1965	A.J.T Holmes and C.J.N Holmes	273	18:32
7 September 1965	Alan Jenkins	273	16:56

The regulations of the time defined "Class A" attempts, which allowed only public transport to be used and were most similar to the modern rules, and "Class B" attempts, where private transport was permitted between stations. Some recorded times which appear to be "Class B", together with incomplete attempts, have been omitted from the table. The network in 1960 was considerably different from the network that exists today - for more information, see "Network Changes".

[edit] 1979 to 2000: The Bob Robinson era

The most prolific Tube Challenger of all, Bob Robinson, made 51 attempts between 1979 and 2000, completing 46 and setting the record time on 8 occasions according to Geoff Marshall's website. He held (with Tom McLaughlin) the pre-Jubilee line extension record of 18 hours 18 minutes 9 seconds for 270 stations.

Date	Record Holder(s)	Stations	Time
18 October 1979	Peter Altman, Marilyn Nathan and Ralph Cramer	278	19:25
25 June 1980 *	John Trafford and Stephen Trafford	278	18:03
23 June 1981	Robert Robinson and Finn Gleeson	278	17:57
16 September 1981	Jon Brown, Robert Anderson and Alex Chin-A-Fat	278	17:48
21 October 1981	Nicholas Mitchell and Ian Robins	278	17:42:38
3 December 1981	Colm Mulvaney and Seth Vlardis	277	17:37
14 April 1986	Robert Robinson, Peter Robinson, John Garde and Timothy Clark	272	19:51:14
30 July 1986	Robert Robinson, Peter Robinson, Timothy Robinson, Timothy Clark and Richard Harris	273	18:41:41
4 October 1994	Robert Robinson and Tom McLaughlin	270	18:18:09

* www.geofftech.co.uk quotes the date 20th May 1980 for Trafford & Trafford's record

[edit] 2000 onwards

The opening of the Jubilee Line Extension in 1999 was a significant addition to the network and may be seen as heralding the beginning of the modern era of Tube Challenging. Nonetheless, it was the doyen of the previous era, Bob Robinson, who led the team that set the first post-JLE record in March 2000. Subsequently, in April 2002, Jack Welsby and two others started at Heathrow and finished at Amersham setting a new world record of 19 hours, 18 minutes and 45 seconds. Jack had two other people with him at various points of the day, but only he did every single station. The appearance of two television programmes featuring (unsuccessful) record attempts by Geoff Marshall raised the profile of Tube Challenging, as did the rise of the internet, which fostered regular communication amongst the community of Tube Challengers.

Date	Record Holder(s)	Start	Finish	Stations	Time
16 March 2000	Robert Robinson, Chris Loxton, Chris Stubley, Chris Whiteoak, Olly Rich and Adam Waller			272	19:57:47
3 April 2002	Jack Welsby	Heathrow T4	Amersham	275	19:18:45
20 February 2004	Steven Karahan	Amersham	Upminster	275	18:47:57
5 May 2004	Geoff Marshall and Neil Blake	Amersham	Upminster	275	18:35:43
30 May 2006	Steve Wilson and Samantha Cawley	Amersham	Upminster	275	18:35:38
26 September 2006	Håkan Wolgé and Lars Andersson	Amersham	Heathrow T123	275	18:25:03
25 July 2007	Antony, Jamie, Kevin & Phillip Brown and John Stark	Amersham	Heathrow T123	274	18:20:26
10 April 2008	Steven Karahan	Amersham	Heathrow T5	269	18:18:42*
18 April 2008	Rachel Brabbins, John Stark, Antony, Jamie, Kevin, Phillip and Ryan Brown	Amersham	Heathrow T5	269	17:56:28*

* Highlighted times are awaiting ratification from GWR and as such are unofficial.

[edit] Route planning

Mathematically, the Tube Challenge is closely analogous to the Travelling Salesman Problem. The successful route of former world record holder Håkan Wolgé was designed by computer, using a genetic algorithm^[4]. It is necessary to account not just for the distances or times between stations, but also for the timetable - especially when planning routes over the less frequently served parts of the network. Comparison of recent routes with earlier ones suggests that the dramatic improvement in the record time between 2000-2007 may largely be due to convergence towards an optimal route.

There are a number of commonly used bus, tram, rail or pedestrian connections between termini or near-termini of lines, such as: Wimbledon - Morden or South Wimbledon; Cockfosters - High Barnet; Edgware - Stanmore or Canons Park; West Ruislip - Ickenham; and Richmond - Hatton Cross. These may be traversed in either direction, depending on the specifics of the route.

Some connections are often made on foot between geographically proximal points on different lines, or different branches of the same line, such as North Ealing - West Acton; North Harrow - West Harrow; and Chiswick Park - Gunnersbury.

[edit] Network changes

The London Underground network has undergone considerable changes in order to transform from the network that Lewis & Longley traversed in 1959 to the network of today. The most noticeable changes were the openings of the Victoria Line (1968-1972) and the Jubilee Line Extension (1999),^[5] together with the loss of the East London Line from the network in 2007.

Year	Date	Line	Stations Lost	Stations Gained	Notes	Network Size
1959	25 October	Metropolitan Line	White City	-	-	277 Stations
1961	10 September	Metropolitan Line	Great Missenden Wendover Stoke Mandeville Aylesbury	-	-	273 Stations
1968	1 September	Victoria Line	-	Seven Sisters Tottenham Hale Blackhorse Road Walthamstow Central	-	277 Stations
	-	District/Central Lines	-	-	Ealing Broadway consolidated	276 Stations
1971	23 July	Victoria Line	-	Vauxhall Brixton	-	278 Stations
1972	14 September	Victoria Line	-	Pimlico	-	279 Stations
1973	16 June	Northern Line	Strand	-	Consolidated with Charing Cross (Bakerloo)	278 Stations
1975	19 July	Piccadilly Line	-	Hatton Cross	-	279 Stations
	4 October	Northern Line	Essex Road Drayton Park	-	Northern City Line transferred to British Rail	277 Stations
1977	16 December	Piccadilly Line	-	Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3	-	278 Stations
1981	31 October	Central Line	Blake Hall	-	-	277 Stations
1982	24 September	Bakerloo Line	Wembley Central North Wembley South Kenton Kenton Harrow & Wealdstone Headstone Lane Hatch End Carpenders Park Bushey Watford High Street Watford Junction	-	-	266 Stations
1984	4 June	Bakerloo Line	-	Wembley Central North Wembley South Kenton Kenton Harrow & Wealdstone	-	271 Stations
1986	12 April	Piccadilly Line	-	Heathrow Terminal 4	-	272 Stations
1994	30 September	Central Line	North Weald Ongar	-	Epping-Ongar section of Central Line closed.	270 Stations
		Piccadilly Line	Aldwych	-	-	269 Stations
1995	23 March	East London Line	Shoreditch Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Surrey Quays New Cross New Cross Gate	-	East London Line closed for repairs[6]	262 stations
1998	23 March	East London Line	-	Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Surrey Quays New Cross New Cross Gate	East London Line reopened	268 stations
	27 Sepember		-	Shoreditch		269 stations
1999	14 May	Jubilee Line	-	Canning Town North Greenwich	Jubilee Line extension	271 Stations
	18 August	East London/Jubilee Lines	-	Canada Water		272 Stations
	17 September	Jubilee Line	-	Bermondsey Canary Wharf		274 Stations
	20 November	Jubilee Line	-	Southwark		275 Stations
2006	9 June	East London Line	Shoreditch	-	Highly disputed Guinness Rule that replacement bus must be used	275 Stations
2007	23 December	East London Line	Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Surrey Quays New Cross New Cross Gate	-	East London Line closed permanently	268 Stations
2008	27 March	Piccadilly Line	-	Heathrow Terminal 5		269 Stations
		Hammersmith & City Line	-	Wood Lane	Prospective Opening	270 Stations

[edit] Tube Challenge in the media

Former Guinness World Record^tm holder Geoff Marshall was featured in an episode of the ITV documentary series (later sold to Sky Travel amongst others) "The Tube", as he and friend Dave attempted (unsuccessfully) to break the record.^[7]

A few months later, as part of the 'Metroland' series of programmes on ITV, Geoff appeared again: this time with two friends, Chris and Peter, as they made another (unsuccessful) attempt. This programme was called 'Race Around The Underground' and also featured previous world record holders Jack Welsby and Bob Robinson.

In the wake of the attack on the London Underground on the 7th July 2005, a special charity event "Tube Relief" was organised by Geoff Marshall and Neil Blake, to encourage people to ride the tube all day and attempt to visit all 275 stations. The spirit of the event was not to try and break the record time, but to merely show that the "We're not afraid" tag line in use at the time was very much true. On Thursday 25th August 2005, 67 people participated, most of them travelling the majority of the network, starting at Amersham and finishing at Upminster. Over £10,000 was raised in charity money for the official relief fund. The event attracted attention from BBC News and Virgin Radio, as well as several channels in New Orleans, Louisiana, from where one participant, a policewoman, had travelled to take part, only to return home in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Most recently, BBC Three Counties Radio featured the Tube Challenge for a week on the Lorna Milton show, culminating in the coverage of a record attempt by station reporter Rachel Brabbins, who along with Ryan Brown joined World Record holders Antony, Jamie, Kevin and Phillip Brown and John Stark for the day. The team's progress was followed by the station throughout the day, and they finished in a provisional new World Record time of 17 hours, 56 minutes and 28 seconds (this time is currently awaiting ratification from GWR).

[edit] Alternative challenges

Instead of attempting the whole network, 'mini challenges' that require doing a smaller number of stations have also become popular amongst Tube Challengers. These include:

Zone 1 Only - this involves visiting only the 64 stations which make up Travelcard Zone 1 of the network. The (unofficial) current fastest time is 2 hours, 43 minutes and 50 seconds^[8], achieved by John Stark on 18 May 2007 (this time corresponds to the same attempt as listed in the table below, but excludes the first 3m 40s since Westminster and Waterloo were revisited later, and is timed from Southwark).

The Zone 1 challenge has become increasingly popular ever since Scotsman Ewan Spence organised a Zone 1 challenge event through his blog, wanting 'one last crazy thing to do before leaving London for Scotland' in 2004.^[9] This attracted the attention of Geoff Marshall, who helped promote the challenge through his website. It was also featured in an article on BBC London News.

There has been one specific major 'Zone 1 meet' per year since,^[10] where groups of people simultaneously attempt the Zone 1 challenge, all starting from the same point but finishing wherever they wish.</ref>.

Year	Date	Number of Teams	Total Competitors	Won By	Winning Time	Starting Station	Stations Closed
2004	30 July	9	14	Steve Paull	2:55:50	Vauxhall
2005	20 May	18	28	Håkan Wolgé and Patrick Sillén	2:58:37	St. James's Park	Queensway
2006	19 May	16	32	Ric Brackenbury, David Scard and Andrew Baker	2:51:54	Sloane Square	Queensway
2007	18 May	19	35	John Stark	2:47:30	Westminster	Regent's Park
2008	30 May	21	42	Håkan Wolgé, Patrick Sillén and Lars Andersson	2:55:32	King's Cross St. Pancras

The Circle Line "Bottle" Challenge - this involves visiting all 50 stations which are on and appear within the Circle Line on the London Underground Map. During 2006 there was a dispute as to whether there are 48 or 50 stations, as Marylebone and Edgware Road (Bakerloo Line) stations appear within the Circle Line on some maps, but outside on others. The members of Tubechallenge.com narrowly voted to include these two stations. The current (unofficial) fastest time is 1 hour, 52 minutes and 55 seconds, achieved by John Stark^[11].

The "All Lines In The Shortest Time" Challenge - the objective of this challenge is to travel at least one stop on each of the London Underground lines in the shortest time possible. The current unofficial fastest time is 33 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved by Steven Karahan and Matthew Scrivin on the current eleven line system^[12]. Prior to the closure of the East London Line in December 2007, Chris Presswell held the record at 52 minutes and one second for the former twelve line network.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• tubechallenge.com: Rules of the Tube Challenge