London Transport

[fusilier]

Can anyone tell me what is the number of longest bus route in the greater london area

[gary baldy]

I have no idea but what a fantastic question! For what its worth (nothing?) in Manchester there is the 22 which goes from Stockport to Bolton and, as we say in these parts, goes right round the houses. Looking forward to some answers on this one!

[dzug]

EU199 maybe - Victoria Coach Station to Riga in 43 hours =:)

[dzug]

Heathrow Airport to East Croydon is 25.7 miles per the AA. The X26 does it. Whether it stays in Greater London all the way I'm not sure.

http://wikitravel.org/en/London says:

The N25 holds the title of 'Longest bus route in London'.
It goes a whopping 20 miles from Oxford Circus to Harold Hill

[gary baldy]

By my reckoning the 22 i mentioned above travels at least 25 miles and takes nearly 3 hours. I once fell asleep on it after a liquid lunch and woke up at Bolton bus station two hours later( i was going 4 stops!)

[fusilier]

Thank you all for your answers.

I know how the gentleman who fell asleep feels, I did the same thing on a train once and ended up in the railway sidings at Slades Green in Kent.

[Grunty]

You are not the only one, fusilier. A London police officer sat down for a short rest on a train in some sidings in North London. He woke in Edinburgh.

[funnywebsite]

In my younger days when I first came to live in London I would buy a one day bus pass and go around London all day. I would jump off and visit different places and jump back on. I didn't always know where I was going but it was a day out for somebody and a chance to discover new places.

[gary baldy]

Has anybody 'done' the Circle Line - can you actually just go round and round?

[dzug]

Has anybody 'done' the Circle Line - can you actually just go round and round?

Yes, you can go round and round - not sure what would count as a legal ticket though, other than a rail card.

[NiceCupOfTea]

that's a good point - would your ticket be valid on the Circle line if you just travelled round and round?

[funnywebsite]

It would be if you bought a one day travel pass or a weekly/monthly or yearly pass. Somebody suggested a party on the Circle line once but it never got organised. It would of been fun.

[funnywebsite]

I was on the tube once and saw a magician doing magic tricks for money. I thought it was hilarious, I cried myself with laugher throughout the whole journey. I wasn't laughing because he was funny I was laughing more of the fact seeing a magician all dressed up and doing tricks on a tube of all places.

[gary baldy]

I used to know a lively pensioner who would get a bus from Manchester to Hebden Bridge - paying the concessionary fare of 40p. From there Hebden Bridge just comes under the West Riding and pensioners in the West and South Ridings can travel for free. He would then just get buses as far east as he could (nearly Hull!). So he could get from Manchester to Hull for 40p.

[fusilier]

Re traveling the circle line; I think that there have been a number of attempts to visit every station on the whole of the London Underground sysyem during the working day (presumably starting with the earliest train to the last one ) and I am fairly certain it has been done, but required a lot of pre-planing in order to make connections. I have an idea some students did it at one time after being sponsered for a charity.

[funnywebsite]

A friend of mine wondered if you could get around the whole of London in a circle by bus in a day. I was curious and actually tried it out. It took all day till about 8pm at night by the time I got home but I managed it using the outer London bus pass. That was the days when I was only working p/t and had lots of time on my hands.

[ianess]

gary baldy......well off the thread I know but I had a friend who a few years ago had a "Stagecoach in Scotland" free travel pass. Ryanair had just started flying from Prestwick to Gatwick for about �1 each way.
He was able to time his bus journeys [from Fife] and return flights so that he could spend the best part of a day plane-spotting in London for �2.