In its simplest form, a tubewalk is nothing more than a walk that starts and ends at a Tube station, so all you need to become a tubewalker is a couple of Tube stations, a dose of motivation and some time to kill. You certainly don't need someone like me laying down rules.
However, I did need some rules, because in summer 2008, I set myself the challenge of tubewalking the entire Tube network, and something that big needs a few rules. I therefore formulated the following guidelines for my own, personal tubewalk before I set off.
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Follow the Tube: I'm only allowed to walk between two stations if there is a Tube line between those stations.
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Walk the Line: If a Tube line exists between two stations, then at some point I need to walk between them. It's OK to do this via another station, if that's legal; so, for example, if I walk from Camden Town to Mornington Crescent to Euston on the Northern line, then I've also effectively walked the direct route from Camden Town to Euston.
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No Repeats: If there is more than one Tube line between two stations – for example, Westminster and Embankment are joined by both the Circle and District lines – then I need only walk that segment once. This is to prevent repetitive strain injury and certain madness.
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Exceptions: The only station that isn't accessible on foot is Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3, which is bang in the middle of Heathrow Airport. Instead of walking all the way to the station, I'm going to walk as close as I'm allowed, and then I'm going to hop on a public bus for the last part through the tunnel under the runway (I've talked to BAA, and they understandably don't allow pedestrians to walk under the runway, so the bus is the next best thing). Apart from that, I'm going to visit every station on every line, on foot and above ground.
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Just the Tube: I'm only going to visit stations on the London Underground, so that means I won't be walking the Docklands Light Railway or the London Overground (I want to leave something to come back for when the insanity strikes again!). I will be walking the East London line, because although it is no longer open, there is a bus replacement service run by London Underground, so technically it is still part of the Tube network.
These rules enabled me to walk the entire Tube without repeating myself and without missing anything. I also tried to take in as many interesting destinations as I could, because after all, tubewalking is supposed to be fun... and it certainly turned out that way.