Rules
Even for idiotic schemes such as our Moscow Metro Challenge, there needs to be rules. We want to set an official world record, and there’s no way to do that unless there are standarised rules.
As far as we can tell from our research, nobody has ever attempted to set an official record for the fastest time to visit all the stations on the Moscow Metro system. Obviously, then, there were no rules in place for such a challenge. We therefore looked closely at rules for similar challenges for the London Underground and for the New York Subway, and applied them exactly (where possible) to our Moscow Metro Challenge (rules 1-5). We have also included the rules that Guinness insists on for the time to be accepted as an official rapid transit challenge world record (rules 6-10).
As far as we can tell from our research, nobody has ever attempted to set an official record for the fastest time to visit all the stations on the Moscow Metro system. Obviously, then, there were no rules in place for such a challenge. We therefore looked closely at rules for similar challenges for the London Underground and for the New York Subway, and applied them exactly (where possible) to our Moscow Metro Challenge (rules 1-5). We have also included the rules that Guinness insists on for the time to be accepted as an official rapid transit challenge world record (rules 6-10).
- Every station on the Moscow Metro System must be visited. ‘Visiting’ a station is defined as leaving, entering, or both, a station by metro, i.e. You don’t have to alight the train at every station to count as having visited them -- you can pass through. However, you must do one or the other: simply walking in, looking at the platform and walking out doesn’t count. Note, though, that it’s ‘either’/‘or both’, and not ‘and’: to count as a visit, you do not have to enter and leave by metro. Therefore, you may have separate start and finish stations to your challenge route. This also means you can exit the system, if it’s faster, which takes us to rule two.
- It is permissible to exit and enter the system during the challenge, and travel between the stations by means other than metro, but only by foot or publicly scheduled transport. That means you can connect metro stations on your route by walking or running, or by other type of train, or bus, trolleybus or mashrutka (mini bus); however, you cannot use a car (including taxis) or motorbike, bicycle, skateboard, rollerblades, Segway or similar.
- Stations which are connected to one another, or which are geographically separate but share a name, or which have the same name and are connected, are classed as separate, individual stations. That is to say, you must visit, for example, both Kuznetskiy Most and Lubyanka, both Smolenskaya (dark blue) and Smolenskaya (light blue), and even all three Kievskayas, despite the fact the Kievskayas share a name and are connected. For the purposes of this challenge, they are separate stations. It is this part of the rules that makes the Moscow Challenge more difficult than its London equivalent, for example. On the Tube, there are several stretches of track that service multiple lines, which all pass through the same stations and stop at the same platforms. In Moscow, each line on the map has its own unique track, tunnels and stations; no two lines on the map share stretches of track or pass the same platforms. There is no Moscow equivalent of the stretch on the London Underground between Baker Street and Liverpool Street, for instance, where you can visit all the stations on the Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith and City lines by using just one. Thus, we take the view that stations in the Moscow Metro, even if they connect and have the same name, should be viewed as individual, different points that need visited to complete the challenge. Our rules also therefore mean that you have to score a ‘visit’ (as defined above) even for the stations connected in the cross-platform Kitai Gorod style, like Tretyakovskaya and Kashirskaya, which would have to be visited on both the Orange and Yellow and Green and Teal lines, respectively. The only exception to this on the Moscow Metro is the Kievskaya station on the light blue line, which can be visited heading toward either Fili or Vystavochnaya, and does not have to be visited twice.
- Stations may be visited, and stretches of track used, more than once.
- Only the stations of the Moscow Metro itself need be visited. Therefore, the Moscow Central Circle and Moscow Monorail, despite appearing on certain Moscow Metro maps and schemes, sometimes even with designated line numbers, need not be visited, as they are not metros (and in the former’s case, not owned by the same company). Per rule 2, however, they can be used as part of the challenge, where advantageous.
- A logbook of the journey must be kept. This must include arrival and departure times at each station you visit, interchanges between stations and lines, commutes by means other than metro between stations (bus route numbers, etc) and where possible the number of each metro you ride on.
- A master stopwatch must be kept by an independent witness to record the official time of the challenge. Although it is not necessary for this independent witness to be present at both the start and the finish, the stopwatch recording the time must be the same at the start and finish, and must be started and stopped by the independent witness(es) at the start and finish. The challengers may keep their own time, but the master stop watch controlled by the independent witness(es) will be record the official time.
- The challenge starts when the doors of the metro from the first station shut and stops when the doors of the metro to the final station open.
- Additional independent witnesses are preferable but are not necessary. These witnesses may include fellow passengers, staff, police etc. Each witness should sign in a witness book, providing their name (clearly spelt out), contact telephone number or e-mail address, and confirmation of the time and place. This witness book may take the form of pre-printed sheets with spaces for the relevant information.
- Photographic or video proof of visiting each station must be taken. This would preferably including you in shot along with some sort of time proof, such as a phone or newspaper showing the date and time, or a time stamp on the video or photograph.