Yes, that's another conversation . I'm just trying to get a feel for UK stations that have both overground and underground elements. Is it more or less a case (and I'm speaking generally here), that you get off the tube, go up a few escalators, go through the gate and bang you're in the overground station. Or are they more spaced out than that?

(My Japanese frame of reference was probably misleading. I was thinking of Shinagawa station where there's a fairly long walk between getting off the Yamanote line and grabbing a Shinkansen. I was just thinking that the tube and London Midland are 2 different operators, so more likely to have a large gap between them)