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Re: Commuting to London.
Originally Posted by mbike
(Post 8856825)
you can calculate an annual season ticket here:
http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/s...ket/calculator Just select 12 months. Unless you are lucky, you will need it to be <station>-to-London 1-6 |
Re: Commuting to London.
barb b,
commute times in London are horrendous. my humble advice to you would be to go to London and see for yourself before you make any concrete decisions. I was stunned when it took me nearly four hours to drive from Heathrow in West London to Catford in South London. *FOUR Hours* for a 22 mile trip. the post recommending Upminster is definately worth some research. ** best of luck ** |
Re: Commuting to London.
Where will your spouse be working?
Canary Wharf? The City (financial district)? West London/Central London/South, East or North London? For example it would be a lousy commute if you live in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge or Sevenoaks in Kent if your spouse will be working in say, Barnet (North London)..:ohmy: |
Re: Commuting to London.
Originally Posted by Englishmum
(Post 8885910)
Where will your spouse be working?
Canary Wharf? The City (financial district)? West London/Central London/South, East or North London? For example it would be a lousy commute if you live in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge or Sevenoaks in Kent if your spouse will be working in say, Barnet (North London)..:ohmy: |
Re: Commuting to London.
A nice fast line into London is SouthWest Trains through Surbiton. Follow the line out to Surrey and you can find some lovely parts, having said that they are often very expensive. You have think about your priorities. Nicer 'rural' area, longer commute and of course higher travel costs. The SWT trains go in to Waterloo which is pretty central. I would wait till he gets a job and go from there. When I was commuting from Surbiton I could do it in an hour to Highbury and Islington tube station in North London, sometimes less.
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Re: Commuting to London.
On a day trip to London earlier in the year, I stayed longer than I intended and ended up trying to get a train back at about 5pm. It was a zoo! People were jammed into trains like sardines. I hope they weren't traveling an hour.
Just saying. As I didn't have to be anywhere, a sat on a quiet platform with a cup of coffee and a book until it all calmed down a bit. Bev |
Re: Commuting to London.
Good point to mention Bev. I stopped commuting myself because of the stress rather than the actual journey time. It's not a pleasant experience in peak hour (mind you that is probably true in lots of other cities too). More companies are offering a flexi time system, or some working from home, so it's worth asking if you really do need to work in London.
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Re: Commuting to London.
Originally Posted by Bevm
(Post 8889279)
On a day trip to London earlier in the year, I stayed longer than I intended and ended up trying to get a train back at about 5pm. It was a zoo! People were jammed into trains like sardines. I hope they weren't traveling an hour.
Just saying. As I didn't have to be anywhere, a sat on a quiet platform with a cup of coffee and a book until it all calmed down a bit. Bev The only train worth bothering with in the morning is the 8.03. It is a 12-carriage train and only stops twice on the way to London Bridge. Modern, calm, enjoyable commute of 48 mins. And you always get a seat The only train worth bothering with on the way home is the 18.23. Again it is a 12-carriage train, again it only stops twice and, as it starts at LB terminus, you always get a seat. Journey time of 43-43 minutes. I steer clear of First Capital Connect trains which stop more often, are smelly and only have 8 carriages so are always jam-packed. (they also come into the pass-through part of LB, so are already full when they stop). I also steer clear of "local" trains at either end which tend to get full as the stop at every station (and add up to 45 mins to the journey) The point is, as with anything, you have to do your research and discover the best way of doing things on the ground, rather than writing places off based on what you think they may be like. |
Re: Commuting to London.
Thanks for all the continuing advice, I am following it up with lots of extra research. Great to hear different opinions too, as gives a broad idea of the pros and cons.:thumbup:
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Re: Commuting to London.
We spent the last couple of years commuting in from Bishop Stortford about 45 minutes to Liverpool Streeyt so good for the City. However we lived in a very rural village, 15 to 20 minutes drive from BS station there are the Pelhams and the Hadhams, beautiful villages, highly recommend them. The train is quite expensive though, about £320 a month.
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Re: Commuting to London.
Been a while since I've done it, but Reading was often seen as a good commuter's option. Pretty large place by it's own standards but plenty of rural countryside in close reach. Train to central london is around 25 minutes on a good day, but like I say - this is somewhat dated info as I'm US-based now!
Grew up in Reading so biased but I do think it's a great option. |
Re: Commuting to London.
Originally Posted by shakefon
(Post 8894000)
Been a while since I've done it, but Reading was often seen as a good commuter's option. Pretty large place by it's own standards but plenty of rural countryside in close reach. Train to central london is around 25 minutes on a good day, but like I say - this is somewhat dated info as I'm US-based now!
Grew up in Reading so biased but I do think it's a great option. Both of those places offer closeness to London, closeness to great countryside and access to communications and middle-town shopping as opposed to London which to be honest can be a pain. But yes, commuting in any large city is expensive, stressful and timeconsuming. Trouble is, many of the good, well-paid jobs are in large cities. |
Re: Commuting to London.
My head is hurting. :D
I am going to have to print out these replies, get my highlighter pen out and mount a wall map to map my options. Thank you again for your continuing advice, I had absolutely no idea. Now i need advice about how to weigh stuff up. Anyone got an expat-returning-to-UK-weighing-up-the-different-options device???? :eek: |
Re: Commuting to London.
i lived in essex, south east london(lewisham) and before i left ruislip (west london)..for commuting ruislip was by far the best really nice place too, close to the m25, m4 and m40..not far from heathrow underground access into the city is good also.
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Re: Commuting to London.
Originally Posted by Barbara B.
(Post 8855034)
The jobs my partner could go for in the UK seem mostly to be situated in London. Having spent most of my early years in London, loving it, but being of an age where the hustle and bustle would be too much, I am wondering, does anyone have an opinion of good places to be based within a reasonable travel distance of London (an hour and a bit), so he could park his missus and kids, we could enjoy what was on offer there and then he'd be doing the commuting?
We are used to living in rural areas as a family, and this bit we love, but I understand that if the point about moving back to the UK is a basic yearning to be back in the broad mix of UK culture then a rural area in the UK might not be the best, 'cos there ain't so much going on there? We don't do 'village' life very well and our choice to do rural so far has been about the nature and enjoying the great outdoors rather than being sociable. However, this stereotype of rural England I keep dreaming over in 'Country Living' mags (don't ask :o), all very quaint, does that really exist? Okay, now I have just thought up another thread that would be about the expat's romantic notions of the UK, do they ever match up and what is the picture in the mind we get of the UK when we have been away for so long and miss the sunday papers and hot buttered crumpets? Tee-hee. |
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