What’s your London commute?
Discussion
Interested to understand what length(time)people are spending commuting to London.
I’m looking for a new job and having gone to Kings Cross for a meeting yesterday, not for the first time I thought could I do this - is it time to face up to this being the only way to a better job and more money. Bearing in mind I was on the fifth floor of the Southampton Airport Parkway car park, plenty of others do and in general the cars in there aren’t too shabby so I guess the financial incentive is there.
My journey was 30 mins motorway(should be 15 but work going on for a year.) £16 parking, 1 hour 10 to Waterloo, £70 but varies obviously. Whatever journey after that.
Is this madness or just fairly normal?
I’m looking for a new job and having gone to Kings Cross for a meeting yesterday, not for the first time I thought could I do this - is it time to face up to this being the only way to a better job and more money. Bearing in mind I was on the fifth floor of the Southampton Airport Parkway car park, plenty of others do and in general the cars in there aren’t too shabby so I guess the financial incentive is there.
My journey was 30 mins motorway(should be 15 but work going on for a year.) £16 parking, 1 hour 10 to Waterloo, £70 but varies obviously. Whatever journey after that.
Is this madness or just fairly normal?
It all depends on:
1) Your appetite for commuting.
2) The rewards of the job, not just financial, though obviously that's important.
Both my wife and I had long commutes to jobs we liked, (her 70 miles and me 100 miles each way) but the commute sucked the joy out of the working day.
A neighbour of mine commutes to London daily from, Taunton, but he works in W. London and can walk from Paddington, his core hours in the office means he turns the commute into working time, he sold his house in London to buy in rural Somerset which has allowed his wife to retire completely, and this has made his life considerably nicer.
1) Your appetite for commuting.
2) The rewards of the job, not just financial, though obviously that's important.
Both my wife and I had long commutes to jobs we liked, (her 70 miles and me 100 miles each way) but the commute sucked the joy out of the working day.
A neighbour of mine commutes to London daily from, Taunton, but he works in W. London and can walk from Paddington, his core hours in the office means he turns the commute into working time, he sold his house in London to buy in rural Somerset which has allowed his wife to retire completely, and this has made his life considerably nicer.
I should have said, I’d not be looking for 5 days in the office but ideally 2 at most I think. I’m only really considering this because there just seem to be so few opportunities let alone opportunities in decent size companies where I live on the South coast. Whilst obviously it would need to cover the commute costs and a fair bit extra to make it worthwhile I’m more interested in finding a good role in a quality employer.
The devil is in the detail.
I do 3 days a week from Cambridge to Oxford Circus.
It is a 15 minute walk, an hour on the train and 10 minutes on the tube. Door to door takes 1hr40 there and 2hrs on the way back as you need to get to KGX 20 mins before the train departs if you want a seat.
It costs a lot. £55 for the train. £5.7 for the tube, and £13 for lunch
I.e £75 a day to get to work. I’m not sure how most people do it tbh.
I enjoy the commute - read a book, listen to music / podcasts etc and do the occasional bit of email etc but I’m also lucky that I tend to get to my desk by 0940 and leave at 5. It would be harder if I wanted to be at my desk by 08:30 and leave at 6. I don’t think I’d enjoy it anywhere near as much in that case !
I do 3 days a week from Cambridge to Oxford Circus.
It is a 15 minute walk, an hour on the train and 10 minutes on the tube. Door to door takes 1hr40 there and 2hrs on the way back as you need to get to KGX 20 mins before the train departs if you want a seat.
It costs a lot. £55 for the train. £5.7 for the tube, and £13 for lunch
I.e £75 a day to get to work. I’m not sure how most people do it tbh.
I enjoy the commute - read a book, listen to music / podcasts etc and do the occasional bit of email etc but I’m also lucky that I tend to get to my desk by 0940 and leave at 5. It would be harder if I wanted to be at my desk by 08:30 and leave at 6. I don’t think I’d enjoy it anywhere near as much in that case !
I like townidiots advice.
I’d do something similar, but drive all the way. Stick the car in a carpark just outside the congestion zone, book into a hotel nearby. If you can walk everywhere, that’s a bonus.
Drive home again after work on the 2nd day.
Trains are a nightmare. Used to commute from Reading to Central London at one point, even found that painful. Fine for 9 out of 10 days, but could be a total SOAB. Not usual to arrive back home at 1:30am, or get to the office at 11am, a few times a year, because of faults, cancellations and delays. Trains were always rammed. Minor delays were very, very common, adding 20mins etc. Was super expensive as well.
I’d do something similar, but drive all the way. Stick the car in a carpark just outside the congestion zone, book into a hotel nearby. If you can walk everywhere, that’s a bonus.
Drive home again after work on the 2nd day.
Trains are a nightmare. Used to commute from Reading to Central London at one point, even found that painful. Fine for 9 out of 10 days, but could be a total SOAB. Not usual to arrive back home at 1:30am, or get to the office at 11am, a few times a year, because of faults, cancellations and delays. Trains were always rammed. Minor delays were very, very common, adding 20mins etc. Was super expensive as well.
Edited by wyson on Thursday 1st May 17:00
I no longer live in London (or the UK for that matter) but did various commutes for a period of 7-8 years. It was always a case of it doesn't matter how far you are going; it always takes at least an hour.
Dorking - Chiswick: 1 hour on the train to Clapham Junction, 30 minutes on the tube to get to Gunnersbury; up to 2 hours to get home again.
Ladbroke Grove - Chiswick: 10 minute walk to the station, 40 minutes on the tube
Kew - Chiswick: 30 minutes door-to-door to walk/tube/bus depending on my mood/weather/timings
On the rare occasion that I would drive from Surrey to Chiswick it would take about the same amount of time. Whenever I had to go up to the Hendon office it would always take around 3 hours to get back to Dorking at the end of the day which was crazy, given it takes 1 hour on a day without traffic.
Dorking - Chiswick: 1 hour on the train to Clapham Junction, 30 minutes on the tube to get to Gunnersbury; up to 2 hours to get home again.
Ladbroke Grove - Chiswick: 10 minute walk to the station, 40 minutes on the tube
Kew - Chiswick: 30 minutes door-to-door to walk/tube/bus depending on my mood/weather/timings
On the rare occasion that I would drive from Surrey to Chiswick it would take about the same amount of time. Whenever I had to go up to the Hendon office it would always take around 3 hours to get back to Dorking at the end of the day which was crazy, given it takes 1 hour on a day without traffic.
So about 2 hours door to door each way?
That’s a bit of a stretch to be fair but it’s only two days a week so maybe tolerable but you must factor in the inevitable train delays and suspensions which will suck the life out of you if you get caught up in it. Not so bad if it’s in the morning, you just go back home and WFH (if that’s an option) but when it’s in the evening and you’re stood there on the concourse at Waterloo and nothing’s moving, it’s gets tiresome pretty damn fast.
I know a few people who do the South Coast to London commute and they by and large hate it and even more so as the years have gone by.
I do about an hour to hour and 15 minutes depending on the train I get (intercity or stopper) door to door and it’s definitely takes a ‘state of mind’ to come to peace with it but it helps that I tend to travel much earlier than the peaks so getting a seat is rarely a problem and my line is considered pretty reliable.
That’s a bit of a stretch to be fair but it’s only two days a week so maybe tolerable but you must factor in the inevitable train delays and suspensions which will suck the life out of you if you get caught up in it. Not so bad if it’s in the morning, you just go back home and WFH (if that’s an option) but when it’s in the evening and you’re stood there on the concourse at Waterloo and nothing’s moving, it’s gets tiresome pretty damn fast.
I know a few people who do the South Coast to London commute and they by and large hate it and even more so as the years have gone by.
I do about an hour to hour and 15 minutes depending on the train I get (intercity or stopper) door to door and it’s definitely takes a ‘state of mind’ to come to peace with it but it helps that I tend to travel much earlier than the peaks so getting a seat is rarely a problem and my line is considered pretty reliable.
Edited by valiant on Thursday 1st May 13:01
TownIdiot said:
if it's two days a week that's a different matter. If you put the two days together with a hotel stay then, aside from the cost, it wouldn't be too bad at all.
This is the way. I know plenty of people who have moved out of Greater London and do 2-3 days midweek while staying at a hotel.Not for me personally though, I like living in London and have a 15-20 min door to door commute
I did it for 15 months from Swindon to Canary Wharf. It made me ill.
Granted it was a horrible job. I'd spend Friday night having a beer to get over the week, then Saturday and Sunday having a beer dreading Monday. Sucked the life out of me, to such an extent I moved the family back home to Wales/Shrops so I would have to stay away.
Did another role a few years later and got digs near to London for the duration. Yes, i was away all week, but at least I was fun to be around at the weekend.
Granted it was a horrible job. I'd spend Friday night having a beer to get over the week, then Saturday and Sunday having a beer dreading Monday. Sucked the life out of me, to such an extent I moved the family back home to Wales/Shrops so I would have to stay away.
Did another role a few years later and got digs near to London for the duration. Yes, i was away all week, but at least I was fun to be around at the weekend.
It's do-able, especially if only a few days a week.
I'm in every day and the commute in takes 40-60mins (Sanderstead - City), quicker on the motorbike, more on the train. Coming home takes 45-60 minutes, again quicker on the bike but slowed by traffic.
The bike costs £2.60 a day in fuel, assuming I'm on it for 190 days a year other costs amount to the same again - ~£5.20 a day vs £12.70 for the bus/train. Bike is also more convenient given I'm at my desk before 7 each morning and leaving between 18:30 and 21:00 each evening (in 5 days/week)
Colleagues (25 in company) who have 3-day in office contracts commute from as far as Geneva (1 person) and Amsterdam (2 people) but stay in hotels 2 nights a week before flying home.
I'm in every day and the commute in takes 40-60mins (Sanderstead - City), quicker on the motorbike, more on the train. Coming home takes 45-60 minutes, again quicker on the bike but slowed by traffic.
The bike costs £2.60 a day in fuel, assuming I'm on it for 190 days a year other costs amount to the same again - ~£5.20 a day vs £12.70 for the bus/train. Bike is also more convenient given I'm at my desk before 7 each morning and leaving between 18:30 and 21:00 each evening (in 5 days/week)
Colleagues (25 in company) who have 3-day in office contracts commute from as far as Geneva (1 person) and Amsterdam (2 people) but stay in hotels 2 nights a week before flying home.
I commute into central London ( 65 miles each way).
Motorbike: 1hr20 door to door and £23 a day in fuel if ridden enthusiastically ( and it is
)
vs
Train: 1hr40 to 2hrs and ~£70 a day ( fuel, parking, train). I might do this once a month.
I might take the train once or twice a month.. but I find it utterly miserable, unreliable, uncomfortable and crowded experience. I couldn't do it daily.
The office is really empty today, I could have worked from home but our attendance is tracked and if you are 90% off the 3 days a week a qtr it's a disciplinary , 2 qtrs in a row and you're gone.
It's not a direct comparison but the cost of ownership of motorcycle and car, based on mileage, aren't hugely dissimilar interms of tyres, servicing, insurance and tax pa.
Motorbike: 1hr20 door to door and £23 a day in fuel if ridden enthusiastically ( and it is
)vs
Train: 1hr40 to 2hrs and ~£70 a day ( fuel, parking, train). I might do this once a month.
I might take the train once or twice a month.. but I find it utterly miserable, unreliable, uncomfortable and crowded experience. I couldn't do it daily.
The office is really empty today, I could have worked from home but our attendance is tracked and if you are 90% off the 3 days a week a qtr it's a disciplinary , 2 qtrs in a row and you're gone.
It's not a direct comparison but the cost of ownership of motorcycle and car, based on mileage, aren't hugely dissimilar interms of tyres, servicing, insurance and tax pa.
Edited by MDUBZ on Thursday 1st May 13:38
In the early 2000's I commuted from 10 miles outside of Ely, to Central London. 2 hours door to door, each way. I started all bushy tailed and couldn't understand why people were so miserable on the train. It was exciting. Within six months I too was heading for the same seat, on the same train, dribbling down the same window and life revolved around washing my socks at the weekend before starting again. I liked the job, but it was a bit of a miserable existence. I could have moved closer or in to london, but I had a nice house and garden, and it was all the more depressing to see young professionals living in a bedsit in wimbledon like students into their 30's and still having a long ish commute and no money as everything was expensive.
Glad I did it for a while, but wouldn't contemplate a job with a commute like that again. Mugs game.
Glad I did it for a while, but wouldn't contemplate a job with a commute like that again. Mugs game.
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