Commuting into central London
Commuting into central London
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Scroobius Pip

Original Poster:

21,548 posts

259 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
Ho much would it cost to commute from the far northern tip of London (zone 6) into central (zone 1) by train/tube? Would you just get an Oyster card or are there better ways of doing it?

For that matter, how hellish is the A1/A5 into central London likely to be leaving at, say, 7.15 in the morning and how much would the congestion charge be (I presume it would apply for this)?

Marty Funkhouser

5,439 posts

198 months

Landlord

12,689 posts

274 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
Scroobius Pip said:
Ho much would it cost to commute from the far northern tip of London (zone 6) into central (zone 1) by train/tube? Would you just get an Oyster card or are there better ways of doing it?

For that matter, how hellish is the A1/A5 into central London likely to be leaving at, say, 7.15 in the morning and how much would the congestion charge be (I presume it would apply for this)?
Oyster, yes. Cost? Dunno - less than £5 for both legs (i.e. back again).

Have a look here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tickets/faresandtickets/...

Neil H

15,405 posts

268 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
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Oyster would be best I think, I get a weekly travelcard on mine from zone 5.

Driving would be pretty hellish and the CC is £8 a day for cars, just get the train/ tube.

Edited by Neil H on Wednesday 30th June 11:36

sjg

7,608 posts

282 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
Landlord said:
Scroobius Pip said:
Ho much would it cost to commute from the far northern tip of London (zone 6) into central (zone 1) by train/tube? Would you just get an Oyster card or are there better ways of doing it?

For that matter, how hellish is the A1/A5 into central London likely to be leaving at, say, 7.15 in the morning and how much would the congestion charge be (I presume it would apply for this)?
Oyster, yes. Cost? Dunno - less than £5 for both legs (i.e. back again).

Have a look here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tickets/faresandtickets/...
Er, more like £8.40 for both legs.

If you have no other journeys (weekend trips, meeting people after work, buses, etc) then a travelcard may not be worthwhile - at £182.80/month you'd have to use it 21-22 days a month to be worthwhile.

If it's under that, just PAYG. You can set up auto top-up, which just reloads the card from your bank account when it runs low - saves queuing at the machines.

davemac250

4,499 posts

222 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
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Bike?
Scooter?

Scroobius Pip

Original Poster:

21,548 posts

259 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
Cheers gents. Should have just looked at TFL. I presume the 1-6 travelcard will cover me for trains, tubes and buses within those zones? In my head I reckon I spend about £600 a year on fuel for my current commute, so it'd be about £1,300 more to do the new one by public transport I reckon if I bought an annual ticket.

Any idea how best to do it by car if I couldn't avoid driving (Enfield to Hyde Park area)? Google says A1, A5 and looks sensible to me.

Going back to the trains, sort of, would daily/weekly travelcards still remain the best way of paying for public transport bit if I did that some days and drove in on others?

blindswelledrat

25,257 posts

249 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
Forget driving.
At 7.15 in the morning that could easily take 2 hours.
Add to this, that unless you have parking in Hyde Park provided I would be suprised if you get it for less than £20 per day.
Then 8 or £10 congestion charge.....

Stick to the underground or get a motorbike.
Motorbike is definitely the easiest, cheapest and quickest way of getting from a to b in London

gilla

19,741 posts

207 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
blindswelledrat said:
Forget driving.
At 7.15 in the morning that could easily take 2 hours.
Add to this, that unless you have parking in Hyde Park provided I would be suprised if you get it for less than £20 per day.
Then 8 or £10 congestion charge.....

Stick to the underground or get a motorbike.
Motorbike is definitely the easiest, cheapest and quickest way of getting from a to b in London
Sorry BSR not srtickly true fella, I travel in regularly from St Albans (gf's place) leave at 7.30 do the M1, A1 cut through from Holloway rd, King's cross - to nr Holborn and do it regularly in 1hr 15/1hr 30. It's never taken me 2 hrs in over 20 journeys. If I leave before 7 I can do it in an hour. It's easier once you work out the routes round the back streets. Congestion charge and parking are a bh though!!

Ok it's not the same journey but very similar.

Scroobius Pip

Original Poster:

21,548 posts

259 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
blindswelledrat said:
Forget driving.
That may not be an option all the time. Any idea of the least tedious way of doing it if I had to take to four wheels? What would be the best route (ignoring the costs for a second) and just how early/late would you have to do each leg to get a meaningful reduction in traffic?

Also, does anyone cycle a similar sort of journey? I frequently bike to work currently, but it's a much shorter trip over much quieter roads in the suburbs now. I'm not sure I'd survive proper London cycling!

BMWBen

4,904 posts

218 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
Scroobius Pip said:
blindswelledrat said:
Forget driving.
That may not be an option all the time. Any idea of the least tedious way of doing it if I had to take to four wheels? What would be the best route (ignoring the costs for a second) and just how early/late would you have to do each leg to get a meaningful reduction in traffic?

Also, does anyone cycle a similar sort of journey? I frequently bike to work currently, but it's a much shorter trip over much quieter roads in the suburbs now. I'm not sure I'd survive proper London cycling!
I cycle from Kingston to the City, which is about 15 miles each way. Takes under an hour but is quite dangerous. Doing it 5 days a week is a bit much though, so I do 4 and work from home on Wednesdays (today!). If I've had a strenuous weekend I'll take the train on a Monday. I think the route in from the north is a fair bit more hilly though...

Neil H

15,405 posts

268 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
Scroobius Pip said:
Cheers gents. Should have just looked at TFL. I presume the 1-6 travelcard will cover me for trains, tubes and buses within those zones?
Yes it does, unlimted use for the whole week within those zones.

DrC

677 posts

268 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
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Don't forget that with oyster PAYG if you dont travel at peak times you get cheap(er) fares.
I used to do zone 8 to zone 1 for for £6.80 a day return clocking in before 6.30am and before 4.00pm.
Oh and refunds when the delay is more than 15mins.

Scroobius Pip

Original Poster:

21,548 posts

259 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
BMWBen said:
I cycle from Kingston to the City, which is about 15 miles each way. Takes under an hour but is quite dangerous. Doing it 5 days a week is a bit much though, so I do 4 and work from home on Wednesdays (today!). If I've had a strenuous weekend I'll take the train on a Monday. I think the route in from the north is a fair bit more hilly though...
Yep, I'm Enfield to Finchley currently. The traffic is comparitively safe by London standards - although I tend to get a couple of 'breathe in' moments care of a passing transit each trip - but it's quite hilly so just 7ish miles each way takes me half an hour.

NewNameNeeded

2,560 posts

242 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
Scroobius Pip said:
Any idea how best to do it by car if I couldn't avoid driving (Enfield to Hyde Park area)? Google says A1, A5 and looks sensible to me.
Are you by any chance the Scroobius Pip with the famour beard and renounded friend of TA ? If so ... Hello matey. You are cordally invited to pop round to our place for BBQ and beers whenever you settle in Enfield.

(BTW - TA does the Enfield to Oxford Circus commute daily so hook up with her!)



Edited by NewNameNeeded on Wednesday 30th June 13:19

Black Sport 160

1,575 posts

236 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
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If you do decide to drive, absolutely forget the A5. It has hundreds of traffic lights along the wretched thing.

blindswelledrat

25,257 posts

249 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
gilla said:
Sorry BSR not srtickly true fella, I travel in regularly from St Albans (gf's place) leave at 7.30 do the M1, A1 cut through from Holloway rd, King's cross - to nr Holborn and do it regularly in 1hr 15/1hr 30. It's never taken me 2 hrs in over 20 journeys. If I leave before 7 I can do it in an hour. It's easier once you work out the routes round the back streets. Congestion charge and parking are a bh though!!

Ok it's not the same journey but very similar.
Its not really similar.
St Albans is an excellent run in.
We aren't far from Holborn and the two chaps that used to drive in from St Albans used to have a significantly better journey in than anyone else travelling similar distances. Besides, if it takes you 1hr30 from there my statement of "it could easily take you 2 hours" is still valid anyway, Im not suggesting it will every day, but my experience of commuting suggests that at least one day per week is unusually horrific.

blindswelledrat

25,257 posts

249 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
Scroobius Pip said:
blindswelledrat said:
Forget driving.
That may not be an option all the time. Any idea of the least tedious way of doing it if I had to take to four wheels? What would be the best route (ignoring the costs for a second) and just how early/late would you have to do each leg to get a meaningful reduction in traffic?
Im not overly familiar with that route in so I couldn't advise on the best roads.

In the morning, Anything before 640am from that distance will get you reasonable traffic. Thereafter it gets much much worse for every 10 minutes later you leave it.
SO for me (from High Wycombe) If I leave at 630 it will take an hour whereas if I leave at 7 it will take 2 hours.
The return journey is completely pot luck. I would suggest that any time between about 430 and 730 are equally bad but before and after that progressively better. Just as a general rule, but there are always freak days.

gilla

19,741 posts

207 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
blindswelledrat said:
gilla said:
Sorry BSR not srtickly true fella, I travel in regularly from St Albans (gf's place) leave at 7.30 do the M1, A1 cut through from Holloway rd, King's cross - to nr Holborn and do it regularly in 1hr 15/1hr 30. It's never taken me 2 hrs in over 20 journeys. If I leave before 7 I can do it in an hour. It's easier once you work out the routes round the back streets. Congestion charge and parking are a bh though!!

Ok it's not the same journey but very similar.
Its not really similar.
St Albans is an excellent run in.
We aren't far from Holborn and the two chaps that used to drive in from St Albans used to have a significantly better journey in than anyone else travelling similar distances. Besides, if it takes you 1hr30 from there my statement of "it could easily take you 2 hours" is still valid anyway, Im not suggesting it will every day, but my experience of commuting suggests that at least one day per week is unusually horrific.
Furry Muff smile

Shmee150

7,565 posts

230 months

Wednesday 30th June 2010
quotequote all
I park in the Square Mile for £6 a day, when I drive in from Hertfordshire (35 miles) it takes about 75-90 mins against a middle of the night time of about 60 mins, and on occasion the journey back home can be hours and hours and hours... If I'm commuting from my London flat (4 miles) it takes about 15 mins at 7.30-7.45am (against 45 mins on public transport), but takes more like the 45 mins to get home again at 6.30pm.

So I guess my point is that at the early morning time it's no problem driving at all provided you have somewhere to park up and don't mind paying the Congestion Charge (I have resident's rate at £200 for the whole year), but be prepared for horrific journeys home.