Does anyone do a daily London commute, c2c and tube???
Discussion
Just an idea at mo and looking at costs etc.
My new job sees me commuting daily by car from Basildon to Notting Hill. Now I know its not the nicest but I can put up with it for various reasons. My start and finish times vary daily due to the nature of the job so some times I win commuting outside the rush both ways, other times I lose.
The best I've done the journey is 1 hour and 5 minutes, but on 1 particularly bad day it took 3 and a half hours
no matter what I tried 
Bear in mind this is an 06 plate Mini, uncomfortable and a manual box. Once I get on my feet I could change the car and get something more ideal, small, comfortable and auto.
The other option is the train/tube from Basildon to Fenchurch Street then tube from Tower Hill for 1 stop, change to central line which would take me all the way to Queensway and its a 2 minute walk from there. I have no idea yet what the journey time would be, and the 'chances' of getting a seat? Doubtful I guess?
I would obviously do a trial of a week or month before deciding which way to go in the long term.
Cost wise, the train/tube look the cheaper option but not by a huge amount, it would mean though we could get rid of 1 of our cars as it would no longer be needed.
Thoughts and opinions please?
My new job sees me commuting daily by car from Basildon to Notting Hill. Now I know its not the nicest but I can put up with it for various reasons. My start and finish times vary daily due to the nature of the job so some times I win commuting outside the rush both ways, other times I lose.
The best I've done the journey is 1 hour and 5 minutes, but on 1 particularly bad day it took 3 and a half hours
no matter what I tried Bear in mind this is an 06 plate Mini, uncomfortable and a manual box. Once I get on my feet I could change the car and get something more ideal, small, comfortable and auto.
The other option is the train/tube from Basildon to Fenchurch Street then tube from Tower Hill for 1 stop, change to central line which would take me all the way to Queensway and its a 2 minute walk from there. I have no idea yet what the journey time would be, and the 'chances' of getting a seat? Doubtful I guess?
I would obviously do a trial of a week or month before deciding which way to go in the long term.
Cost wise, the train/tube look the cheaper option but not by a huge amount, it would mean though we could get rid of 1 of our cars as it would no longer be needed.
Thoughts and opinions please?
Thanks very much for the info, I have to be honest I didn't even think of the Laindon option and its a very good idea as I'd really like a seat for that part of the journey, not to worried about a seat on the tube as wouldn't expect to get 1.
I could walk to Basildon from home in 10 minutes, Laindon prob more like 25 but could always hijack the Mrs for a lift
My concern was always what if it went belly up due to delays/problems but guess there is just as much chance of the same on the roads. I'm a bit anal and always leave extra early just in case and when I have really good runs in I go for an early breakfast near work. I suppose if I went down the train/tube route and the c2c line was screwed I could go via the Liverpool street line on odd occasions.
Certainly food for thought, I'll prob make the most of the quieter roads right now due to half term but think I'll give some different routes a trial in September, see you in that pub
I could walk to Basildon from home in 10 minutes, Laindon prob more like 25 but could always hijack the Mrs for a lift
My concern was always what if it went belly up due to delays/problems but guess there is just as much chance of the same on the roads. I'm a bit anal and always leave extra early just in case and when I have really good runs in I go for an early breakfast near work. I suppose if I went down the train/tube route and the c2c line was screwed I could go via the Liverpool street line on odd occasions.
Certainly food for thought, I'll prob make the most of the quieter roads right now due to half term but think I'll give some different routes a trial in September, see you in that pub
12TS said:
If it's the Central Line that's the problem, one option would be to walk the 5 mins from TH to Aldgate and then Met/Circle round to Royal Oak. May take another 5 to 10 mins, but whenever I've used this bit it's more civilised.
Passed Royal Oak the other day, and it would only be a 10 minute walk to the house so worth considering 
Jefferson Steelflex said:
Sorry for being a bit late on this, but just in case it's still an issue it's advisable to stay above ground as long as possible.
To that end, come out of Fenchurch Street at the main entrance and walk to Bank - only 5 or 6 minutes walk - and take the Central. Trains are busy (and hot in summer) but not too bad. If it's raining, you have the option of going via Tower Hill to Monument and using the tunnel to Bank instead.
Alternatively, change at West Ham, take District or H&C to Mile End and jump on the Central Line there.
C2C is ok. I get on at Upminster so hardly ever get a seat but it's not a bad journey and is one of the better lines, but they only have a few routes to manage so not difficult to achieve the punctuality they do.
It's nice to have some different options, so you could always drive at certain times and use the train at others. I'm not going to encourage it, but a lot of people drive to Upminster and park up somewhere, that way they can use Oyster and the fare is capped at £12 a day. However parking is very restricted now.
Thanks for the ideas. Bank is another idea I'd consider as is changing at West Ham. To that end, come out of Fenchurch Street at the main entrance and walk to Bank - only 5 or 6 minutes walk - and take the Central. Trains are busy (and hot in summer) but not too bad. If it's raining, you have the option of going via Tower Hill to Monument and using the tunnel to Bank instead.
Alternatively, change at West Ham, take District or H&C to Mile End and jump on the Central Line there.
C2C is ok. I get on at Upminster so hardly ever get a seat but it's not a bad journey and is one of the better lines, but they only have a few routes to manage so not difficult to achieve the punctuality they do.
It's nice to have some different options, so you could always drive at certain times and use the train at others. I'm not going to encourage it, but a lot of people drive to Upminster and park up somewhere, that way they can use Oyster and the fare is capped at £12 a day. However parking is very restricted now.
I did toy with Upminster but think all in costs over the year would be a bit more expensive than a annual ticket.
Certainly got plenty of food for thought now, thanks all
The roads finally got the better of me and I finally gave it a go this week.
Tried a few of the routes suggested, Basildon when on an early start or Laindon if I can make it fit.
At first I thought Laindon to West ham, then tube to Mile end and change onto Central line Tube to Queensway was best. It seems ok when early but a bit different trying to get on at Mile End when busy and those Central line tubes do get a bit warm, bet they're fun in the summer.
Like the Div that I sometimes am, I picked a trial week with a tube strike on the cards and was unaware of the evening engineering work on the Fenchurch Street line, luckily only got caught out the once.
On Friday I did Laindon to Fenchurch, walk to Tower Hill and then got on the Circle line to Bayswater. Have to say that route is by far my fave as I get a seat at Laindon and was amazed how quiet the Circle line was from Tower Hill at 7.45am. Anyone know if that's normal or did I just fluke it, it was exactly the same in reverse.
On the whole it seems a much better option than the daily drive.
Tried a few of the routes suggested, Basildon when on an early start or Laindon if I can make it fit.
At first I thought Laindon to West ham, then tube to Mile end and change onto Central line Tube to Queensway was best. It seems ok when early but a bit different trying to get on at Mile End when busy and those Central line tubes do get a bit warm, bet they're fun in the summer.
Like the Div that I sometimes am, I picked a trial week with a tube strike on the cards and was unaware of the evening engineering work on the Fenchurch Street line, luckily only got caught out the once.
On Friday I did Laindon to Fenchurch, walk to Tower Hill and then got on the Circle line to Bayswater. Have to say that route is by far my fave as I get a seat at Laindon and was amazed how quiet the Circle line was from Tower Hill at 7.45am. Anyone know if that's normal or did I just fluke it, it was exactly the same in reverse.
On the whole it seems a much better option than the daily drive.
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