I commute from Birmingham to Milton Keynes - how can I save?

u0l90

At the moment I live in Birmingham and work in Milton Keynes. For a number of reasons it is not possible to move so I go by train. It costs me £350 per month with Virgin. With the London Midland it would be £250ish but the earliest train would get me there after 9am.

I have gone onto car share websites with no luck (I don't have a car but would split costs)

There must be a cheaper way of doing this, Please could I have some advice.

Many thanks.

sturll

Get a nifty fifty.

u0l90

sturll wrote: »

Get a nifty fifty.

I am too old for a young persons railcard and too young for an over 50s railcard - is that what you meant?

Thanks

jscalow

stay in milton keynes mon to fri and return to bham weekends. is there a colleague you could stay with?

u0l90

Unfortunately I can't stay in Milton Keynes. I have family commitments in Birmingham.

Andy_L

Can you ask your boss if you can start late & work late or only do 4 long days instead of 5 or work from home 1 day a week.

Is the job that great that commuting that far is worth it?

u0l90

Andy_L wrote: »

Can you ask your boss if you can start late & work late or only do 4 long days instead of 5 or work from home 1 day a week.

Is the job that great that commuting that far is worth it?

unfortunately there is not much flexibility. It is the only graduate job I have been able to get and I have been looking for more than 2 years.

kazwookie

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets

Have you read that as it may help

nrailpass

This is not an answer but, i might be doing this commute as well soon. I would have to buy a rail pass for £350 + a bus pass for £40. Its a lot of cash to spend on travel in just 1 month, but i figure its worth it to get the work experience.

A car would be the worst way to get there and back cause mileage and petrol would be over £100 weekly! On top of that the driving will make you feel even more tired.

I was just wondering if you could say how reliable the train service is. The 6.43 train from new street takes about 1 hour 20 mins, but the 7am train only takes 55 mins. These are the trains i would probably get - have you ever experienced delays? How do you find the commute generally??

u0l90

nrailpass wrote: »

This is not an answer but, i might be doing this commute as well soon. I would have to buy a rail pass for £350 + a bus pass for £40. Its a lot of cash to spend on travel in just 1 month, but i figure its worth it to get the work experience.

A car would be the worst way to get there and back cause mileage and petrol would be over £100 weekly! On top of that the driving will make you feel even more tired.

I was just wondering if you could say how reliable the train service is. The 6.43 train from new street takes about 1 hour 20 mins, but the 7am train only takes 55 mins. These are the trains i would probably get - have you ever experienced delays? How do you find the commute generally??

Thanks for the reply. Luckily both my job and home are walking distance from the station, so I don't need a bus pass so I only get the £350 monthly rail pass. By the way, I get the lady at my local rail station to record the number of my train ticket in a special book they have so that if you lose your ticket they can replace it. ( cool!)

The virgin one is the 7 am train and that is the one I get. The 6.43 (london midland I think) is a bit cheaper BUT it stops at EVERY station and is quite tiring. Also coming home takes much longer too, so it makes the day much much longer. I think the virgin service is worth the extra money.

About reliability - they are generally OK but some days I miss my connection because of a delay and the birmingham to MK trains only run every one and a half hours, so that is really annoying when that happens. I try to always have some work on me so that I can be 'productive' during those 'waiting' times. The good thing is that you can usually get some compensation for the delays.

I had thought about a car share, there is someone I know who also does the same commute and we could possibly share driving and fuel ( but she will probably be getting a car in the new year) if we are sharing the cost that could work out to be reasonable. - we would let you know too then we can split it 3 ways ;-)


The commute is quite tiring, I must admit. With a monthly ticket they will not let you book a seat so some days I have had to stand all the way back. If you are an organised person you can make use of the time very productively...

Good luck.

markelock

how much do you save if you buy a yearly ticket?

getting the train is less tiring that driving it!

get some books, read and learn.