Commuting from Leeds to Sheffield

GrammarGirl

Hello, I'm currently deciding whether to take a job in Sheffield. It's an amazing opportunity and would be a brilliant experience and boost to my career... but I live in Leeds and the commute is my only concern.

I know that if the job is as amazing as it seems, I will be able to do the commute, even if it kills me! My route would take me straight down the M1 (job is very close to Meadowhall) and I just wondered if anyone has any experience of the route and could share their opinions? I live 10 mins north of Leeds city centre. I don't want to move to Sheffield as my OH needs to be close to his work (Bradford) and we both love Leeds and have friends and family here.

Any advice would be great! Thanks.

barginunter

Hi - it's not far is it? AA.com say 45mins. Straight down the M1. I've driven to Sheffield from Hull and it's really an easy journey. Are you nervous on motorways? There will be times when you are held up by some motorway roadworks/problem.
There is a direct train which takes exactly one hour but that would be quite expensive every day.
If this is a good career move go for it because any future employer would be impressed by somebody prepared to commute and fab jobs don't come up every day (especially nowadays).

GrammarGirl

Hi, thanks for your reply! It's not far no, and outside rush hour it probably would take 45 mins. I'm not that confident a driver but with practice I'll be fine... I think I've been reading too many forums and horror stories about the traffic on the M1, especially around the M62 interchange. I am fully prepared to set off at 7.30am to get there for 9am, but really just wondering if this will be the case?

I guess I won't know how it turns out until I start the job... and even then, it'll be different every day!

will-he-payitoff

If you were doing this trip in reverse you would struggle on a morning but going south its usually clear.

spiro

My daily commute is from Stevenage to Staines (48 milesof motorway) which means A1M and then M25 and the key to short journey times is leaving time, leaving time, leaving time. If I leave home at 5:30-6:00 it takes about 45min-1hr but if I leave at 7:00 it will take about 2hrs. On a monthly basis I drive up the M1 to Solihull and it is exactly the same. Suspect the Leeds to Sheffield journey will be exactly the same. You dont say what type of work it is or what type of person you are (morning or evening) but I would suggest that you explore being able to start work earlier and leaving earlier. It makes a world of difference in terms of missing the heavier traffic which also reduces the chances of encountering hold ups.

underlay_guru

Hi,

To be honest, the bulk of your journey will be getting OUT of Leeds in the morning! I live 3 miles west of Leeds City Centre, and it takes my nearly an hour just to get to the M621 junction in the morning!

M1 south should be fine...its the morning M1 traffic into Leeds which is a nightmare

GrammarGirl

Thanks for all your replies. I'm a morning person so getting up early won't bother me... there is also the chance to work from home 2 days a week and I could also suggest flexi time.

I suspected the worst bits would be getting onto the M1 through Leeds and then getting off and past Meadowhall! But if I could start at 8am and leave at 4pm it would make all the difference. I'm having a meeting there at 8.30am next week so that will give me an idea of the traffic at that time.

Thanks again!

BenL

I was talking to a guy the other night i used to work with who drives Brighouse - Sheffield - Doncaster so M62, M1, M18 everyday and it takes him 1h30 tops each way.

He didn't especially slag off the journey.

I used to do Silsden (nr Skipton) - Carbrook (just around the back of Meadowhall) in about 1H30 too.

You will slow down a bit near the M62/M1 interchange but it seems to pick up again a junction of so further down.

GrammarGirl

Thanks very much, that's helpful! We were considering a move up near Silsden before this job cropped up but thought we'd need to stay nearer town with the commute, but it might be worth looking again. 1h30 isn't bad at all in my book!

omelette451

Is there no chance you can get the train? The service Leeds-Sheffield is pretty good, and with a season ticket it's likely to be cheaper than you can do it in a car. But whatever you choose, I don't think you should let a (relatively) short distance like that put you off - it sounds as though the job would be great for you. Who knows, if it works out perhaps you'll end up moving there...?

GrammarGirl

omelette451 wrote: »

Is there no chance you can get the train? The service Leeds-Sheffield is pretty good, and with a season ticket it's likely to be cheaper than you can do it in a car. But whatever you choose, I don't think you should let a (relatively) short distance like that put you off - it sounds as though the job would be great for you. Who knows, if it works out perhaps you'll end up moving there...?

I did look into the train journey... I could get the train to Meadowhall easily, however on Google Maps the distance from Meadowhall to where the job would be is a 29 min walk?! Not sure if that's right, it's something I would have to look into. I'd definitely do a train journey a few times a week if it was viable... I like the flexibility of having my car but it would take the pressure off if I could just jump on the train twice a week!

Thanks for your help!