Office relocated and now commuting is a nightmare - anything I can do?

Star1

Ok, I agree that the connections aren't very regular and tube's a nightmare, but have you tried options 3 or 4? There's a train every 2 or 3 minutes from London Bridge to cannon street (platforms 2 & 3), the it's a 15 - 20min walk depending how quick you are. This is no different from getting train to charing X then walking to oxford street

Alternatively, my husband just walks directly from London Bridge every day and it takes him less than 25 min. He walks pretty quick, but I can easily do it in 30min and it's not a bad walk - check on the map cos if you cut across you can walk quite directly

pickled_cabbage

geordieracer wrote: »

Im guessing its the getting to east croydon that is taking you a while as there are a few trains that only take 40 mins into farringdon..

Well, not really - that's the quick bit! Here's the breakdown:


7:23: Leave house to walk to station
7:33: Train to East Croydon, arrives 7:58 (25 minutes)
8:21: Train from East Croydon to Farringdon, arrives 9:00 (39 mins)
9:00: Assuming on time (it never is), walk to office (15 - 20 mins)
9:20: Arrive in office

Total time from home to office: 1:57 hours

And on the way home:

5:00: Leave office to dash to Farringdon (got to walk v.fast to make it!)
5:15: Train from Farringdon to East Croydon, arrives 5:45 (30 mins)
5:58: Train from East Croydon to home, arrives 6:23 (25 mins)
6:33: Arrive home

Total time from office to home: 1:33 hours

So, you can see that actually the time spent on the train each day isn't that bad (although it's standing all the way): it's a total of 1:04hrs inbound and 55 minutes homebound, but it's the waiting between that takes up the time.

Previously, my situation was:

7:37: Leave house to walk to station
7:47: Train to London Bridge, arrives 8:23
8:25: Train from London Bridge to Charing Cross, arrives 8:30
8:30: Walk from Charing Cross to office
8:45: Arrive in office

Total time from home to office: 1:08hrs (49 minutes quicker than now)

And homebound:

5:00: Leave office, jump on tube to Victoria
5:23: Train from Victoria to home, arrives 6:04
6:04: Walk from station to home
6:14: Arrive home

Total time from office to home: 1:14hrs (19 minutes quicker than now)

pickled_cabbage

Star1 wrote: »

Ok, I agree that the connections aren't very regular and tube's a nightmare, but have you tried options 3 or 4? There's a train every 2 or 3 minutes from London Bridge to cannon street (platforms 2 & 3), the it's a 15 - 20min walk depending how quick you are. This is no different from getting train to charing X then walking to oxford street

Alternatively, my husband just walks directly from London Bridge every day and it takes him less than 25 min. He walks pretty quick, but I can easily do it in 30min and it's not a bad walk - check on the map cos if you cut across you can walk quite directly

I will definitely try these options and see how I get on.

According to Google though, it's a 45 minute walk from London Bridge and a 35 minute walk from Cannon Street, so the time lost walking (20 minutes) is the same as the time spent waiting at East Croydon. Don't forget I'm in Farringdon now not Oxford Circus.

I'll definitely try it tomorrow though and see if it's quicker in practice, but I'm not sure it actually is.

geordieracer

to get a good idea of your options we are going to need your starting station really..

pickled_cabbage

geordieracer wrote: »

to get a good idea of your options we are going to need your starting station really..

I'd rather not tell you where I live, but it's a branch line and there are no other options other than to go to via East Croydon. I can get direct trains to Victoria or London Bridge every 15 minutes or so.

I've just used Transport Direct website and there is a quicker way, but it necessitates getting the Northern Line from London Bridge (as discussed, it's never 'on time' and there are always delays getting on a train) to Angel and then a bus from Angel to near my office. It's not really much quicker (10 minutes) - and doesn't factor in delays getting onto the tube, plus it'll also add on £3.60 oyster (tube) + £2.40 oyster (bus) = £6 per day, or £130 per month! Given my current train season ticket is £175 per month, it's pretty ridiculous!

Sorry, I really don't want to moan and whinge but I just don't see a good solution to this problem other than to change jobs, which I don't want to do...

geordieracer

well if there are trains every 15 mins into victoria then the quickest way i imagine would be just get the vic line to KX then circle to farringdon - overall about 20 mins tops of travelling on the tube.

P.S it wasnt so i co uld stalk you it was so i could look a variety of different ways on my machine.

kerri_gt

Try out some of the different options and see if they make a difference, the other thing is, would it be possible for you to work from home say 1 or 2 days each week? What do other people in the office feel about this? Surely some of them are in the same boat as you?

westv

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

I don't know if you're a wimp, but I've commuted from SE London to Windsor for the past 6 and a half years. It takes me just over an hour and a half each way, so 3+hours per day.

I'm 7 months pregnant now too, so it's a bit of a struggle, but at the end of the day, the job is where it is, so if you can't hack it, then you'll have to find something nearer to home.

Hmmmm...it's nice to see everybody else has come out with useful info.

wotsthat

I don't want to leave, but I just can't go on spending 3.5 hours a day on a train (standing up).

Have you thought about cycling?

Two hours to cover 24 miles sounds like a nightmare - even with a fairly modest fitness level most people could beat this time on a bike.

Even if you decided to do it just a couple of days a week it might just help your sanity.

Star1

pickled_cabbage wrote: »

I will definitely try these options and see how I get on.

According to Google though, it's a 45 minute walk from London Bridge and a 35 minute walk from Cannon Street, so the time lost walking (20 minutes) is the same as the time spent waiting at East Croydon. Don't forget I'm in Farringdon now not Oxford Circus.

I'll definitely try it tomorrow though and see if it's quicker in practice, but I'm not sure it actually is.

Whereabouts in farringdon is the new office? Google maps gives me 33min and 22min walk to Farringdon station from London Bridge / Cannon Street. Google always seem to over-estimate too (google maps says it is a 24min walk from charing cross to oxford street for eaxmple)

I'll check the best route with hubby too, as it isn't always shown on google maps - for example I know that he often walks through smithfields market