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

Youdontseeme

Sorry if someone has already suggested this but cant you get the train from East Croydon to St Pancras and walk?

It is a lot quicker than you think, only around a 7/10 minute walk, to my office which is on Farringdon Road (Clerkenwell Road end)

YDSM

geordieracer

pickled_cabbage wrote: »

It's not the walk that's doing it - it's the waiting between trains and changing. The tube is an option but it's not quick - honestly, I have actually tried this (many many times). The Victoria Line in the morning is a total mess and trying to get on a tube carriage takes at least 10 minutes as you normally have to wait for a few trains before you can get on. When you look up the times in TFL it gives you station to station times which doesn't take into account getting to the platform, waiting for a train and then getting out the other side.

I'm not trying to make a fuss, but also this is a really expensive option - I only pay £175 per month for my travel but it's going to add £70+ a month on in tube fares which isn't something I really want to add on at the moment. Essentially this office move has taken away 1 hour of my time each week but you're now saying that the solution is also to pay more for the privelidge?

Surely a company has some sort of obligation to at least consult its staff before moving premises? If not - and my commute is a real problem - can I not claim some kind of redundancy? I am trying my best to find a different way to get to work but I've tried everything that others have suggested (other than walking from Cannon St, which I'll try) and it's not bringing the time down.

Have you looked into a zone 1- 5 travel card - it shouldnt cost 70 more then your current ticket. Again this all depends on where you live

kerri_gt

You say in your post that there was no consulation about this office move with staff but I can't beleive thatone day you just turned up at your old office to find a note on the door saying they had moved, so you must have had some prior knowledge of the move. When you were initally told about the move did you look into the travel then and raise the issue of your travel at the time with HR/your Manager? At this time it would have been appropiate to disucuss how the move would affect your commute and then discuss whether you could adjust your hours/days to accomodate this to reach a compromise perhaps? At this time you could have also raised the issue of the extra cost using the tube would cost - the company may have agreed to subsidise this in order to keep you.

There have been a lot of route suggestions on this post so hopefully one will help, but at the end of the day, if the commute time is what it is, you have to make a decision, either you like the job enough that the commute is worth it - in which case speak to your manager/HR about possibly subsidising additional travel expense, and possibly moving somewhere slightly more convenient in the future, or consider looking elsewhere for another job. Not only do many people spend just as long, if not longer commuting, there are lots of people who spend time living away from home for a number of days a week due to the location of their workplace. You really need to try and work out what your order of priorites are job/time/cost.

Good luck.

thorsoak

I used to work in Farringdon - would walk from Fenchurch St - and I could always outwalk the traffic!

If you can change at London Bridge to the Cannon St train then I would suggest you do that, come out of Cannon St and then walk along Cannon St, turn right onto New Change, then left onto Cheapside, then onto Newgate Street, follow that along until you reach King Edward Street - through Little Britain, through Smithfield onto Grand avenue - and you're virtually at Farringdon station - depending upon how quickly you walk I'd reckon it would take a maximum of 25 mins - and once you start walking it, you'd discover all the little "cut-throughs" which take minutes off your journey!

Cheaper than a gym any day!

bluetownbarry

Well after reading this I just had to register and post a reply!

I have a daily commute of over two hours each way (Deal, Kent to central London) - two hours on a good day that is! So pardon me if I won't join in with the tea and sympathy!

It's a tough world out there & if you can't handle the commute I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there who would be grateful for your job.

westv

bluetownbarry wrote: »

Well after reading this I just had to register and post a reply!

I have a daily commute of over two hours each way (Deal, Kent to central London) - two hours on a good day that is! So pardon me if I won't join in with the tea and sympathy!

It's a tough world out there & if you can't handle the commute I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there who would be grateful for your job.

And my commute used to be around 1h 50mins each way (train, train,tube) but I won't be criticising anybody that asks for advice as to how they can reduce the time of theirs.

bluetownbarry

westv wrote: »

And my commute used to be around 1h 50mins each way (train, train,tube) but I won't be criticising anybody that asks for advice as to how they can reduce the time of theirs.

Errr but when people have put some excellent suggestions and the OP roundly rejects all of them then they perhaps need a reality check in order to get things in perspective!

westv

bluetownbarry wrote: »

Errr but when people have put some excellent suggestions and the OP roundly rejects all of them then they perhaps need a reality check in order to get things in perspective!

Now they didn't.

Post 14 "I will definitely try these options and see how I get on"

surreysaver

Post deleted.

surreysaver

As for getting there - stay on your train to London Bridge arriving at 08:17, there's a train from there to Cannon Street every few minutes - you'll be there by 08:30. Then its about a 500 yard walk to Farringdon.