Commuting by public transport

Rebecca.

Thanks for the input everyone!

I'm starting a new job soon and contemplating living somewhere that would involve a commute lasting between 60 and 75 mins, by train, door to door, and I'm trying to decide whether that's too much. It's tricky, because it's just on the borderline of what I consider acceptable - any longer and I almost certainly wouldn't want to do it, but any shorter and I almost certainly would.

I suppose one thing I'm worried about is being exhausted by the time I make it home. Those with similar commutes - is this something you find? Has it gotten better as you've gotten more used to it?

rdwarr

I'd think 90 minutes, especially if going into London. But I know people who spend much longer. Mine is (on a good day):
7.45 - Leave home for Station (Lift)
8.00 - Train to Kings Cross
8.35 - Train from St Pancras to Blackfriars
8.45 - Walk to office
8.55 - Arrive at work
Rarely have a problem finding a seat on both trains and it's a (mostly) relaxing trip.

I'm in my fifties and rarely arrive home exhausted, even though it's a 9-6 job.

zartel

I must be a rarity then, my current commute is 2.5 hours door to door each way and I get to work for just after 7am.

This includes a car journey to the station, train to London followed by the tube and a short walk at the end.

I don't find this to be too tiring as the majority of my time is sat on the train, I don't have a problem getting a seat so I can just sit back and relax.

ericonabike

I got a job in London a few years back and commuted by moped to station, then train, then walk. Between two and 2.25 hours each way. I managed it for a year, but find it hard to understand how now! If I stopped for a drink after work I used to feel like I would meet myself coming back the other way! It was worth it at the time, as a career investment, but I would hate to have done it for much longer. Ok I was sat on a train for an hour and a quarter or so each way, but I still felt shattered at the end of the week.

Lum

75 minutes on a train isn't so bad, providing you're ok at getting up in the mornings (I'm not), and providing it's a decent train you can sit on, not a stinking sweaty sardine can.

It's basically an extra hour's sleep each way, if it's the right sort of commute. Might be worth doing a trial run one weekday morning before you accept the job?

Sharon87

When I was on a minimum wage job in London, my communte was up to 90 minutes with 2 buses, or 1 bus and a mile walk. I hated doing that. It was almost the same time if I went by tube.

Now I rarely commute more than an hour, depends on where the job is, as I work contracts. So if I'm working on Soho it's 40-45 minutes. If I work near Waterloo, it's 50-55 minutes. But there are occasions where it's been close to 90 minutes, sometimes more, but these days are rare.

hewhoisnotintheknow

i do 6 hours a day for the last 3 years

been doing it in the same peugeot with only 1 breakdown

its all a state of mind at the end of the day

Johnmcl7

I used to commute around two hours each way which was around 1 and a half hours by train half hour walking one side and ten minutes the other. The train on the way out was ok but on the way back was problematic because any problems on a bigger line would mean we'd lose our train and delays which were frequent, it wasn't pleasant squeezing enough people to fill a three carriage train full into just two carriages as it meant usually standing most of the way which in the summer with no air conditioning and squeezed up against other people was not pleasant.

I didn't like the commute nor did I find it ever really got easier, I just seemed to waste so much time as it felt like I had no free time during the week. However I did it for a year and it was worthwhile long term so I clearly am ok with doing a longer commute. I guess it seems worse to me as it's not so normal up here where I am Scotland whereas in bigger cities it seems a fairly normal commute.

John

mqandy

Exhausting: No, my hour of train and walking feels less tiring than the 45min by car I was doing previously.

Instead of concentrating on the motorway or sitting in traffic I'm sat back reading the paper!

Mrs_Ryan

It used to take me nearly two hours to commute from Leicestershire to suburban Nottingham (one way) half hour car journey, half hour (sometimes 45 minutes) train journey, half hour bus journey. Then on the way home it was 20 min lift/taxi ride, 6/7 minute tram journey, 35 minute train journey. Not so bad but at 9 o clock at night it wasnt so good!