Best way of commuting London to Oxford

GeordieLad_2

I am about to start a part-time job in Oxford and will be commuting there from Ealing in London. I’ll be travelling (after 10 am) three days per week and have three transport options:

1. First Great Western train – from Ealing Broadway to Oxford, cost £12.50 day return with Network card
2. Oxford Tube coach from Hillingdon – run by Stagecoach, cost £10.80 per day*, plus tube fare.
3. Oxford Espresso coach from Hillingdon – run by GoAhead, cost £10 per day*, plus tube fare.

*Buying a multi-journey ticket.

Does anyone have any comments on the quality/reliability of these three services, any ideas for a cheaper way of getting to and from Oxford, or any very cheap places to stay there to reduce commuting time/expense?

Thanks for any thoughts.

dzug

GeordieLad wrote: »

I am about to start a part-time job in Oxford and will be commuting there from Ealing in London. I’ll be travelling (after 10 am) three days per week and have three transport options:

1. First Great Western train – from Ealing Broadway to Oxford, cost £12.50 day return with Network card
2. Oxford Tube coach from Hillingdon – run by Stagecoach, cost £10.80 per day*, plus tube fare.
3. Oxford Espresso coach from Hillingdon – run by GoAhead, cost £10 per day*, plus tube fare.

*Buying a multi-journey ticket.

Does anyone have any comments on the quality/reliability of these three services, any ideas for a cheaper way of getting to and from Oxford, or any very cheap places to stay there to reduce commuting time/expense?

Thanks for any thoughts.

The use of an Oyster card will reduce your tube fares

There is a cheaper way of getting to Oxford, but it requires advance booking. It's megabus - which is the Oxford tube in a different guise. The snag is you can only board at the terminal points in London (Victoria) and Oxford (Gloucester Green) and (officially, but I doubt if it's enforced/enforceable) get off there too. You can't use the intermediate stops.

There are also cheap advance tickets between Paddington and Oxford if you are prepared to travel there first.

ali1972

I've used the Oxford Tube a great deal over the years when I've been working in Oxford and have always found it to be a great service. I'd use it over the train any time. I used the Tube rather than the Express because I wanted to get into Baker St at night due to tube connections but I believe they are very similar services.

As for cheap accomodation in Oxford you probably won't find any - that's the reason I've tended to commute it. The only accomodation I've had in Oxford was incredibly noisy due to students outside my window at 3am every morning... grrr... Actually, I tell a lie, I did once rent a static caravan at a very sweet caravan park just outside of Oxford for a few week. That was reasonably priced and was on a bus route into town. And there were ducks... ahhh...