Working in London

therealdessie

My time to ask for some advice

I had a telephone interview yesterday for a job in central London, which is an area I've never expressed an interest in working in (desperate measures, etc). Thing is, I have only had bad experiences of commuting into London in the morning and I can't stand the idea of being stuck standing for 20 mins each morning on a packed train and then repeating the same process on the tube...

One other option is to take the District line from Wimbledon, which is generally a little bit quieter, but will take longer.

My question is, aside from all the bad aspects, does anyone have anything good to say about commuting into the city? Are there any perks I may have been missing? I'm anxious not to commit my time and £1500 a year on travel (plus paying for a car I won't be using) without having a full picture...!

TIA.

MrsE_2

therealdessie wrote: »

My time to ask for some advice

I had a telephone interview yesterday for a job in central London, which is an area I've never expressed an interest in working in (desperate measures, etc). Thing is, I have only had bad experiences of commuting into London in the morning and I can't stand the idea of being stuck standing for 20 mins each morning on a packed train and then repeating the same process on the tube...

One other option is to take the District line from Wimbledon, which is generally a little bit quieter, but will take longer.

My question is, aside from all the bad aspects, does anyone have anything good to say about commuting into the city? Are there any perks I may have been missing? I'm anxious not to commit my time and £1500 a year on travel (plus paying for a car I won't be using) without having a full picture...!

TIA.

You think your commute into central London will take 20 minutes?

I live in the country & drive 7 miles to work, it takes me that, with parking.

I have lived & worked in London, are you being realistic with your times?

[Deleted User]

My commute from zone 6 takes roughly an hour each way. I don't mind it, i use the train to get to west hampstead then a few stops on the tube to get to paddington.

I would say, look on tfl.gov.uk for your route options. Invest in an ipod.. it's been a real life saver. There's not enough space to read, so i watch movies/tv shows (converted from DVDs or downloaded).

Erm.. there's also a few free papers. How's that for a perk?

KILL_BILL

therealdessie wrote: »

My time to ask for some advice

I had a telephone interview yesterday for a job in central London, which is an area I've never expressed an interest in working in (desperate measures, etc). Thing is, I have only had bad experiences of commuting into London in the morning and I can't stand the idea of being stuck standing for 20 mins each morning on a packed train and then repeating the same process on the tube...

One other option is to take the District line from Wimbledon, which is generally a little bit quieter, but will take longer.

My question is, aside from all the bad aspects, does anyone have anything good to say about commuting into the city? Are there any perks I may have been missing? I'm anxious not to commit my time and £1500 a year on travel (plus paying for a car I won't be using) without having a full picture...!

TIA.

where are you travelling from and too

the tube is buisy from 7am ( yes people are deperate to get iinto work early) til at least 10.30 for the rush hour)

obvously in central london like the city and oxford street is going to be more busy than the outer district of london

Oldernotwiser

1. Lots of reading time.
2. You'll be able to use your season ticket to go into central London at weekends for entertainment and also be able to go out there in the evenings after work.
3. Save money on running a car as you won't be needing it.

lady_stardust

I commuted from Littlehampton in West Sussex all the way to Hampstead (3 1/2 hours each way so didn't keep it up for long!). The good points were lots of reading time and listening to music which is something I find I never have time to do now that I work locally. Other than that I hated it though, the final straw was getting knocked over by someone running for their train at Victoria and breaking my wrist (he didn't even stop).

asea

MrsE wrote: »

You think your commute into central London will take 20 minutes?

I live in the country & drive 7 miles to work, it takes me that, with parking.

I have lived & worked in London, are you being realistic with your times?

She has said that her TRAIN journey is 20 mins, followed by tube journey - which from Wimbledon is entirely realistic!

OP - I live not far from Wimbledon and it takes me an hour door to door to the City on the District line (including about 12 minutes walking time). Have you thought about cycling part of the way, which can be more pleasant and sometimes faster than the tube! Which area of Central London will you be working in?

The only other 'perk' I know of is that sometimes there are freebie bags given out at tube stations & train stations to morning commuters which have lots of yummy food, cosmetic samples & vouchers

MrsE_2

asea wrote: »

She has said that her TRAIN journey is 20 mins, followed by tube journey - which from Wimbledon is entirely realistic!

I thought it was unrealistic:o

I read it as a total:rolleyes:

therealdessie

Yes sorry I should elaborate: I live in zone 4, so a trip into Waterloo takes 20 mins, and then the tube from there: but that's not my preferred route. The job is located near to Barbican so I can take District for the entire line then swap to Circle for a few stops, or walk it. I don't like the idea of trying to get a bike onto the train, and I wouldn't be able to survive riding from home

As a general rule to get to London Bridge it takes me about an hour door to door if I miss my connections (and I often do), so I have to weigh up whether I want to spend that long travelling and spending money on fares I guess...

Still those freebie bags sound nice

London_Exile

Well, it's a great place to work and there is also the social side of London. So in that respect it's a really vibrant place to work. As someon who worked in Whitehall for a number of years and then moved away to a rural location, I cna safely say that Central London is a great place to work and play.

Doodles

Hi
I've been a zone 4 to Waterloo, plus tube, commuter for many years now - you'll probably be travelling on my train!

Its funny because after all these years of working in London, I've just resigned and got myself a job in Kingston. And you know I cannot tell you the relief I feel at not having to suffer the commute. Ok, I'm sorry most of this is going to sound negative but I'll tell you the pros and cons, well my opinion anyway.:o

The train will like to be sardines, especially when it hits clapham junction - unless you travel before about 7.15am or after 8.30am.

Its possible that you might get a seat - sometimes I'm lucky, most times Im not. My pet hate - free newspapers that people think its ok to read 4 inches away from your face, grrrr!

There is a certain 'pace' in london commuters during rush hour that I don't think some people understand - you can immediately tell the people that don't do the journey regularly, their pace is slower or they'll hesitate to see where they're going etc and then they will get pushed or shoved and can't understand it. Not saying that's right though, its unpleasant, but that it does happen so walk fast and purposefully and you'll be ok.

Pros: they often give out freebies at waterloo by the escalators. There's plenty of cashpoints, a M&S food shop at waterloo if you need to grab milk or bread before getting on the train. In central London, depending where you are, theres usually good places to meet friends or colleagues after work at pubs, or buses freely available to jump on and get all over london. If you travel into london at weekends or on annual leave, it doesnt cost you any more money. And the biggest perk is that the money will be better than elsewhere (generally speaking anyway).

Also, there is a certain buzz about London, the vibrancy, mixture of people.

I've taken the wimbledon route when SWT have had strikes or problems. You can get a seat, but the journey will definitely be longer.

Hope thats of some use to you?