Commute - Leicester/Birmingham to London

[Steve_R]

Hello,

I'm thinking of moving to either Leicester or Birmingham to London and was wondering if anyone already does this commute and could help answer a few questions?

1) Is it easy to get a seat on the journey into London from Leicester on east midlands trains from 6:39 AM onwards? Preferably getting into London before 8:30.
2) Is there anywhere that displays this seat availability online? I couldn't seem to find anything.

3) Similarly, is it easy to get a seat on the journey into London from Birmingham on virgin trains around 6:30 AM onwards? Same again, trying to get into London before 8:30 and closer to 8 (or just before) is better.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Steve_R]

Also, if this is the wrong section of the forum to post this in then please let me know, I'll move it to the right place.

 

[The Planner]

Going to cost about 10k in season ticket either way.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Of the two, I'd lean towards Birmingham, as that gives you Chiltern as a backup in case of problems on the West Coast. There's an 0610 from Moor Street which gets to Marylebone at 0802.

Can't comment on Virgin, but Chiltern tend to be pretty good at matching train length to demand.

Pricing wise, you're looking at £9808.00 for an Annual from Leicester including Travelcard, £7940.00 for London Midland from Brum, £9060 for "via High Wycombe" (effectively Chiltern only) and £10828 for the Any Permitted option.

 

[Steve_R]

Thanks for the reply.

Thankfully the company I work for are very flexible in terms of working from home so during days where there's train issues I can work from home. I'm trying to keep the train times to around 1:30 or less and that's why I'm leaning towards virgin from Birmingham or East Midlands from Leicester. But your point on a backup route is valid and something I guess I should consider also.

 

[LowLevel]

From Leicester you will get a seat on any train normally. But do be aware the first fast services aren't till after 0800 so it will drag somewhat!

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Is Nuneaton any good? £9016 for an annual season, £6520 on LM.
0733 VT will get you to Euston 0834 (or 0706 VT arr 0808).

 

[Steve_R]

Is Nuneaton any good? £9016 for an annual season, £6520 on LM.
0733 VT will get you to Euston 0834 (or 0706 VT arr 0808).

Unfortunately not, we have friends in both Leicester and Birmingham so would rather stick to those.

And thanks LowLevel, that's what I want to hear

 

[Robertj21a]

In my view, it will usually be easier to get to Leicester station rather than Birmingham, New St St'n. Good housing is also closer at hand.

 

[30907]

No experience to back this up, but I would be surprised if you couldn't get a seat from New Street or even International.

 

[basfordlad]

Coventry is in between the two........ and a cheaper option and often overlooked

 

[bb21]

0639 is booked HST.
0659 is booked 10-car 222.

The latter has plenty of seats especially in the rear set. Only gets busy at Luton normally. The HST is busier.

Midland Mainline are generally very reliable/punctual.

 

[Steve_R]

0639 is booked HST.
0659 is booked 10-car 222.

The latter has plenty of seats especially in the rear set. Only gets busy at Luton normally. The HST is busier.

Midland Mainline are generally very reliable/punctual.

Sorry if this is a silly question, but what does booked mean?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Is scheduled to be run as / by

 

[Bald Rick]

Definitely Birmingham, as it is the country's second city, there's loads of things to do, and despite 'popular' opinion it is rather a decent place to live.

Leicester, on the other hand, is a dump.

 

[basfordlad]

Definitely Birmingham, as it is the country's second city, there's loads of things to do, and despite 'popular' opinion it is rather a decent place to live.

Leicester, on the other hand, is a dump.

Birmingham beats Leicester hands down and certainly enjoyed living here, great train n bus links

 

[sprinterguy]

Never had any problem getting a seat from Birmingham on the 07:30 fast service to London (1 hour 12 minutes to Euston) when I made that journey regularly a few years ago. I assume that earlier trains are similar or quieter. In my experience it's only later trains where you are likely to end up standing as far as Coventry, such as the 08:10 from New Street which originates at Manchester and hence already carries a healthy passenger load when it gets to Birmingham, which doesn't sound like it would be a concern for your proposed departure times.

 

[sprinterguy]

Can't comment on Virgin, but Chiltern tend to be pretty good at matching train length to demand.

Quite a lot of the late afternoon and peak time Chiltern services I have caught back from London have been full and standing, though Chiltern do their best to provide suitable length trains from the fleet that they have, and I agree that it is useful to have the Chiltern option to and from Birmingham if things have gone wrong on the Euston route.