Newcastle - London seems a regular commute . . . .
New Statesman said:
There are more people than ever who work in London but live in Edinburgh.
The collapse of RBS and HBOS, two large banks headquartered in Edinburgh, as well as the economic downturn, has led to an increase in the numbers of people doing a 400-mile commute twice, or sometimes more, every week.
. . . . . and do the journey to King’s Cross in as little as four hours. The trains back on Thursday or Friday nights are like parties, . . . . .
I think they catch the early morning 5.40 East Coast service which takes exactly 4 hours.
All high net worth individuals, who seem to only do it a few days a week.
I do Newcastle - London and back on average more then once a week these days. I often see 'regulars', and see that many of the crews recognise them as well. Quite a few are already on board before the morning train gets to Newcastle, and if it's the flyer, then they must have come from Edin.
Some of the crew make a point of trying to remember the preferred food or drink of their 'regulars', and (nearly) always get it right. That suggests that there's quite a few more than those that I recognise.
I like being recognised by crews who might ask which service I'm travelling on, if its before departure, and who serve me my preferred drink without asking, if its after departure - but not wanting to limit this to my own experience, I do get a sense of the large number of other 'regulars' from a wide range of other interactions. For example guards who are regularly shifted between different rotas from one week to the nest will, when doing ticket inspections, still greet 'regulars' that they see often enough even on the 'flyers' (i.e. no stops between York and London or even Newcastle and London).
I find that the Thursday and Friday mid-evening services are worth avoiding. They are NOT 'parties', but unpleasantly busy, leaving passengers with little choice who to talk with and who to avoid. Anyone enjoying the alcohol is as likely to gain as many short-term friends as they are long-term disenchanted foes. (e.g. my preferred northbound service used to be the 19:00 but over the last 2 years it has become so busy that I dislike it every time I've been on board.).
From personal experience on other modes, there was three years when I 'commuted' between Newcastle and Brussels most weeks, and much longer when I commuted between Newcastle and Brighton by car, train or plane 2 or 3 times a month. But I must say that I am much happier now using the train to London and back, even if I have to be there 2 days in a row,
. . . . I also wonder how many of the longer distance ones on very high salaries travel in first class to guarantee more peace and quiet/food/tables to make for a more productive journey.
Some of the 'regulars' I see may be on high salaries, but many (including myself) are emphatically not. But it's not just that long first class journies make for more productive time, but that they can be used to simultainously be as 'unproductive' as other important quality-time elsewhere (such as eating the evening meal, discussing personal matters with close friend, sleeping, idle speculation about passionate interests, etc.)
The area around Chancery Lane has character but is awkward to get to if you don't live near a Central Line or Thameslink station.
I've never liked Canary Wharf. . . . .
Chancery Lane area does indeed provide very many of the most beautiful little places in the whole of the UK (including my vote for the best tiny pub/kitchen/office in the UK). Canary Wharf is a paradise of contrasts. I can spend time in Mudchute farm either admiring the animals or speaking to the volunteers or enjoying the wilderness growing around it, and all just 40 mins on the bike from Chancery Lane. (There's another lovely little pub at the south of the Isle which is neglected by the self-important / frustrated / stressed workers of Canary Wharfe. It's not all bad!).
