Trivia; which is the EASIEST morning commute by train?!!

[Gathursty]

Folkestone to St Pancras doesn't pass the bank manager test but it's a lovely easy journey that still gives you a seat every day (although getting fuller).

What's the bank manager test?

 

[Jamesrob637]

Mauldeth Road to Wilmslow was pretty pleasant the few times I did do it. Counter-Manchester commuter traffic so lightly-loaded 323s.

 

[oversteer]

I spent about six months doing Gerrards Cross to High Wycombe in the peaks, a leisurely 15 miles is or so. Paid for by my employer as a relocation expense, always a seat, plenty of services in each direction, was quite a relaxing trip

 

[Nean]

At the moment I'm quite a fan of my daily 0739 MCO-HNX, ignoring that it's persistently 2-5 mins late it's normally fairly quiet and for the past (and coming) few months if you sit facing backwards on the south side you get a really nice view of the sunrise over the Cheshire plains!

 

[backontrack]

Highland Line - Dingwall, Conon Bridge, Muir Of Ord or Beauly to Inverness!!!

(For Muir Of Ord)
Choice of three at 7:30, 8:00 and 8:30 inbound to Inverness - (from Muir of Ord) - returns at 17:15, 18:00 and 18:30.

Costs £1.50 each way (10 ticket carnet) - 14 miles - following the Beauly Firth (Ospreys, Mountains, Geese, views, Telford Engineering - what is there not to like). Generally have 4 seats (inc table) to myself - in the First Class (out of Service) on the way in - always get a seat on the way back and generally (other than the 17:15) not crowded.

Occasional cancellation - usually efficiently replaced by a bus or two. occasional delay due to single line delays - but works most of the time - and is pretty unstressful.......(sorry to gloat!!)

Great!

If anyone commutes from Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town...

 

[takno]

Great!

If anyone commutes from Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town...

That would be lovely commute - a fairly pleasant 15 minute walk each way, and if you're feeling tired there's even a train*!

*Your definition of a train may vary

 

[urbophile]

Most journeys on Merseyrail (except during recent and present shutdowns for engineering work). Especially the southern end of the Northern Line (towards Hunts Cross): it's nearly always possible to get a seat even when as occasionally only 3-car trains are provided in rush hour.

 

[Clansman]

Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly seems to be a nice commute mainly because I travel between the two when I'm catching/alighting the sleeper, so it's nice and quiet at they times to say the least on both Virgin and Arriva trains - I'd never dare go near Northern for this commute though.

As is the Highland Chieftain between Perth and Inverness both North and Southbound, especially during the Summer during the brighter nights.

 

[clc]

Williamwood to Glasgow Central. Gets busy after a few stops but I've already got a seat! Classic commuter stock (class 314) but looking forward to the 385s

And the 1718 Central-Neilston limited stop service always has plenty of seats (6-car) and only takes 13 minutes to reach Williamwood (8 miles?).

Residents of Clarkston/Williamwood also benefit from having two stations not very far apart but on different lines. It's not possible to travel between Williamwood and Clarkston without going via Central so a single between the two stations effectively gives you a peak time return ticket for only 10p more than the price of a single to Central.

 

[All Line Rover]

Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly seems to be a nice commute mainly because I travel between the two when I'm catching/alighting the sleeper, so it's nice and quiet at they times to say the least on both Virgin and Arriva trains - I'd never dare go near Northern for this commute though.

As is the Highland Chieftain between Perth and Inverness both North and Southbound, especially during the Summer during the brighter nights.

It is not ideal that the only VTWC services arrive at 06:49 and 08:49, with the latter regularly being a few minutes late. If one starts work at 09:30, however, and never finishes later than 19:55, it is a perfect commute as one can purchase an excellent value VTWC-only first class season ticket.

 

[swt class 450]

When the trains are running on time any commute between Dorking - Holmwood - Ockley - Warnham - Horsham is very nice and easy. The trains are always very quiet (even in the peak hours) and if you travel off peak you can often get an entire train to yourself.

 

[deltic1989]

Stourbridge Junction - Stourbridge Town on the Parry People Mover unit


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That would be lovely commute - a fairly pleasant 15 minute walk each way, and if you're feeling tired there's even a train*!

*Your definition of a train may vary

You would think it would be easy, but the amount of times I have had to sort out emergency transport on that route defies belief. Its been at least once a week just lately.

 

[anti-pacer]

Ruswarp to Whitby?

not that i've even done it - perhaps the 142s are filled with screaming kids. But it's only 7 mins, and that must include some recovery time.

Do 142's go to Whitby? I thought they were solely 156's on the Esk Valley Line.

 

[dgl]

Weymouth - Dorchester in either direction, believe it's slightly cheaper (although not as frequent) than the bus or at least was, although, only really usable if you live near either station.
Pretty much guaranteed a seat and fast.

 

[Southsider]

And the 1718 Central-Neilston limited stop service always has plenty of seats (6-car) and only takes 13 minutes to reach Williamwood (8 miles?).

Residents of Clarkston/Williamwood also benefit from having two stations not very far apart but on different lines. It's not possible to travel between Williamwood and Clarkston without going via Central so a single between the two stations effectively gives you a peak time return ticket for only 10p more than the price of a single to Central.

I often hear people buying that ticket but I think it's a bit naughty! I wonder how many other places on the network that can be done? For those unfamiliar Williamwood and Clarkson stations are about half a mile apart but on separate lines. Walk downhill to Williamwood in the morning, train to Central. In the evening train from Central to Clarkson, walk downhill home. As pointed out a single between the two covers it.

 

[swt class 450]

Weymouth - Dorchester in either direction, believe it's slightly cheaper (although not as frequent) than the bus or at least was, although, only really usable if you live near either station.
Pretty much guaranteed a seat and fast.

Surprisingly there is actually a huge amount of train journeys in the UK that are cheaper than the bus journeys!

 

[Ianno87]

Used to love my old Northampton-Milton Keynes Central commute.

3 trains per hour, pretty well spread around the clock-face. Short walks at both ends.

Morning train was 0825, arriving 0841, perfect for an 0900 start at the office. Back then it started at Northampton, so could turn up whenever and have first pick of seats. It was in the platform at Northampton for about 20 minutes, so seldom ran late. Unlike earlier trains, not too many people trying to get on at MK, crowding the doors.

Return was pretty good too - alot of people got off at MK so plenty of seats (and discarded Evening Standards) to choose from in 8/12 car trains. If one train cancelled, just monitored progress of the next ones instead which were rarely far behind.

Honestly, the biggest down inconveniences were:
-Queuing to get off the Platform at Northampton in the evening (before the station rebuild*)
-Durung severe dusruption, when you realise how much quicker the WCML is compared to the road journey

*During the rebuild when the massively high temporary footbridge was in use, I started biasing towards choosing trains that would terminate in Platform 1 - few other commutes would have that luxury

 

[Phil.]

Many moons ago I lived in Kensal Rise and worked in Beckenham. My walk from closing the front door to Kensal Rise station was about one minute. 07.25to Highbury, trot down to the southbound Vicky and then 08.02 Orpy to Beckenham Junction followed by a two minute walk to the office.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

At the risk of drifting slightly off topic, I once bought an annual season ticket for £36 from Manchester Oxford Road to Manchester Piccadilly in order to qualify for an Annual Season Ticket holders railcard. I never used the season ticket, but saved a fortune on other fares with the railcard.

 

[parkender102]

A few years ago I had a flat in Tufnell Park and was working in Woking. It was an absolute breeze (although an early start) to jump on my bike at 05:00am and cycle 15 minutes virtually all downhill to Waterloo via Camden Town, Euston, Covent Garden and Waterloo Bridge. Plenty of fantastic sights that time of the morning as the city awoke including the vistas both side of the Thames from Waterloo Bridge. Followed by a 25 minute journey to Woking on the first service of the day at 05:30am usually in a coach with 3 other people in it - the office was 2 minutes cycle from Woking Station and in work by 06:00am. Watching everyone lining up for the journey the opposite way to the city used to make me smile.

Coming home the other way at night was almost as easy against the flow of all the traffic from London, but I used to break that journey up by cycling 20 miles from Woking to Richmond along the Basingstoke Canal, Wey Navigation and the Thames. A few relaxing beers in the riverside pubs in Weybridge, Walton and Richmond before getting the Overground to Gospel Oak for the 10 minute ride back to Tufnell Park.

What is there not to like about that?

 

[satisnek]

I commuted between Kidderminster and Droitwich Spa from 2004-2008 and it was generally no hassle at all. Can't remember what the fare was but I do remember being told initially that there was no Kidderminster-Droitwich season, only Worcester. Turned out that there was but by then I had come to appreciate the unfettered and effectively free access to Worcester so I considered that the (quite small) saving wasn't worth it.

In the mornings I could get the earlier train and walk the other end or take my bike on the later one. The earlier train was busy with the kids going to the fee-paying schools in Worcester but there were still seats available if you wanted one.

There were from memory three mornings when things were screwed up with emergency replacement road transport. On the first two the coach driver happily dropped me closer to my place of work prior to arriving at Droitwich station, the third time (and by far the most delayed) he refused. Don't know who was right and wrong (bearing in mind it wasn't a scheduled replacement) but I had a right old ding-dong with him. That was the only bit of aggro I ever had in those four years.

Coming back nothing mattered. One evening it was one of those ex-Anglia 150/2s which Central Trains had acquired. The driver had difficulty releasing the brakes at Droitwich but at the Hartlebury stop it stuck fast. I didn't have the bike with me on this occasion and although I could have walked it in the hour and a bit waiting for the road transport to turn up I couldn't be bothered. So after watching sunset over Hartlebury I completed the journey in a very posh modern coach.

Great times from a travelling point of view, shame about the job though.

 

[Geeves]

Salford Crescent to Victoria or Piccadilly always seems a nice one to me. 10 quid a week. Close enough to walk if the service goes to pot!

 

[sprinterguy]

I see a few comments in favour of Birmingham's Snow Hill lines, and I can only agree: I commuted consecutively from Olton, Acocks Green and Wythall five days a week over a three year period and found the services to be reliable, dependable and comfortable, and very rarely did I fail to get a a seat. My Dad, visiting once from the north east, was astonished to see a local train that was modern, carpeted and had more than two carriages!

I would have been much less impressed with my commute based on my experiences of the routes before the rolling stock was modernised, when they were operated by basic 150s - still in use with Northern today largely unchanged.

 

[theironroad]

A few years ago I had a flat in Tufnell Park and was working in Woking. It was an absolute breeze (although an early start) to jump on my bike at 05:00am and cycle 15 minutes virtually all downhill to Waterloo via Camden Town, Euston, Covent Garden and Waterloo Bridge. Plenty of fantastic sights that time of the morning as the city awoke including the vistas both side of the Thames from Waterloo Bridge. Followed by a 25 minute journey to Woking on the first service of the day at 05:30am usually in a coach with 3 other people in it - the office was 2 minutes cycle from Woking Station and in work by 06:00am. Watching everyone lining up for the journey the opposite way to the city used to make me smile.

Coming home the other way at night was almost as easy against the flow of all the traffic from London, but I used to break that journey up by cycling 20 miles from Woking to Richmond along the Basingstoke Canal, Wey Navigation and the Thames. A few relaxing beers in the riverside pubs in Weybridge, Walton and Richmond before getting the Overground to Gospel Oak for the 10 minute ride back to Tufnell Park.

What is there not to like about that?

Apart from the pre 0500 wake up, that actually sounds like quite a nice commute both ways, providing it's not raining.....

 

[backontrack]

What about commuting on one of the Highland Sleepers in the morning?

 

[parkender102]

Apart from the pre 0500 wake up, that actually sounds like quite a nice commute both ways, providing it's not raining.....

Well I used to grin and bear it donning waterproofs for the cycle part of the journey to Waterloo or take the first tube of the day from Tufnell Park to Waterloo. Because the tube didn't start till a bit later it meant a later departure from Waterloo (still very early for some) and take a later (but still empty) train. Likewise coming home could just take a fast (relatively quiet) train Woking to Waterloo and maybe cycle back to Tufnell Park or take the tube if I had my folding bike with me.

Handily most days I could use my mountain bike as you are allowed to put a normal non folding bike on the South West Services leaving London in the morning and the services into London in the evening. Plus non folding bikes allowed on the Overground after 19:00 in the evening and also on certain Underground Lines outside peak times (Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan, District and Circle and some parts of the Northern and Piccadilly Lines).

 

[47271]

What about commuting on one of the Highland Sleepers in the morning?

I don't know the Fort William one so well, but it was too unreliable in to Inverness from Kingussie if that's what you mean - just look at this morning for example, nothing out of the ordinary:

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C74105/2017/01/08/advanced

Which is why we now have this:

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G80490/2017/01/09/advanced

I haven't used it yet but suspect it could also qualify for an entry in the 'quietest service' thread in the early stages of its journey north!

 

[boxy321]

Coventry to Birmingham, 1st class season.

Sounds familiar. Never had to stand once. Had to sit next to somebody twice all year.

The Moor St to Solihull and back leg is equally as empty as I'm going against the flow.

 

[glbotu]

Durham to Newcastle is an excellent half-commute on the 0824. It's only come from Leeds, so it's at most 2 minutes late, always get a pair of seats to myself, Durham's an 8 minute walk from front door to platform, followed by a leisurely 20 min walk from Newcastle to work. The way back on the 1804 is a little less pleasant though. A 3 car 185 is not enough for the last Chester-Le-Street of the evening peak, although it's pretty empty from Durham (not that that helps, but.......).

 

[Iskra]

Leeds-Wakefield is very easy followed by Wakefield-Leeds- there's a slightly better service for the Leeds-Wakefield commute and it's quieter. Both have:

10-15min journey with decent fares.
Frequent service
Express services with more carriages, regional services or stoppers also formed of 4 car EMU's. The stoppers aren't much slower than the express services so you can pick the best option for getting a seat.
Both stations have good facilities, covered internal waiting areas and staff if something goes wrong.
There are two routes between the cities giving a back up option if their is disruption, with the Wakefield stations linked by a free bus.