What's it like commuting by rail from Chislehurst to Maidstone?

[Sodor85]

I've just bought a one bedroom flat in Chislehurst and I recently found out I will have to commute to Maidstone a couple of times a week. I don't have a car so will be using trains and just wondered what the service is like from Chislehurst to Maidstone? Is anyone familiar with the commute?

 

[telstarbox]

The good news is that most of the commuter traffic is into London, so you'll be going against the flow and should get a seat.

Bus 273 to St Mary Cray then the direct train to Maidstone East looks like the best route.

You could also do Elmstead Woods to Maidstone West, but that is no quicker and you have to change twice at Orpington and Tobridge.

Would you have to pay for the travel yourself?

 

[eastwestdivide]

You might want to remove the link to the property, as you're effectively advertising that you're potentially going to be out in Maidstone all day.

 

[Romilly]

I did something similar many years ago and agree with Telstarbox.

Anytime day return tickets are around £17 and seem to be to "Maidstone Stations" giving you flexibility (for example) to go to West in the morning and come back from East in the evening if the timings are better.

The 314 bus runs: Elmstead Woods station - White Horse Hill - New Eltham station, although both stations are within walking distance. And the 161 bus runs: White Horse Hill - Mottingham station.

A day return ticket from Elmstead Woods is valid to Maidstone East changing at Petts Wood and Bromley South if that suits better than the 273 bus (and is valid to West as mentioned by Telstarbox changing generally at Sevenoaks and Paddock Wood).

A day return from New Eltham or Mottingham is valid to Barracks or West generally changing at Dartford and Strood.

So plenty of choice to cater for timings and preferences.

 

[30907]

Deducing from other posts that you are living between Elmstead Woods station and White Horse Hill, if the buses and trains match tolerably, the 273 and St Mary Cray looks the best. The combination of 162 and Bickley would work from other parts of C'hurst.

I don't know the 273, but the 314 now takes a devious route into Bromley and then tangles with the town centre "bypass" traffic.

I wouldn't rely on a tight connection shown on NRE at Petts Wood on the all-rail route as trains towards Victoria are likely to be "right time" and there's not always a cross-platform interchange (BTW - the footbridge is at the London end there).

I think the only thing to do is to trial it. If you are a cyclist, you could check out cycling to SMY or BKL - the latter is off main roads, but it's all surprisingly hilly!

 

[EM2]

Not many (any?) direct services from Bickley to Maidstone, so you'd need to change at St Mary Cray anyway.
Whereabouts in Maidstone would you need to be?

 

[DJL]

The 273 is not a reliable service. I've been caught out a few times where tfl says the bus will arrive in "6 mins" only to be still waiting 30 mins later.
This is picking the bus up from Grove Park. A few times I've picked it up from Petts Wood and the arrival times are somewhat more reliable.

I've never picked it up from Chislehurst but given that the journey between Grove Park and Chislehurst is usually incident free and takes roughly 10-15 mins (depending on your definition of chislehurst) then the arrival times should be reasonably accurate once under 10 mins.
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Not many (any?) direct services from Bickley to Maidstone, so you'd need to change at St Mary Cray anyway.
Whereabouts in Maidstone would you need to be?

There is at least one "fast" FCC/SE service from Blackfriars that stops at Bickley in the evening.

I can't remember if that's the Rochester or Ashford train though...

I also don't know where trains running in the opposite direction stop.

 

[30907]

Not many (any?) direct services from Bickley to Maidstone, so you'd need to change at St Mary Cray anyway.

No, but reasonable connections at reverse-commute times (and the option of going via Bromley S if things go wrong)