Finding places with short trains into London

[Scam]

I find that after Slough is where the local FGW trains get really busy, fortunately I'm always able to get a seat as I get on before there. If you're at Ealing though there is no point going to Paddington to get to the City as the Central line is there and a lot quicker/less crowded and you don't have to change at Paddington.

I was just being picky about his thread title and using it to rant about the FGW service I get the tube..!

 

[panthro]

Don't move to Reading. The house prices have gone up about 12% in a year since announcing crossrail and you will most likely never get a seat when commuting in the mornings.there are better places to move to for the commute into london.

 

[Nitefly]

Just as a heads up OP if you are travelling at peak times, long trains tend to be better at carrying more passengers.

 

[gobbo]

Also isn't Crossrail going to 'soft-launch' with some horrific rolling stock until the actual trains are ready? I'd rather take an HST and change to a new sub-surface tube than deal with that.

Not as such, the TOC (MTR Crossrail) has taken over the London Liverpool St to Shenfield services which are using the very old and very **** class 315 rolling stock.

The "proper" Crossrail trains will launch when the whole route is joined up.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

I guess it depends on how long you are willing to commute. I live near Maidenhead and have about an hours journey into the city. It takes about 25 minutes to get to Ealing and then I get the central line in which takes about 30 minutes. I find this journey a lot more relaxing than going via Paddington where you end up being squashed on a H&C or Circle line train.

I've not been doing it for long but I actually find the commute relaxing, I always get a seat and I can listen to music or radio and read books or watch things on my tablet. It's a nice hour to myself in the morning before I start work. My previous job was only down the road but I found with having two young kids I was never really getting any time to switch off which I now do.

Did you know that you can walk from Paddington to Lancaster Gate (Central Line) in about 6 minutes via Spring Street and Sussex Gardens?

 

[Rroff]

Few areas around Bromley that can get to London Bridge pretty directly on the train and not too long a journey but its quite hit and miss as to the quality of the area.

 

[dowie]

London Bridge is going to be a bit chaotic for the next year or so - renovation work going on... But South East London is reasonably priced and there are plenty of routes into London Bridge then onto Canon Street that will take only 20 mins or less... Blackheath, Greenwich, Lewisham, New Cross, Hither Green, Lee etc... Or could Try Dulwich - tis quite a nice area in parts.

 

[gobbo]

With the new Thameslink project, existing Great Northern routes (Kings Cross -> Peterborough, Cambridge and Kings Lynn) may well see a Thameslink service.

I think the current plan is direct services between Cambridge and Peterborough to Gatwick Airport, so that will stop at all the Thameslink stations in the core.

 

[Caged]

Not as such, the TOC (MTR Crossrail) has taken over the London Liverpool St to Shenfield services which are using the very old and very **** class 315 rolling stock.

The "proper" Crossrail trains will launch when the whole route is joined up.

That's what I'm getting confused with.

 

[Em3bbs]

Did you know that you can walk from Paddington to Lancaster Gate (Central Line) in about 6 minutes via Spring Street and Sussex Gardens?

No, thanks I will give it a go. Although unfortunately where my train pulls in you end up at the wrong end of the station on platform 14 which means a good few minutes walk to the exit which all adds up. Also more chance of delay pulling in to Paddington as they sometimes have to wait for trains to depart. I'll try it though. Ealing is easy as you just have to walk over to the next platform and you get a seat as it's the first stop.

 

[HangTime]

Try http://www.commutefrom.com/. I found it quite handy when we were considering moving nearer London.

I second this, I found it very useful last year. Things I liked:
-Hover info on the map so you can see average house prices, crime rates, monthly fare etc
-Specify your final destination i.e. tube station and it will factor that in to the timings (i.e. not just show you a quick route to "London" that may be 45mins away from your actual destination)

Do you have any constraints i.e. preferred position relative to London or budget?

Finally if you work near Bank don't rule out Waterloo as the W&C line is very efficient (frequent fast trains, some days you will spend as much time queueing to get on the platform as the actual journey!)

 

[anything I don't mind]

I just use google maps and enable the public transport option and the season ticket calculator on national rail website.

 

[Danny UK]

Another station you could consider is St Pancras. It's only a couple of stops from the city on the tube and the high speed trains run into it from North Kent. The journey from Ebbsfleet International is under 20 minutes, but expensive.

 

[dowie]

I'd just go for a station in/next to the city... if you want a minimum fuss commute you don't want to end up getting a tube across London after your train journey - just extra potential for disruption, extra faff

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Look at places along the C2C line, realiability over the past few years has been great and very quick into in the city.