Commuting daily from Newton Abbot or Exeter to London

[whole diary]

[larry]

Hi All - first post on here so apologies in advance for any etiquette gafs or if I have posted this in the wrong forum.

Does anybody travel up to London daily from the South West or am I barking to be considering it? Currently live in the Thames Valley and we are considering a move to the South West to be nearer ageing parents and for a life style change. My current commute into the City takes just over 2 hours door to door (car, train, tube and walking) and it looks like I'd be no worse off living in and around Newton Abbot or Exeter as FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to Paddington is just over 2hrs. Also the time on the train would be more productive as I could work for pretty much the whole journey. Would only need to do it Tuesday - Thursday as Monday and Friday I typically work from home.

Just trying to work out logistics and feasibility before we commit so would appreciate knowing whether anybody does the same sort of journey. Thanks in advance!

[grahame]

Hi, Larry, and welcome ... totally right place and forum.  And there are people here who'll be able to advise / comment

My own thoughts ... a two hour journey into Paddington is going to be followed by a tube or bus journey of xxx minutes to the City - remember to factor that in.  And on the way back, is the timing going to work or do you need to factor in waiting around at Paddington?  ... second thought is cost ...

[Umberleigh]

Interesting question, Larry.

My sister lives near to Etchingham, East Sussex and after one recent visit I caught a morning, rush hour train up to London... which took forever

As we crawled towards the Capital, I couldn't help thinking that Exeter to Padd can be done in just over two hours; not much longer than my journey was taking, in far more comfort and a buffet to provide breakfast (not even a trolley on SE services).

At present, the downside is the journey on from Padd to the City (half of which is spent walking to the tube platform), however, will Crossrail speed things up?

[Umberleigh]

Oh, should add that a lot of regular London-bound passengers from Cornwall/North & West Devon use Tiverton Parkway rather than Exeter or Newton Abbot. Guess this is because of the plentiful parking and that it's high speed all the way to London: Cornwall -Plymouth - Newton Abbot to Exeter is a beautiful journey, but quick it ain't.

[Temple Meads]

You have to take into account getting to the station, to be within a walk/quick drive of Exeter or Newton Abbot stations you're going to have to live in an urban area, rather than a country setting (which is a lot of people's reason for living in Devon), Tiverton Parkway is in a country setting, and is nearer London than the other two, and is a practical choice for commuting into the capital.

[Super Guard]

The only issue with TVP is that the fast morning services (0652/0752 from Exeter) are EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains)-TAU^» (Taunton - next trains)-RDG^‡(resolve)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains), which mean Tiverton is a slightly earlier start and change at Taunton.  Conversely the 1803 is fast TAU-EXD.

[Westernchallenger]

I would have thought that cost would rule it out and travelling 3 days a week won't save any money over a season. e.g. an open return in the peak is a massive ^232 whereas a weekly season is ^402.90. The cheapest overall option would be an annual season but this is nearly ^15,000!

[larry]

Thanks all - this is a helpful discussion.

Am looking at some rural properties within 10 mins of Newton Abbot station so can be in Paddington in 2hrs 40 mins and the tube would be about 25mins. So door to door could be 3hrs (compared to about 2.5hrs currently). The key thing is productivity - currently I get home about 6pm or 7pm but then have to put my laptop back on and work for another 2 or 3 hours after supper because I can't work on the commute home. To/From NTA^» (Newton Abbott - next trains) or EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) I could work both ways so get home and be done for the day.

Looking at cost - yes it is an issue but I'm in a role that is home based and spend my time travelling to customer sites so my employer pays. While a season ticket, either monthly or weekly, depending on my diary, would give me more flexibility of trains, buying advance tickets would greatly reduce the cost and only increase my admin for expenses slightly while being responsible towards the company's costs. My current expenses are ^1000ish a month so if I'm careful my employer shouldn't see much of an increase.

It all feels very do able - unless I'm something obvious......

[BandHcommuter]

Am looking at some rural properties within 10 mins of Newton Abbot station so can be in Paddington in 2hrs 40 mins and the tube would be about 25mins.

I used to commute daily from Westbury to London, although nowadays I tend to lodge in London during the week. I am not trying to put you off in any way, but in the spirit of helpfulness I would encourage you to be ruthlessly realistic on your end to end journey time estimates, just to understand what you might be taking on.

The timings you quote might be achievable on a "best case" basis.  Bear in mind, however that there are "extras". For example, the drive time to the station may need to include scraping the ice off the car window (possibly!), parking and walking time to the platform. Your quoted journey time for the tube to the city is doable on a good day, but I usually had to allow 40 minutes to allow for delays. And you have to allow walking time from tube to office - in the morning peak it can take a while to get out of the station. And on the way back, you will always want to allow an extra few minutes for the tube journey to allow for delays. And I usually try to get back to Paddington 10 minutes before train departure so that I can get a seat. And so on!

Anyway, if I were to add together each element of my journey (car, train, tube), it would be 12 + 106 + 20 =138 minutes. The reality is that I leave home at 5.45 and rarely arrive in the office before 0825, a total of 160 minutes. Going back, I really have to leave the office before 17.50 to get a seat on the 18.33 (and if the tube is delayed and I arrive just before departure I often have to stand as far as Newbury). Usually home about 2025 (it can be slow progress to get out of the car park). That's 155 minutes (helped by a slightly quicker train). And that only happens if everything is on time. It is quite common for the train to drift 5 to 10 minutes late (although still considered "on time" in the published statistics). And once every couple of months you will find yourself turning up at Paddington in the evening peak to find that there are no trains at all for over an hour due to an incident or a signal failure (and when the trains do start there is a struggle to get on the train as several thousand people try to get on!)

Also bear in mind that some peak trains have relatively slow journey times. There is a fast one from the West of England which arrives at 0900 hours, but if you need to be in London before 9, I think you only have the choice of the 0546 from Exeter, which takes a little short of three hours to get to London.

Having said all that, I have long-distance commuted for over ten years, and in general it's been ok, especially the ability to use the on-train time productively.

[inspector_blakey]

Depending on the area in Devon you're looking at, you might at least consider SWT^▸ (South West Trains)'s West of England line from Exeter up to Waterloo: not sure what journey times are like or if there would be trains at suitable times, but there are some factors in its favour:

Likely to be considerably cheaper than FGW^▸ (First Great Western)
The 159s are very comfortable trains, and kept in good order by SWT
No seat reservations: you would have absolutely no trouble getting a seat in the mornings starting out west, and heading back in the evening if you don't get a seat from Waterloo there will always be seats spare after Woking or Basingstoke at the very worst. These trains often operate as 9 or even 10-car formations in the peak.

Just a thought!

[vacman]

Commuting from Exeter on SWT^▸ (South West Trains) would be a nightmare, for a start there are no plug sockets which isn't much good if you want to work with a laptop and the journey time is 3 and a half hours at best, as for price well it is cheaper via Honiton but you get what you pay for! and if your coming back from pad on the 1803 or 1903 you can enjoy the Pullman restaurant!

[thetrout]

Commuting from Exeter on SWT^▸ (South West Trains) would be a nightmare, for a start there are no plug sockets which isn't much good if you want to work with a laptop and the journey time is 3 and a half hours at best, as for price well it is cheaper via Honiton but you get what you pay for! and if your coming back from pad on the 1803 or 1903 you can enjoy the Pullman restaurant!

There are... In the infamous and more expensive "Blue Seats" Don't expect these to work 100% of the time though and not every table set has them.

Some of the pax on this route can really be quite snobby and/or exceptionally rude. I've had issues before where a passenger has chosen to sit opposite me and then told me in no uncertain terms I am not putting a coffee on the table because of there exceptionally expensive laptop (They mean the laptop covered in asset stickers so is very likely provided by their employer most likely with their ticket!). My rather humorous response: "I'm not putting the coffee on the table, I'm putting the cup on the table and drinking the coffee inside the cup... The coffee is hardly any use to me on the table now is it?" and my favourite when my bag was between my legs on the floor: "Can you put your bag up on the overhead rack, that's what everyone else has done" , "Well I'm not everyone else am I?"

BTW^▸ (by the way), I'm not normally rude, quite the opposite in fact, but if someone is rude to me for no reason or they think their suit somehow gives them authority over me... Then they can expect me to be twice as rude back. Or very polite responses in a sarcastic manner works a treat!

I would also agree though with vacman's point r.e. the Pullman Restaurant. If you get there quick enough you might bag yourself a First Class Seat on a Standard Ticket perfectly legitimately on the Pullman and have an excellent meal on board (Meal is compulsory for the First Class Travel and you may be asked to return to Standard Class after the meal but I'm informed this is seldom enforced)

[inspector_blakey]

I'd have said in terms of passenger rudeness the WoE line is fairly tame compared to some of Surrey and Hampshire's more affluent London dormitory communities

[bobm]

I would also agree though with vacman's point r.e. the Pullman Restaurant. If you get there quick enough you might bag yourself a First Class Seat on a Standard Ticket perfectly legitimately on the Pullman and have an excellent meal on board (Meal is compulsory for the First Class Travel and you may be asked to return to Standard Class after the meal but I'm informed this is seldom enforced)

In my experience you'd be very lucky to get a meal on either the 18:03 or 19:03 on a Standard Ticket regularly.  It is usually easy to fill it with First Class ticket holders.  I have never tried but I have been told Friday is the best bet because most business travellers go home early!

[Devon Big Bird]

Hi Larry,

I write from the outskirts of TQY, 10 minutes from NTA^» (Newton Abbott - next trains) at 0550 and 30-40 at 1700 

Travelling regularly-ish (2-3 times a month) into the City, I often go from NTA due to previous experiences of poor connections to / from TQY.

Leaving at 0630 NTA gets me into the city, via walk to Lancaster Gate then to Bank by about 0950 if everything's on time. Bear in mind that once you lose a few minutes on the B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury), you often lose paths into RDG^‡(resolve) & PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains), I'm regularly 15-20 late into PAD.

So, leaving the office at either 1515 or 1615 ish gets me to PAD for the 1606 or 1703, into TQY (driving from NTA) 1900 or 2000.

So, 0550 - 1900 gives me 5 - 5.5 hours in the office for a 13 hour day door to door. The 1st PAD (0630) offers cheaper Apexs^▸ (Advanced Purchase Excursion (fare)) than 0730 from NTA usually, and you can often get the holy grail of working on the train - a table, whereas 0730 that starts at PNZ, forget it. The airlines are hopeless for working IMO^▸ (in my opinion) (OK with an iPad, emails etc)

Reliability is usually excellent, usual caveats apply 

So, yes it's feasible but it's a long old slog of a day and I could get more done by working locally.