On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:52:32 -0000
"Mizter T" wrote:
Embarrassed to say I overlooked this option in my reply - I think I'd sort
of taken it that the OP had half-settled on the move to Oxford so I only
really considered the journey in the other direction.

Anyone commuting to london from oxford by coach in the rush hour needs their
head examining. The queues on the A40 are legendary and thats before you
hit the solid central london traffic.

Coaches should be left to skint students.

B2003

"Neil Williams" wrote:
[MK-Bletchley commute]
Oxford is a slightly longer journey, but I'm not sure I'd write it
off. Though I'm fairly sure I would do it by train, not coach[1],
unless money was the only consideration.

[1] I have done it by coach once, as I had to stay over one night at
the John Radcliffe hospital for a sleep study and the coach passed
nearby. It was workable, but *slow*, and needed an early start,
though I forget exactly what time it was. I think the time to get up
involved 05xx, which is not something I like to do every day.

Just to be clear, you used it from Oxford to London then? Just curious about
how an early start meshed with the sleep study!

On Jan 26, 6:04*pm, "Mizter T" wrote:

Just to be clear, you used it from Oxford to London then?

Yep.

Just curious about
how an early start meshed with the sleep study!

I told them about it and they didn't mind, it was to see if I had
sleep apnoea (turned out I don't though it is a rather complicated
story!) so they only needed a couple of hours solid sleep to do it.

Neil

Mizter T wrote:
Certainly worth giving it proper consideration.

Definitely. I commuted from Charlbury (two stops beyond Oxford) to
London for a while, and the train was a delight as long as you didn't
get too worked up by FGW's occasional infelicities. Comfortable train,
no problem getting a seat, and plenty fast enough. FGW appear to be
going through a rough patch punctuality-wise at the moment but are
generally copable with.

It was the cross-London journey that did for it for me - I can't stand
the tube and cycling round Hyde Park Corner was no fun either. But if
you're more used to London commuting you may not find this an issue.

Richard

On Jan 26, 4:56 pm, StuartJ wrote:

On Jan 26, 4:46 pm, "Mizter T" wrote:
[big snip]
As Paul Terry has quite rightly pointed out (on the utl version of this
thread), both Oxford coach services stop at Hillingdon (both ways),
which is
of course in NW London. (Indeed I've done this myself once - obviously
losing my marbles!)

Only downside to this arrangement is that somewhat inexplicably there's
no
bus shelter for the Oxford-bound coach stop - and there's no other
sheltering opportunities nearby either. That's something that really
could
do with being remedied.

I would say Hillingdon is west London, not NW - if the OP actually
lives in (say) Stanmore it would be rather a long way away.


Very fair point - a combination of the lack of geographical anchorage of the
Tube 'map' (which I'm always preaching against trusting in this regard!),
the expansive nature of the NW postcode area versus the W (neither of which
of course stretch out anything as far as Hillingdon, but I mentally extend
them out when divvying up the metropolis into compass points), and the fact
that the M40 heads to points north west (such as Oxford) just makes me
rather sloppily place it in north west London in my mind - but I stand duly
corrected.

wrote:

On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:52:32 -0000
"Mizter T" wrote:
Embarrassed to say I overlooked this option in my reply - I think I'd sort
of taken it that the OP had half-settled on the move to Oxford so I only
really considered the journey in the other direction.

Anyone commuting to london from oxford by coach in the rush hour needs
their
head examining. The queues on the A40 are legendary and thats before you
hit the solid central london traffic.

Once you take your comprehension classes you'll realise we were actually
talking about travelling *from* London (well Hillingdon) *to* Oxford here.

"Theo Markettos" wrote:

In uk.transport.london Mizter T wrote:
I'm going to take the liberty of crossposting this to the uk.railway
newsgroup - I'm not sure if that's a sensible move or not on my part, but
it just might be a way of getting a bit more of an input with regards to
the Oxford-Paddington element.

It might also be worth pointing out that there's another route to Oxford
currently at the planning permission stage, using the line to Bicester
then
a new junction joining the Chiltern line to Marylebone:
http://www.chiltern-evergreen3.co.uk/

I don't know the latest timescales on the project, but it's probably a few
years off opening.

Yes - didn't mention it as it's not happening imminently, but perhaps a
reassurance in the longer term in terms of Oxford's connectivity to London.
(Interesting to note discussion in another uk.r thread over how DB, owners
of Chiltern, supposedly took fright of the Evergreen 3 project and tried to
back away from it, but apparently it's all locked-in contractually
speaking.)


They're good, very popular, and have various arguable advantages over the
train - however as the Oxford Tube website states, "Approximate travel
time
100 minutes - longer during rush hours" - and I do get the impression
that
congestion is a problem at peak times. If I was thinking about this
commute
(during 'normal' commuting times) I think like you (or rather your fella)
I'd be looking at the train. That said it's worth noting that people do
commute using these coach services (might even work ok if he has an early
start) - with some joining at Thornhill Park & Ride on the edge of Oxford
and also Lewknor, a village next to the M40 motorway (not sure about the
latest on parking issues at Lewknor, and it's possible that Thornhill P&R
might not be free forever, at least not for those travelling into London
on
the coaches). Anyhow that's the coach option.

I don't know the Tube/Espress specifically[1], but often buses into London
are
reasonably quick until the end of the motorway, then spend an age faffing
about to get to Victoria. For example Cambridge buses take about an hour
to
get down the M11 to Stratford, then another hour from there to Victoria.
Depending on where he works in London, it might be worth bailing at
Hillingdon or Baker St (say) then taking the tube (or cycling).

[1] Neither give times for intermediate stops on their websites

Hillingdon to say Moorgate (for the City) on the Metropolitan line is itself
a bit of a schlep, taking almost an hour. As you suggest, if one was taking
the Espress and heading to the City I imagine it'd be the done thing to bail
at Baker Street then take the Underground (or else find a hire bike) - if on
the Oxford Tube then one could bail out at Shepherd's Bush for the Central
line.

"Richard Fairhurst" wrote:

Mizter T wrote:
Certainly worth giving it proper consideration.

Definitely. I commuted from Charlbury (two stops beyond Oxford) to
London for a while, and the train was a delight as long as you didn't
get too worked up by FGW's occasional infelicities. Comfortable train,
no problem getting a seat, and plenty fast enough. FGW appear to be
going through a rough patch punctuality-wise at the moment but are
generally copable with.

It was the cross-London journey that did for it for me - I can't stand
the tube and cycling round Hyde Park Corner was no fun either. But if
you're more used to London commuting you may not find this an issue.

These days there's a well patronised cycle route which crosses right across
Hyde Park Corner from the NW to the SE sides (i.e. from Hyde Park through
Wellington Arch then across to Constitution Hill), replete with cycle phases
on the traffic lights.

On 26/01/2011 16:33, Mizter T wrote:
[original thread on uk.transport.london]
[cross-posted to uk.railway]

"Manoonga85" wrote:
Hi all,

I'm new here but I hope someone can help me decide if this is a
ridiculous suggestion or not!

I currently live in NW London and have a job offer in Oxford. The job
would be better and I'm thinking I'd prefer the lifestyle over there. I
don't think I could hack the commute out to Oxford everyday, as it's not
like I live near Paddington anyway.

The bf has said he's happy to commute from Oxford (providing we live nr
the station) to the City everyday, but I'm not sure he's thought it
through!

Has anyone experience of this and how tiring/horrific it actually might
be??

Any advice really appreciated.

Thanks so much!!


I'm going to take the liberty of crossposting this to the uk.railway
newsgroup - I'm not sure if that's a sensible move or not on my part,
but it just might be a way of getting a bit more of an input with
regards to the Oxford-Paddington element.


Well, if the job has long term prospects, I would suggest that the least
stressful option would be to consider moving out of London and find
somewhere to live in or near Oxford. Although few places have really
cheap housing these days, Oxford should be less expensive than living in
London.

And if you like London "entertainments" etc., Oxford is close enough for
to make occasional day trips to London after you have finished work.

Bevan

And if you like London "entertainments" etc., Oxford is close enough for
to make occasional day trips to London after you have finished work.

Bevan



That's true. I have a son living in Oxford and working just outside and he
seems to spend evenings in London on a regular basis. He seems to use both
buses and trains, I'm not sure what his criteria are for choosing one over
the other.