Hi All

Due to my partner's working commitments it looks like we will be moving from
London to the Stafford area

Has anyone experience of commuting from Stafford to EUS ? Needing to arrive
into EUS about 0900 and leaving at 1700 ish, chances of getting seats,
frequency of delays etc etc ?

Cheers

J.

"Sam" wrote in message
...
Hi All

Due to my partner's working commitments it looks like we will be moving
from London to the Stafford area

Has anyone experience of commuting from Stafford to EUS ? Needing to
arrive into EUS about 0900 and leaving at 1700 ish, chances of getting
seats, frequency of delays etc etc ?

I've done this route many times, albeit from London to Crewe. Going down,
there are 3 Pendolinos that arrive into Euston before 9 - the
05:59/06:25/07:05 from Crewe (all call at Stafford). I always travel First
Class but you're always likely to get a seat at Stafford as the first train
(05:20 from Manchester) always fills up from the Trent Valley stations and
Rugby. You can always reserve a seat though. Returning back, I routinely
get the 17:21 Holyhead service, which calls at Stafford. Since this calls
at Rugby, I've heard PA announcements of it regularly being full and
standing in Standard - First is always almost full. This service is
notorious for not being on time.

On 29 Nov, 10:00, "Sam" wrote:
Hi All

Due to my partner's working commitments it looks like we will be moving from
London to the Stafford area

Has anyone experience of commuting from Stafford to EUS ? Needing to arrive
into EUS about 0900 and leaving at 1700 ish, chances of getting seats,
frequency of delays etc etc ?

Cheers

J.

All the way from Stafford to London every day! Rather you than me!

wrote in message
...
On 29 Nov, 10:00, "Sam" wrote:
Hi All

Due to my partner's working commitments it looks like we will be moving
from
London to the Stafford area

Has anyone experience of commuting from Stafford to EUS ? Needing to
arrive
into EUS about 0900 and leaving at 1700 ish, chances of getting seats,
frequency of delays etc etc ?

Cheers

J.

All the way from Stafford to London every day! Rather you than me!

Many years ago (mid/late 70s) I worked in a travel agency in Fleet Street.
Customer came in and I needed his address which he gave me as somewhere near
Coventry. When I asked if he was just in London for the day he said "no"
and explained that he had found that the season fare from Coventry was less
than somewhere like Brighton or Worthing. He also pointed out that Coventry
took no longer than Brighton and plenty of people did that journey.

Much the same arguement (timewise, don't know about the fares) can be made
for Stafford versus plenty of South Coast "commuter" towns where nobody
would bat an eyelid.

On 29 Nov, 16:28, "Toby" wrote:

I've done this route many times, albeit from London to Crewe. Going down,
there are 3 Pendolinos that arrive into Euston before 9 - the
05:59/06:25/07:05 from Crewe (all call at Stafford). I always travel First
Class but you're always likely to get a seat at Stafford as the first train
(05:20 from Manchester) always fills up from the Trent Valley stations and
Rugby. You can always reserve a seat though. Returning back, I routinely
get the 17:21 Holyhead service, which calls at Stafford. Since this calls
at Rugby, I've heard PA announcements of it regularly being full and
standing in Standard - First is always almost full. This service is
notorious for not being on time.

In the December 2008 timetable, the morning trains from Stafford a
06.21 (calls MKC , arrives Euston 07.47); 06.53 (Lichfield and
Tamworth, 08.22) and 07.36 (nonstop, 08.52). The first two originate
at Lime Street, the last from Manchester Piccadilly (so presumably
pretty busy).

Coming back there's a 17.07 to Lime street, first stop Stafford
(18.23), followed by the 17.33 Lime street, calling at Rugby, arriving
Stafford at 18.53. If you work late, the pattern repeats an hour
later, followed by a 19.07 that calls at Rugby (arrives Stafford
20.26).

I commuted for about 3 years daily Birmingham International to Euston
then Tube to the City.

It was taking me less time to commute than a colleague who travelled
in from Maidenhead who claimed the worst part of his journey was the
four-mile drive to Maidenhead station and the hopeless task of finding
a parking space.

I went the whole hog of booking a first class season, which by the
time you take into account the free food wasn't such a bad deal
compared to the standard fare.

Only trouble was, taken in combination with the lunchtime pigging out
session (why is there so much food everywhere in London?) my waistline
exploded.

I was commuting during the final days of loco haulage as well so was
rewarded on numerous occasions by class 47 haulage - something of a
bonus.

With the new trains I would imagine I could be saving a good hour on
the commute nowadays.

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:26:34 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On 29 Nov, 10:00, "Sam" wrote:
Hi All

Due to my partner's working commitments it looks like we will be moving from
London to the Stafford area

Has anyone experience of commuting from Stafford to EUS ? Needing to arrive
into EUS about 0900 and leaving at 1700 ish, chances of getting seats,
frequency of delays etc etc ?

Cheers

J.

All the way from Stafford to London every day! Rather you than me!

A lad I know does it from Crewe to London each day. As you said -
rather him than me although an hour and 16 minutes isn't that bad. It
can take that on a bad day from South Manchester to Wigan. I suppose
it depends on what the journeys are at either end.

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007, Graham Harrison wrote:

wrote in message
...
On 29 Nov, 10:00, "Sam" wrote:

Due to my partner's working commitments it looks like we will be
moving from London to the Stafford area

Has anyone experience of commuting from Stafford to EUS ? Needing to
arrive into EUS about 0900 and leaving at 1700 ish, chances of getting
seats, frequency of delays etc etc ?

All the way from Stafford to London every day! Rather you than me!

Many years ago (mid/late 70s) I worked in a travel agency in Fleet
Street. Customer came in and I needed his address which he gave me as
somewhere near Coventry. When I asked if he was just in London for the
day he said "no" and explained that he had found that the season fare
from Coventry was less than somewhere like Brighton or Worthing. He
also pointed out that Coventry took no longer than Brighton and plenty
of people did that journey.

Much the same arguement (timewise, don't know about the fares) can be made
for Stafford versus plenty of South Coast "commuter" towns where nobody
would bat an eyelid.

Even a few places inside London - plenty of places on the southern and
eastern side of zone 6 take an hour to get to Euston from.

tom

--
HI DERE WAHT IS IT MADE

In message , at 17:44:18 on
Thu, 29 Nov 2007, Graham Harrison
remarked:
Many years ago (mid/late 70s) I worked in a travel agency in Fleet Street.
Customer came in and I needed his address which he gave me as somewhere near
Coventry. When I asked if he was just in London for the day he said "no"
and explained that he had found that the season fare from Coventry was less
than somewhere like Brighton or Worthing. He also pointed out that Coventry
took no longer than Brighton and plenty of people did that journey.

Much the same arguement (timewise, don't know about the fares) can be made
for Stafford versus plenty of South Coast "commuter" towns where nobody
would bat an eyelid.

It's only a bit over an hour from Grantham to KX (hardly any longer than
Cambridge). It's time that matters, not distance.
--
Roland Perry

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007, allan tracy wrote:

I commuted for about 3 years daily Birmingham International to Euston
then Tube to the City.

It was taking me less time to commute than a colleague who travelled in
from Maidenhead who claimed the worst part of his journey was the
four-mile drive to Maidenhead station and the hopeless task of finding a
parking space.

I went the whole hog of booking a first class season, which by the time
you take into account the free food wasn't such a bad deal compared to
the standard fare.

Only trouble was, taken in combination with the lunchtime pigging out
session (why is there so much food everywhere in London?) my waistline
exploded.

Heh! The solution would have been to keep a bike locked up at Euston, and
do the leg to the city on that. Saves money, burns calories, and is
quicker!

tom

--
HI DERE WAHT IS IT MADE