Is it really a six-minute between mainline and tube at waterloo?

[Bucephalus]

I never thought I'd need to ask this question so my apologies. Google maps says there is a six minute walk through waterloo station between the swr mainline and the tube. Is this an error? The bakerloo appears to be only 0.1 miles from the main concourse.

I'm looking at places to rent in south west London (woking depot and trafalgar square commute)

I'd physically check myself but it's a couple hundred miles still

 

[Bletchleyite]

The Tube entrance is on the main railway concourse, but it could well take more than 6 minutes to get to the platform if busy.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Quite a bizarre question but you have to go down the stairs from platform level, along the subway, through some ticket gates, down an escalator and along another subway. 3 or 4 minutes is probably possible but in the rush hour it will lkely take longer.

 

[Bucephalus]

Thank you and yes, it will be during rush hour. It's because we're only looking at places within 30 minutes of trafalgar square

 

[Verulamius]

What about walking from Waterloo to trafalgar Square?

 

[bramling]

I never thought I'd need to ask this question so my apologies. Google maps says there is a six minute walk through waterloo station between the swr mainline and the tube. Is this an error? The bakerloo appears to be only 0.1 miles from the main concourse.

I'm looking at places to rent in south west London (woking depot and trafalgar square commute)

I'd physically check myself but it's a couple hundred miles still

Yes it’s probably just about do-able. However this is probably optimistic - arriving in the morning peak at the back of a 12-car for example would take longer. The main limiting factor would be people getting in the way.

 

[Bertie the bus]

If you think you can judge your commute in London to the nearest minute or so you will get a very rude awakening when you move down there. For example, if you went to Waterloo now you would probably assume you could be off a mainline train and onto a Waterloo & City one in less than 1 minute. During the rush hour the queues are to the top of the ramp and you probably would only be able to get on the second or third train.

 

[Bucephalus]

This is food for thought when considering changes of trains etc, so thank you

 

[Bookd]

I would agree with the walking suggestion; as an old codger I am not a fast walker but I can go from Waterloo to Trafalgar Square in about 10 minutes over Hungerford bridge. I would not think of taking the tube (unless it is blowing a blizzard) as you could spend most of that time on the escalators and subways getting to the Underground platform at one end and then out again at the other.

 

[NSE]

If you think you can judge your commute in London to the nearest minute or so you will get a very rude awakening when you move down there. For example, if you went to Waterloo now you would probably assume you could be off a mainline train and onto a Waterloo & City one in less than 1 minute. During the rush hour the queues are to the top of the ramp and you probably would only be able to get on the second or third train.

With all due respect he’s just asking to think about it. Is it less or more in practice? If you don’t know the tube it’s a good question to ask. Six minutes off peak is easy doable. In the rush hour probably not. But once you get to know your commute after a week or so, you’ll clock which doors are closest to which exit and all that sort of stuff which will shave vital seconds off your commute. Although in this situation I would also say (particularly in the summer) walking across the bridge from Waterloo is a good idea. Commuting is an art, especially in London. Welcome to the club. Hah.

 

[PeterC]

The rush hour is easier in some ways as almost everybody knows where they are going.

I agree about walking to Trafalgar Square though. It is an easy walk, although I would take the upstream footbridge as the downstream one will get you mixed up with commuters exiting Charing Cross.

 

[rebmcr]

Commuting is an art, especially in London.

Isn't that the truth! To guarantee a seat, I'm currently taking advantage of the new stepping back system at Stratford — my southbound AM peak journey begins at West Ham on the Jubilee northbound, remaining on board as it forms the next service. The craziest thing is, there are other passengers already on board at West Ham who do the same thing!

 

[Busaholic]

In addition to other contributions here, it surely depends on which tube line you choose. I don't believe all are equidistant from any given main line platform, and thereby hangs another tale. Platform 1 or Platform 22, or whatever?

 

[Hophead]

If Trafalgar Square is your destination, Southeastern from Waterloo East to Charing Cross is an option, and has the advantage of being available at no extra cost, assuming you have a London Terminals ticket (and assuming further that you have no use for TfL services and would like to save a bit of money).

 

[Kite159]

The rush hour at Waterloo is slightly easier for the Northern/Bakerloo lines as the peak time subway is open which tends to be quieter than the main concourse.

 

[ijmad]

If Trafalgar Square is your destination, Southeastern from Waterloo East to Charing Cross is an option, and has the advantage of being available at no extra cost, assuming you have a London Terminals ticket (and assuming further that you have no use for TfL services and would like to save a bit of money).

True, although it's an even longer walk to Waterloo East platforms A&B than it is to the tube!

 

[theageofthetra]

As others have said just walk from Waterloo to Trafalgar Sq and just buy a London Terminals ticket.

 

[swt_passenger]

As others have said just walk from Waterloo to Trafalgar Sq and just buy a London Terminals ticket.

... and on a day when it’s pouring with rain maybe use the London Terminals validity to Charing Cross via Waterloo East?

 

[jopsuk]

Buy a Brompton, get good at unfolding/folding, sorted.

 

[Bucephalus]

Thanks everybody. It's my better half that will be doing the commute. It never occurred to me to use mainline rail from waterloo east or walk direct.

The reason for the 30 minute time limit is because there will the additional errand of a nursery drop off on some days.

And the reason for the whole waterloo station thing is because I'm holding out for the shunter job in woking with swr. - so (if I can get through the interview) we will need to live within 45 minutes of woking. And well you already know about the 30 minutes from Trafalgar square. The whole thing's rather convoluted!