Bracknell to Canary Wharf

[LayerX]

I have a potential job offer but it's in Canary Wharf. It's excellent salary but not sure about travel, even with the £5k ticket cost.

My options are:

1) get train from MartinsHeron to Waterloo and then tube - 90 mins journey time. I live 10 min walk from station.

2) drive to Twyford (20 mins) and get crossrail (when it's live) all the way to canary wharf. This takes 62 minutes. However I live a 20 minute drive away.

3) drive to Farnborough main (24mins) or drive to Woking (28 mins) and get train.

4) move somewhere else. The issue with this is often it costs about £100k more for the house and then you save 13 minutes journey time. Not worth it.

I'm thinking out loud here I think.

I would be starting work at 9 and finishing around 1730 or 1800 I think. I could go in early and use the work gym first so I fit some leisure time in to the working day.

I need to check but I believe they allow WFH one day a week if it fits into the business stuff.

The SWR train strike is obviously on. I know its a single line so if one breaks or the line is blocked it all stops.

I travelled through canary wharf and Waterloo at 8am on Tuesday and actually found it very easy and hassle free. I think it was because everyone was commuters and there was more of a relaxed/"this is normal" attitude.

Any thoughts on this. My options? Any problems I could have?

 

[Starmill]

It sounds like there's very little in it to me.

The benefits of Martin's Heron are the avoidance of the cost of car parking and the stress of driving and the benefits of the short daily walk. To me this would be very tempting.

Would you keep your car anyway, or could you make do with casual car hires when you really want one?

The biggest downer is the very poor journey time from Martins Heron to London Waterloo. But the benefits for journey time from Farnborough and Woking are poor. Twyford to London Paddington by fast peak time trains might save you valuable time in the future, but until Crossrail opens, I doubt it will be more than a few minutes.

 

[Hadders]

Commuter trains, though busy, are much more civilised than their off peak leisure cousins. Everyone knows the drill, people behave, are courteous, know where they're going etc.

A completely different world to weekend travel!

 

[Starmill]

Commuter trains, though busy, are much more civilised than their off peak leisure cousins. Everyone knows the drill, people behave, are courteous, know where they're going etc.

A completely different world to weekend travel!

This is quite true, but be that as it may, more than 60 minutes each way on one from Martins Heron could become a killer quite quickly. Especially if you're leaving London Waterloo in the evening peak, fighting with all of the Richmond, Twickenham and Feltham passengers to get on.

 

[Lewlew]

I would avoid SWR as much as possible.

Could you drive to Slough (25 mins) instead of Twyford? Quieter roads, more trains, shorter journey time.

 

[LayerX]

I would avoid SWR as much as possible.

Could you drive to Slough (25 mins) instead of Twyford? Quieter roads, more trains, shorter journey time.

Yea the SWR trains are horrendous and very uncomfortable I find.

Issue with driving is by the time I get in car and then drive, park and walk to platform I may as well just walk the 8-10mins to Martin Heron. No parking charges, I can go for a drink if I wanted without worrying about driving home etc...

 

[LayerX]

This is quite true, but be that as it may, more than 60 minutes each way on one from Martins Heron could become a killer quite quickly. Especially if you're leaving London Waterloo in the evening peak, fighting with all of the Richmond, Twickenham and Feltham passengers to get on.

I've got a peak train home from Waterloo a few times. Its quite easy as they leave every 15mins. So you can (if you wanted) get the new train as it arrives and be first one

As they leave so frequently its easy to get on. Even if you stand for 20 mins to Twickenham

 

[akm]

Only you can know your personal commute time tolerance, and even then only through experience. Have you had such a long commute before? They are not for everyone.

I will echo comments about the relative ease of using the Jubilee from Waterloo at that time of a weekday. Even though it's two or three times as busy in terms of passenger loading as it might be off peak, it's incredibly easy because everyone knows what they're doing.

Going to CW you also have the fallback of Waterloo+City & DLR, when the Jubilee line is having problems.

At such time as the crossrail core is open, Twyford would make for a more straightforward option, but a lot of people seem unhappy about the comfort of the proposed Elizabeth line stock for long journeys.

 

[cjohnson]

Going to CW you also have the fallback of Waterloo+City & DLR, when the Jubilee line is having problems.

But everyone else will have the same idea, resulting in large queues for the W&C and potentially Bank DLR being shut if overcrowing persists.

 

[LayerX]

I have also been recommended to try Brookwood Train Station in Surrey. That is 9 mile drive (20mins).

Trains go fast to Waterloo taking just 35 minutes. They only stop once at Woking too.

My main issue with the Bracknell line is the stops. By the time the train starts it is stopping again. Then there's tons of disruption as people barge on or move or whatever.

I'd rather just get on and sit quietly for x number of minutes. Not stop every 30 seconds

 

[PeterC]

If you check the drive times to the station off peak I would suggest adding 50% for peak / school day traffic.

Do check if the station car park fills up as well. Back in the noughties before I retired my local station car park was running at around 80% capacity. Now if I arrive after 9 for a trip into London I can usually count the free spaces on one hand.

 

[LayerX]

If you check the drive times to the station off peak I would suggest adding 50% for peak / school day traffic.

Do check if the station car park fills up as well. Back in the noughties before I retired my local station car park was running at around 80% capacity. Now if I arrive after 9 for a trip into London I can usually count the free spaces on one hand.

Thanks Peter, I did a test drive this morning on the way to work.

I left my house at 0630
It took 18 minutes to get to the train station
There were tons of free spaces at it was quite early

The train station car parking is obviously another cost

 

[MarlowDonkey]

At such time as the crossrail core is open, Twyford would make for a more straightforward option, but a lot of people seem unhappy about the comfort of the proposed Elizabeth line stock for long journeys.

I think it probable that even when the Elizabeth Line is fully open, provided GWR continue to run fasts, commuters from Slough, Maidenhead, Twyford and the branches will continue to change at Paddington, just treating the Crossrail service as a full size and fast Central Line.

 

[gordonthemoron]

The Jubilee line between Waterloo and Canary Wharf can get horrendously overcrowded at peak times, Crossrail may be better

 

[paul1609]

I think it probable that even when the Elizabeth Line is fully open, provided GWR continue to run fasts, commuters from Slough, Maidenhead, Twyford and the branches will continue to change at Paddington, just treating the Crossrail service as a full size and fast Central Line.

I'm not familiar with the Elizabeth line stock but I'd imagine people further out will take the direct train if they can get a seat at Slough etc. rather than a slightly more comfortable and faster trip to paddington then standing to Canary Wharf.

 

[LayerX]

The Jubilee line between Waterloo and Canary Wharf can get horrendously overcrowded at peak times, Crossrail may be better

I am going to test out the commute a few more times.
I went earlier in the week, arriving at Waterloo at around 0800 HRS and it was fine then, really easy.

If I was doing this for real I'd probably be arriving at around 0730ish or even earlier so I could use the gym in work before starting

 

[akm]

I think it probable that even when the Elizabeth Line is fully open, provided GWR continue to run fasts, commuters from Slough, Maidenhead, Twyford and the branches will continue to change at Paddington, just treating the Crossrail service as a full size and fast Central Line.

That would mean interchanging at Paddington from the current NR station all the way down to the EL; it remains to be seen exactly how easy that is, or not. See for example https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2019/10/22/photos-from-inside-paddingtons-crossrail-station/ for a cutaway diagram of the distance to be traversed.

 

[Taunton]

I have a potential job offer but it's in Canary Wharf. It's excellent salary but not sure about travel, even with the £5k ticket cost.

We live at Canary Wharf and I regularly travel out west, in fact I've been to a meeting in Bracknell (by the station) a couple of times in the last month.

I would go for the easy, one change route, just via Waterloo. Yes it can seem a tedious jog-trot out through the London suburban stations but it does seem as reliable as any other.

The principal downside is congestion at Waterloo Underground to board the eastbound Jubilee in the morning peak, if there is any perturbation then queueing starts and you can need to let several trains pass before getting in. Returning in the evening, although the Jubilee station at Canary Wharf can look busy with queues, about one train in three has turned short at North Greenwich and arrives virtually empty to hoover up most of them.

There are plenty of fellow commuters you will find make the same journey. Is it practical for you to use an old bicycle from home to Martins Heron?

If you go through Twyford now you have to change at Paddington to the Bakerloo (which had the barriers across and queues for going down to the Bakerloo in the morning peak last week), and then change again at Baker Street.

Unfortunately if the Jubilee is disrupted the DLR is commonly suspended as well as the interchange at Bank just cannot handle safely any gross increase in numbers. People do actually fall back on the Thames Clippers riverbus at this time, but that doesn't have huge spare capacity either.

It's disappointing that Crossrail still seems, in honesty, two years away for even starting, and by then you may well have moved on anyway. I am heartily sick of the whole Crossrail fiasco and now a very apparent lack of urgency in getting it finished. In any event, when it opens it seems it will terminate at Paddington for ANOTHER year before the full interconnection is made. Bear in mind that Crossrail will have even more stops between Twyford and London than the SWR line has, and the transfer at Paddington from high to low level, which of course has not been optimised, with be a further lengthy timewaster.

Good luck here at The Wharf! If you are coming for a mainstream finance job then I would just point out that the salaries are great, but if you just actually expect to work 0900-1730 you will find yourself a bit left behind by those who start early and/or leave late. Not for nothing are all the Uber Eats delivery bikes for telephoned orders lined up at the bank front reception at 1930 each day.

 

[LayerX]

I would go for the easy, one change route, just via Waterloo. Yes it can seem a tedious jog-trot out through the London suburban stations but it does seem as reliable as any other.

There are plenty of fellow commuters you will find make the same journey. Is it practical for you to use an old bicycle from home to Martins Heron?

If you are coming for a mainstream finance job then I would just point out that the salaries are great, but if you just actually expect to work 0900-1730 you will find yourself a bit left behind by those who start early and/or leave late. Not for nothing are all the Uber Eats delivery bikes for telephoned orders lined up at the bank front reception at 1930 each day.

Hi Taunton, thanks for a useful and very informative response.

To answer a few of your points:

- I live only an 8 minute walk from Martins Heron so it's really easy for me to get to

- I did think that may the easiest way, better than driving in a rush to then park up at another station. I don't mind a long journey but just wish it didn't stop every 15 seconds! (it feels like that)

- Working hours, yea I was a bit reluctant about that. It is not a Financial job but it is for a Big4 firm within cyber security. The salary is over double my current one, plus a bonus and plus £5.5k per year car allowance or cash. Lunch is also heavily subsidised everyday from a number of on-site restaurants - I believe they give you £3.50 and most people pay another £1 or so for onsite lunch so it's very cheap. Plus there is a gym onsite too.

I wasn't too sure about the gym, I want to fit that in to my working day but don't want to spend even longer there just to train, so I would like to maybe do gym 730-830 and then start work at 9 maybe. I don't mind saying late sometimes, like a couple of times per week but part of me would like to finish at a reasonable hour more often than not

 

[packermac]

Hi Taunton, thanks for a useful and very informative response.

To answer a few of your points:

- I live only an 8 minute walk from Martins Heron so it's really easy for me to get to

- I did think that may the easiest way, better than driving in a rush to then park up at another station. I don't mind a long journey but just wish it didn't stop every 15 seconds! (it feels like that)

- Working hours, yea I was a bit reluctant about that. It is not a Financial job but it is for a Big4 firm within cyber security. The salary is over double my current one, plus a bonus and plus £5.5k per year car allowance or cash. Lunch is also heavily subsidised everyday from a number of on-site restaurants - I believe they give you £3.50 and most people pay another £1 or so for onsite lunch so it's very cheap. Plus there is a gym onsite too.

I wasn't too sure about the gym, I want to fit that in to my working day but don't want to spend even longer there just to train, so I would like to maybe do gym 730-830 and then start work at 9 maybe. I don't mind saying late sometimes, like a couple of times per week but part of me would like to finish at a reasonable hour more often than not

I would suggest trying Martins Heron for a month and see how it goes. Being able to walk is a great plus which may outweigh the downside of using SWR. I too would be surprised if that working for a large firm 0900-1700 is seen as sufficient commitment. My contract used to say a minimum of 37.5 hours but I was expected to work longer than that, as I expected my staff to as well. So if you find you are in to late nights then Slough or Taplow may be better with more trains, but from a recent railtour Slough car park is expensive in my opinion and traffic is not great there.

 

[cactustwirly]

I'm not familiar with the Elizabeth line stock but I'd imagine people further out will take the direct train if they can get a seat at Slough etc. rather than a slightly more comfortable and faster trip to paddington then standing to Canary Wharf.

But the GWR peak services are significantly faster and are much more comfortable

 

[LayerX]

I too would be surprised if that working for a large firm 0900-1700 is seen as sufficient commitment.

I'd probably happily do 8-6 several times a week and longer on rare occasions.

The annoying thing is I do 8 hours work now. But often do another 2 hours at home in evening and at weekend sometimes 2-3 hours on a Sunday. This is easy as I enjoy it and I'm at home.

It would be a different matter if I had to stay at my desk until 9pm each night.

I will ask the director on the next interview about this

 

[IslandDweller]

(I also live near Canary Wharf).
As mentioned above, the Jubilee is normally very quick to Waterloo, but if there is a problem huge queues will quickly develop. Personally, I avoid using the DLR to Bank in rush hour as the crowding at Bank is horrid - and will remain awful for the next two years due to the station rebuild works underway = this has drastically reduced circulation space in the DLR platform area.
If problems block the Jubilee route, you can go via Lewisham. (Southeastern from Waterloo East to Lewisham then DLR). It's about a half hour, which is a lot more than a direct Jubilee, but if the Jubilee is borked this will still be better than other options.

 

[Bensonby]

Completely “out there” suggestion, but to avoid/massively reduce the £5.5k fare you could sign up as a special constable in the Met. You have to do about two shifts a month, you don’t get paid, but you get free travel on TFL services (Elizabeth Line). £5000 divided by 25 min shifts a year = £200 a shift plus expenses, plus you’ll be doing something worthwhile and, dare I say it, quite fun.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

That would mean interchanging at Paddington from the current NR station all the way down to the EL; it remains to be seen exactly how easy that is, or not.

Experienced Paddington commuters heading for the City have been using the Central Line at Lancaster Gate for decades as an alternative to the Bakerloo Line and changing at Oxford Circus.

That's a lot further to reach than a station under what was the taxi rank next to platform 1.