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Chatham to Tooting commute

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mazza15

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I live in Rochester but my nearest station is Chatham (a 12 minute walk). I'm starting a job next week near to Tooting and wondering what my best options are for commuting?
The obvious route is to walk to Chatham and get to Tooting but this involves 2 changes and is the most expensive.
I do drive so I'm happy to drive for some of the journey, then get the train.

I've never commuted to London before so some help is very much appreciated. :)
 
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DasLunatic

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Simply put:

--Train to Victoria (3 tph off peak, 7 at peak)
-- No. 44 bus to Tooting (4 bph)

Or:

Train to Charing Cross (2-4 tph)
Nothern Line to Tooting (lots of tph)

Someone else will be along to help with costs in a few posts.
Hope this helps!
 

Philip C

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Simply put:

--Train to Victoria (3 tph off peak, 7 at peak)
-- No. 44 bus to Tooting (4 bph)

Or:

Train to Charing Cross (2-4 tph)
Nothern Line to Tooting (lots of tph)

Someone else will be along to help with costs in a few posts.
Hope this helps!

Without any knowledge of pricing I'd add the following:

Train to Victoria.
Victoria & Northern Line to required Tooting station

OR:

Train to Cannon Street (fastish trains in peaks)
Northern Line from Bank to Tooting

The walk from Cannon Street to Bank is remarkably short.
 

mazza15

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I am paying £440 per month to get into work by using the train only.

I have a car and despite me living a 12 minute walk from my train station I'd be happy to drive to achieve a cheaper monthly travel bill.

I can get to my work easily enough from any of these mainline stations Elephant and Castle, Balham or London Bridge (all of which serve the northern line)

Any suggestions?
 

duncanp

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Just to add that Victoria tube station can get very busy in the morning peak, with frequent closures for overcrowding, especially during the current works.

An easier way would be to get National Rail from Victoria to Balham, and then continue from there by walking, tube or bus. If you get on the tube at Balham in the morning to go to Tooting, you will be going opposite to the peak direction of travel.
 

Clip

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I am paying £440 per month to get into work by using the train only.

I have a car and despite me living a 12 minute walk from my train station I'd be happy to drive to achieve a cheaper monthly travel bill.

I can get to my work easily enough from any of these mainline stations Elephant and Castle, Balham or London Bridge (all of which serve the northern line)

Any suggestions?

I wouldnt even think about taking your car unless you like to sit in traffic every day for an hour or so.

The best rail options have been given as far as memory serves me unelss you get the high spedd to Stratford then go jubilee line/northern. Or you could get a charing x train and get off at Waterloo east then a short walk to the northern line at Waterloo
 

Antman

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Just to add that Victoria tube station can get very busy in the morning peak, with frequent closures for overcrowding, especially during the current works.

An easier way would be to get National Rail from Victoria to Balham, and then continue from there by walking, tube or bus. If you get on the tube at Balham in the morning to go to Tooting, you will be going opposite to the peak direction of travel.

Yes that is certainly the way I would go.

Another possibility would be Chatham to Beckenham Junction (usually a change at Bromley South is required) and Tramlink from there to Wimbledon and train from there to Tooting, best to check journey time first but it will be cheaper than going via Central London.
 
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AndrewE

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Yes that is certainly the way I would go.

Another possibility would be Chatham to Beckenham Junction (usually a change at Bromley South is required) and Tramlink from there to Wimbledon and train from there to Tooting, best to check journey time first but it will be cheaper than going via Central London.
Is it possible that the quickest (and maybe cheapest) option could be a single-leg train journey to somewhere on the way in to one of the London termini then a bike?
I don't know the local practicalities, or all the route and station options, but Chatham to Herne Hill might do it. A 5-mile bike ride might not be out of the question, and a folding bike might pay for itself by the rail legs not needed.

The trouble is that the rush to get to London termini in the rush hour means that a lot of potential suburban railheads get by-passed...
 

30907

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Which makes me realise that changing at Bromley South plus Herne Hill or Peckham Rye would be worth checking out. The Peckham option might mean changing again at Tulse Hill depending on time of day. Should be cheaper than via London Terminals.
 

hassaanhc

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Which makes me realise that changing at Bromley South plus Herne Hill or Peckham Rye would be worth checking out. The Peckham option might mean changing again at Tulse Hill depending on time of day. Should be cheaper than via London Terminals.

About 90 minutes from Chatham to Tooting (National Rail).

Avoiding Z1 is only about £10-15 cheaper for a weekly season ticket.
 

CatfordCat

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If you get on the tube at Balham in the morning to go to Tooting, you will be going opposite to the peak direction of travel.

Yes, once you get on to the northern line platform at Balham, you'll still probably stand to Tooting Broadway, but it's not crush loading. But (assuming you're doing peak hours) you'll still get caught in the crowds transferring from northbound Southern services to the city-bound northern line.

I've not done it for a few months, but it was usual for there to be one heck of a crowd trying to get downstairs, and not that uncommon for the LU station staff to stop access to the underground because of congestion on the platform - it's not practical to allow southbound passengers only in.

This got worse when Southern services to London Bridge got trimmed back because of the ongoing work there, and with Southern's current troubles, I can't imagine it's got better...

(I work not far from Tooting, so was going through Balham about 0830, and have found it less painful to travel via Wimbledon then bus)
 

30907

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About 90 minutes from Chatham to Tooting (National Rail).

Avoiding Z1 is only about £10-15 cheaper for a weekly season ticket.

It's the route that NRE consistently offers, and the TfL planner doesn't throw up anything creative for Bromley S-Tooting.
 

mazza15

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Thanks alot for the advice and replies everybody - I'm going to try the following tomorrow.

Which makes me realise that changing at Bromley South plus Herne Hill or Peckham Rye would be worth checking out. The Peckham option might mean changing again at Tulse Hill depending on time of day. Should be cheaper than via London Terminals.
 
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