Commute options between London and Manchester

[IanD]

True, but there are no southbound Virgin departures from MKC to EUS between 7:14 and 9:19. Northbound is even worse, with no departures from EUS to MKC between 15:43 & 18:43 (weekdays)

Tell me about it. All through the WCML upgrade we were told we would be rewarded with superfast 30 minute Virgin services to London. They forgot to mention that they would only be available off-peak and that one of the previous LM services would be cut short at Tring. So MK-London commuters (which thankfully I'm now not) put up with 2 years of disruption and were rewarded by a big cut in services and increased journey times. Great improvement.

MK must be one of the few places that has a 100% better off-peak than peak service.

However, Virgin (and First) did say they would be making more stops at MK in their respective franchise bids.

 

[westv]

I live in Hull and work in London during the week.
Leaving Monday takes me about 3' 45" door to door if everything runs to time. Return Friday evening takes me 4'.

 

[MrPosh]

The other thing to bear in mind is the distance to your local station.

An hour or two commute is one thing, but if you end up with a half hour drive at either end because of traffic, that could be a real killer.

 

[Andrewlong]

Does the poster have to commute by train? Could they not investigate flying from London to Manchester?

 

[gordonthemoron]

Does the poster have to commute by train? Could they not investigate flying from London to Manchester?

or rather Heathrow to Ringway

 

[Holly]

The other thing to bear in mind is the distance to your local station. An hour or two commute is one thing, but if you end up with a half hour drive at either end because of traffic, that could be a real killer.

Totally.
If you lived five minutes walk from Euston Station and could afford first class travel and could do useful work on the train then a commute to Manchester Piccadilly might very well be on. Or vice versa for that matter.

Big ifs.
Weekending it is a common solution. Arrive late Monday, leave early Friday, work evenings. In my day I used to be "home" in Cheshire Wednesday nights and weekends. But those were the days in which you can travel at short notice without being royally ripped off.