• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Commuting daily from London to Bedford

Status
Not open for further replies.

winnie

New Member
Joined
23 May 2012
Messages
3
Hello, I've recently been given a job post in Bedford. As I live in North London (tottenham) with family, I want to stay here and commute daily. I dont use trains or tubes much so not sure what would be the best route, or what would be the best ticket to buy. Ive looked at seasonal tickets on national rail, which come up to £4000 a year. Is there anything cheaper I can get? I would really appreciate any help!

Thank you in advance!!
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

LexyBoy

Established Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
23 Jan 2009
Messages
4,478
Location
North of the rivers
Welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately I think it's unlikely you'll be able to save on this journey. Your options seem to be:
Bedford-London Zones 2-6 Travelcard, £4020 annual. You will need to travel to West Hampsted on London Overground
Bedford-London Zones 1-6 Travelcard, £4896 annual. This would give validity via Zone 1 so you could use the Tube to St Pancras, or train to Liverpool St etc.

I can't see a cheaper way unless you're happy to - for example - cycle to West Hampstead; even then it's only a saving of just over £100 a year.

If you'll be travelling outside of peak periods, or are aged 16-25 or disabled, then there might be savings to be had.
 

Urban Gateline

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2011
Messages
1,644
It may be difficult if your family is settled in North London, but definitely worth considering moving nearer to Bedford. I'd guess that house prices are much more reasonable even in Bedford itself as it's outside London!
Or if the job pays enough then the £4k may not be such a huge expense anyway or your employer may offer a season ticket loan to be deducted from your wages (worth checking). :)
 

winnie

New Member
Joined
23 May 2012
Messages
3
Thank you all for your help!


I think i will try commuting for a month or so, and see how it goes. 3 hrs of commuting might just be too much, plus with the train fares, not sure if its worth it... i might just be too tired to spend time with family! lol
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
if i were to come ome every weekend, would i have to just buy a normal return ticket every week, or is there a discounted version?
 

richardderby

Member
Joined
20 Nov 2010
Messages
264
would probably try and use the non stop services from st pancras (EastMidlandsTrains) rather than FCC. around half an hour on a good day....
 

Deerfold

Veteran Member
Joined
26 Nov 2009
Messages
12,571
Location
Yorkshire
would probably try and use the non stop services from st pancras (EastMidlandsTrains) rather than FCC. around half an hour on a good day....

or 40-45 minutes in the evening peak coming from Bedford every half hour. Versus 46-57 on an FCC fast. It'll only occasionly be worth missing an FCC to be faster.
 

winnie

New Member
Joined
23 May 2012
Messages
3
How reliable are the times on the EastMidlands website? do they usually come on time and reach destination on time?
 

RJ

Established Member
Joined
25 Jun 2005
Messages
8,383
Location
Back office
How reliable are the times on the EastMidlands website? do they usually come on time and reach destination on time?

Yes, I commute with EMT and the trains are hardly ever late. FCC however, are a different matter entirely.
 

benk1342

Member
Joined
13 Jul 2011
Messages
367
Location
Welwyn Garden City
if i were to come ome every weekend, would i have to just buy a normal return ticket every week, or is there a discounted version?

Would you want to go down just for the day, or would you want to stay the night?

If you are going just for the day (Saturday or Sunday), you'll want to buy a Bedford - London Zones 1-6 Super Off-Peak Day Travelcard, which normally costs £20.00. With a railcard, however, this comes down to the much-more-reasonable-sounding £13.20. Even if you are not eligible for any other railcard, you can get a Network Railcard for £28 for a year. (If you go home every week this will pay for itself in four weeks, obv.)

If you want to stay the night, your best bet will be carnet tickets. These are packs of 5 returns that are valid for three months. A pack of Bedford - London off-peak carnets is £90, or £18.00 per return journey. You would then need to use Oyster (or car/bike/etc) to get home from West Hampstead or St Pancras. Unfortunately railcard discounts do not apply to carnet tickets!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top