Moving to cambridge, commuting questions

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are moving from London to Cambridge next week and we are really excited after 11 long years in London!

My question is about the commute by train as we will both still be working in London (for the time-being). We are both seasoned commuters having lived in South London and commuted to the deepest North London everyday on a journey which took an hour and a half and involved lots of crushing into sweaty tube trains. So the commute from cambridge to London on paper looks a lot better (same length of time, less faffing about on tubes). However I just wanted to ask people what their experiences of the commuting trains to Kings Cross are.

I am looking at the 7.15am to work and the 6.15pm home. Does anyone use this route? Is it impossible to get a seat? (I am 5 months pregnant but don't look that large yet - at least no one has offered me a seat on the tube yet, but that isn't really saying anything!). Any information/tips gratefully recieved....

Thanks for your help

Claire

I think I've managed to wangle a seat on the 7.15 when I've taken it. The 6.15 home is busier, I'd say. I'm not a regular commuter, mind.

Also - I'd play up the pregnancy card for all it's worth - stick out your tummy, wear tight fitting tops and actually *ask* people for a seat, telling them you're pregnant. It's not often one has such a bona fide justification for a seat!

I've just started commuting to London from Cambridge a few months back, and be warned, getting seats on either of those trains isn't easy! I normally get the 8.15 in the morning which isn't too much of a problem as it's 8 carriages long, however I think the 7.15 is only 4 and you need to arrive early enough to stake out a space on the platform to be assured a seat.

The 6.15 from Kings Cross is always rammed to capacity despite being 8 carriages, and I find you need to get there by 5.55 to stand any chance of a seat. The same's true to a lesser extent with the 6.45.

That said the worst part of my journey is usually the two tube stops between Kings Cross and Old Street, so by comparison you might find it surprisingly pleasant. Good luck!

Get there early and get your elbows sharpened

Also: welcome to Cambridge :-)

Last time I got the 6:15 back I had all of a few minutes to dash from the tube to the platform, I stood the whole way back, make sure you get to the train early if you want a seat.

Oh yes, hello as well!

People totally should give up their seats for pregnant women who want them, and for old or infirm folk too.

I was once in the most astonishing meeting, at my old place of work. The meeting room was too small for the number of people attending, so a few people were sitting up on tables around the side. A very heavily pregnant woman arrived for the meeting and no-one, but no-one offered her their seat. I did, of course (not cos I'm saintly just, you know, posessing normal reasonable human levels of politeness and consideration), but was gobsmacked that not one single person who was any nearer to her had bothered. Those fuckers had sat and watched her look around helplessly then almost start to scramble up onto a table. Bastards!

I was a commuter until about a month ago. Avoid the 7.15! The 6.45 and the 7.45 are a lot quieter, and the 8.15 is positively pleasurable. I wasn't ready to be the kind of asshole you need to be in order to get a seat on the 7.15, it's an every man for himself shove-fest. I always managed to get a seat on the 7.45.

I used to get the 6.15 home. If you are at Kings Cross by 6.00 and head to the end of the platform you'll get a seat no worries. Any later than 6.00 mind and you'll be standing in someone's armpit til Letchworth.

Although it took me about 4 weeks to get used to it, I actually didn't really mind it that much and enjoyed the enforced reading/music listening time. The worst thing about commuting to London was the job I had when I got there and the terrible pay!

Oh and unless you are working out in zone 6 or something it's a lot cheaper to buy the Kings Cross terminus season ticket and Oyster card the tube. The season ticket with travelcard is a lot more expensive.

Deleted Post

I managed it for 8 months. My commute is now 15mins, but I miss working in London. Not the job, as it was dull and tedious and badly paid, and not my co workers, as they were all Clapham annoying rich kids, but I liked having all the attractions close by.

I've been commuting from Cambridge to Camden Town for over two years now and get a seat most days on the 8:15 and 5:45 coming back. It's 1 1/2 hours from my door on Devonshire Road into the office off Camden High Street most days. If the tubes don't screw you, and you figure out where to sit/when to be at what platforms, it's completely do-able.

Agreed on buying the month/season tickets to KingsX and using a pay-as-you-go Oyster card. You're not paying for weekend tube/bus services you wouldn't be using as a commuter that way (unless, as stated, you're outside Zones 1 & 2 etc).

If you're looking to change jobs soon to somewhere in or around Cambridge in the next couple of months, I'd suggest NOT buying an annual season ticket, as you only get refunded in full unused quarters. Say, for example, you change jobs four months after buying the annual season ticket - you only get refunded for 6 months, not 8. Or this is how I understand it anyway. First Capitol Connect took over the KingsX trainroute in April 2006, so the annual ticket refund policy may have changed then. Worth checking out tho...for the 800quid difference in potential refund. 30-day passes are available.

What a lovely helpful thread. And people moan about WAN going downhill.

People have been moaning about WAN going downhill for as long as WAN has been going ;-)

Dalevis have you got a big beard and a lip piercing and do you drink in the Salisbury?

Not I, THL...no beard, no piercings, no tattoos, American accent, mostly harmless...but do drink occasionally at Salisbury.

Thank you all so much for such useful info!

I think I'll give the busy trains a go and if things are too foul I'll maybe try earlier or later ones.

After the horrors of getting on the victoria line at victoria in rush hour I think my elbows are already quite sharp, although it was precisely this sort of arsey London behaviour that I was hoping to leave behind.

Oh and good tip on the season ticket/separate oyster card!

My friend has a story about the 7:15 to London which he used to get every day. He used to struggle to get a seat. Apparently after a while you recognize a lot of the other commuters, and he recognized a woman that would get the train every day, and would literally barge her way on elbows at the ready and always get a seat. Then one day he overheard her talking in a loud voice telling her friend that he didn't know why people complained about getting a seat on the 7:15 as she never had any problem! Apparently this made his blood boil, but him being a lovely polite English chap he didn't say anything. I don't know why but I found this tale highly amusing, though if I had been him I would probably have gone over and slapped her (actually of course I wouldn't, I would have done nothing either, as I am English too!)
Hence my comment about sharpening your elbows! If you are pregnant people should totally give you a seat though!

Hello everyone,

Are you aware that there are plans that from January 2008, there are going to be non-stoppers from Cambridge to London, 12 coaches long on the 7:15 and 7:45 and the 6:15 and 6:45 going back from Kings Cross?

Also, a new Cambridge station at Chesterton sidings from 2010.

I did the commute for 8 months pregnant with twins!

Have fun,

Ofra

The one thing that's a shame about the new station is that house prices will go through the roof in some of the last areas to be affordable to for people who live and work in Cambridge. The plus side is that it'll provide some much needed extra transport infrastructure across the city.

Deleted Post

Hi all,

Having been doing this commute (7.15 from Cambridge, returning on the 6.15 unless I get stuck at work) I thought I'd add my findings ...

Much of what's been discussed is very much still the case. The queue of people waiting to get on the front carriages of the 7.15 makes the train look like it's going to be much busier than it really is (until it starts making stops after Cambridge!). I've got a seat every day without having to resort to any mean tactics by simply going about 4 or 5 carriages back. How bad this train would get should the 7.18 service to Liverpool Street ever be cancelled is anyone's guess.

Coming home on the 6.15 it's exactly as THL says - get there after 6 and you're standing. Or, as many people do, you could always sit in the aisle. The 6.45 is much the same, and I ended up on the 7.15 last night and that wasn't much better.

Getting to catch up on my reading is a bonus, and when everyone else gets to work complaining about their hellish tube journeys I feel almost fortunate. I'm sure the novelty will wear off, particularly when the nights start drawing in ......

Using my blokes account to send a reply:

My partner and I moved to cambridge approx 4 months ago. its the best move we ever made as we were sick of London also... and really needed the change of scene. I commute daily to London, but it all honesty I would find a local job as soon as you can. This daily drive has literally worn me out to the point now that I have been signed off work due to stress and exhaustion. Costs also are rediculous, costing me over £400 a month, although that includes a travelcard for zones 1&2. I catch the 8:15 or 8:45 train in the morning, I always get a seat with the journey taking approx 50 mins to get into kings cross (longer into Liverpool st) this is always relatively quiet and you can get a seat easily, however, even so - it takes me between 2 - 2.30 hours to get from door to door. Thats averaging 4 - 5 hours per day. As for coming home. I leave work at 5:30, I get to Kings cross around 5:05. I very rarely get a seat - unless the train isn't in yet, and even if it isn't... when it comes in you have to battle through a sea of people just to get to it, otherwise I have to sit on the floor or stand. I often wait until the 6:45 to count on getting a seat, but the means I still get home at 8 o clock. I live in Cherry Hinton. All in all, if its a small stop gap, its ok. But long term is not cool.
As for the tube, its not appreciated given all the other travel... personally, I hate it more than ever now.
Still I don't regret my move - cambridge is lovely, but don't think commuting will be easy or convenient. Its just not!

Good luck though and welcome.