I’m not a huge fan of working from home, but I’d happily never have to commute again. I utterly despise South Eastern and the network infrastructure. 3 times in my last half a dozen journeys home it’s taken me 2-3 hours to do a half hour 10 mile journey
Trust me it's not just South Eastern. I utterly despair at the shit I have had to put up with in the last year or more with South Western Railways
I’m not a huge fan of working from home, but I’d happily never have to commute again. I utterly despise South Eastern and the network infrastructure. 3 times in my last half a dozen journeys home it’s taken me 2-3 hours to do a half hour 10 mile journey
Can’t you superloop it to Abbey Wood, and get the Liz?
I'd be quite happy to get the Liz as it's quicker and cheaper than Southeastern but unfortunately the transport links at Abbey Wood are rubbish and the only practical way to get to and from there is getting a lift from the missus, which she ain't going for!
The transport links at Woolwich are far better at Abbey wood I think. Just means you have to dice walking through Woolwich and doing the bus stop shuffle while trying to board one.
The transport links at Woolwich are far better at Abbey wood I think. Just means you have to dice walking through Woolwich and doing the bus stop shuffle while trying to board one.
The transport links at Woolwich are far better at Abbey wood I think. Just means you have to dice walking through Woolwich and doing the bus stop shuffle while trying to board one.
I'm in Welling so I can get to Woolwich easily enough but I've had a couple of dodgy experiences there so I prefer not to.
The transport links at Woolwich are far better at Abbey wood I think. Just means you have to dice walking through Woolwich and doing the bus stop shuffle while trying to board one.
I’m not a huge fan of working from home, but I’d happily never have to commute again. I utterly despise South Eastern and the network infrastructure. 3 times in my last half a dozen journeys home it’s taken me 2-3 hours to do a half hour 10 mile journey
Keep doing those ParkRun's mate and you can jog in and out...
I’m not a huge fan of working from home, but I’d happily never have to commute again. I utterly despise South Eastern and the network infrastructure. 3 times in my last half a dozen journeys home it’s taken me 2-3 hours to do a half hour 10 mile journey
It helps if you actually leave the John Hawkshaw pub on Cannon St station and get on the train mate 🤷🏻♂️😉
Its shocking at the moment. I work 2 days a week up town and it’s the travel that makes it such a chore. The amount of Bexleyheath trains cancelled out of cannon street is crazy, and they are only every half an hour. Seems an excessive amount of Greenwich line trains.
I then sometimes take the alternative of the Elizabeth Line and try catch the loop from abbeywood to Barnehurst (also every half an hour) only to miss the loop cos the EL train sits outside Abbeywood for 15 mins.
So, I then think I’ll take a 301 bus, only to sit at temporary traffic lights every 200 yards.
Its shocking at the moment. I work 2 days a week up town and it’s the travel that makes it such a chore. The amount of Bexleyheath trains cancelled out of cannon street is crazy, and they are only every half an hour. Seems an excessive amount of Greenwich line trains.
I then sometimes take the alternative of the Elizabeth Line and try catch the loop from abbeywood to Barnehurst (also every half an hour) only to miss the loop cos the EL train sits outside Abbeywood for 15 mins.
So, I then think I’ll take a 301 bus, only to sit at temporary traffic lights every 200 yards.
Painful.
Make sure you use delay repay if only to inconvenience them.
I’m not a huge fan of working from home, but I’d happily never have to commute again. I utterly despise South Eastern and the network infrastructure. 3 times in my last half a dozen journeys home it’s taken me 2-3 hours to do a half hour 10 mile journey
Next commute and my 33 min journey currently running 27 mins late
I’m not a huge fan of working from home, but I’d happily never have to commute again. I utterly despise South Eastern and the network infrastructure. 3 times in my last half a dozen journeys home it’s taken me 2-3 hours to do a half hour 10 mile journey
Next commute and my 33 min journey currently running 27 mins late
I gave up at Cannon Street, had sat on the 6:28 for 20 minutes, went to Blackfriars and got a train from there.
Its shocking at the moment. I work 2 days a week up town and it’s the travel that makes it such a chore. The amount of Bexleyheath trains cancelled out of cannon street is crazy, and they are only every half an hour. Seems an excessive amount of Greenwich line trains.
I then sometimes take the alternative of the Elizabeth Line and try catch the loop from abbeywood to Barnehurst (also every half an hour) only to miss the loop cos the EL train sits outside Abbeywood for 15 mins.
So, I then think I’ll take a 301 bus, only to sit at temporary traffic lights every 200 yards.
Painful.
The Greenwich line trains to/from Cannon Street are half hourly. If Elizabeth line trains sat outside Abbey Wood for 15 minutes the system would grind to a halt.
Connections at Abbey Wood are very poor but there are some improvements to Southeastern services coming in June.
Using London Bridge and walking to/from there would give you more choice.
Its shocking at the moment. I work 2 days a week up town and it’s the travel that makes it such a chore. The amount of Bexleyheath trains cancelled out of cannon street is crazy, and they are only every half an hour. Seems an excessive amount of Greenwich line trains.
I then sometimes take the alternative of the Elizabeth Line and try catch the loop from abbeywood to Barnehurst (also every half an hour) only to miss the loop cos the EL train sits outside Abbeywood for 15 mins.
So, I then think I’ll take a 301 bus, only to sit at temporary traffic lights every 200 yards.
Painful.
The Greenwich line trains to/from Cannon Street are half hourly. If Elizabeth line trains sat outside Abbey Wood for 15 minutes the system would grind to a halt.
Connections at Abbey Wood are very poor but there are some improvements to Southeastern services coming in June.
Using London Bridge and walking to/from there would give you more choice.
I’m talking about if there are delays on the Elizabeth line (regularly) then the EL train sits outside abbeywood. This has happened 3 times to me in the last couple of months meaning I miss the loop train (This is a general commute moan not at SE)
And I already walk from Near Liverpool Street to Cannon St, why should I walk further to LB just cos Southeastern can’t run a proper service from cannon st? Far too many cancellations.
Its shocking at the moment. I work 2 days a week up town and it’s the travel that makes it such a chore. The amount of Bexleyheath trains cancelled out of cannon street is crazy, and they are only every half an hour. Seems an excessive amount of Greenwich line trains.
I then sometimes take the alternative of the Elizabeth Line and try catch the loop from abbeywood to Barnehurst (also every half an hour) only to miss the loop cos the EL train sits outside Abbeywood for 15 mins.
So, I then think I’ll take a 301 bus, only to sit at temporary traffic lights every 200 yards.
Painful.
The Greenwich line trains to/from Cannon Street are half hourly. If Elizabeth line trains sat outside Abbey Wood for 15 minutes the system would grind to a halt.
Connections at Abbey Wood are very poor but there are some improvements to Southeastern services coming in June.
Using London Bridge and walking to/from there would give you more choice.
I’m talking about if there are delays on the Elizabeth line (regularly) then the EL train sits outside abbeywood. This has happened 3 times to me in the last couple of months meaning I miss the loop train (This is a general commute moan not at SE)
And I already walk from Near Liverpool Street to Cannon St, why should I walk further to LB just cos Southeastern can’t run a proper service from cannon st? Far too many cancellations.
Exactly! I mean, you could walk home to avoid the train delays if we're going down that route!
If there's scheduled trains advertised then surely it's not expecting too much for them to run - and run on time - more often than not. I struggle to understand why people constantly try to justify this bullshit.
Its shocking at the moment. I work 2 days a week up town and it’s the travel that makes it such a chore. The amount of Bexleyheath trains cancelled out of cannon street is crazy, and they are only every half an hour. Seems an excessive amount of Greenwich line trains.
I then sometimes take the alternative of the Elizabeth Line and try catch the loop from abbeywood to Barnehurst (also every half an hour) only to miss the loop cos the EL train sits outside Abbeywood for 15 mins.
So, I then think I’ll take a 301 bus, only to sit at temporary traffic lights every 200 yards.
Painful.
The Greenwich line trains to/from Cannon Street are half hourly. If Elizabeth line trains sat outside Abbey Wood for 15 minutes the system would grind to a halt.
Connections at Abbey Wood are very poor but there are some improvements to Southeastern services coming in June.
Using London Bridge and walking to/from there would give you more choice.
I’m talking about if there are delays on the Elizabeth line (regularly) then the EL train sits outside abbeywood. This has happened 3 times to me in the last couple of months meaning I miss the loop train (This is a general commute moan not at SE)
And I already walk from Near Liverpool Street to Cannon St, why should I walk further to LB just cos Southeastern can’t run a proper service from cannon st? Far too many cancellations.
Overall the Elizabeth line is the most reliable railway in the country.
Your problems are down to the government controlled Southeastern. There used to be 6 trains per hour on the Greenwich line plus 2 Thameslink services. The track and signals between London Bridge and Cannon Street have not been upgraded (again down to government control). It's not that much further to walk to London Bridge (many people do it every day) and you get more options.
Its shocking at the moment. I work 2 days a week up town and it’s the travel that makes it such a chore. The amount of Bexleyheath trains cancelled out of cannon street is crazy, and they are only every half an hour. Seems an excessive amount of Greenwich line trains.
I then sometimes take the alternative of the Elizabeth Line and try catch the loop from abbeywood to Barnehurst (also every half an hour) only to miss the loop cos the EL train sits outside Abbeywood for 15 mins.
So, I then think I’ll take a 301 bus, only to sit at temporary traffic lights every 200 yards.
Painful.
The Greenwich line trains to/from Cannon Street are half hourly. If Elizabeth line trains sat outside Abbey Wood for 15 minutes the system would grind to a halt.
Connections at Abbey Wood are very poor but there are some improvements to Southeastern services coming in June.
Using London Bridge and walking to/from there would give you more choice.
I’m talking about if there are delays on the Elizabeth line (regularly) then the EL train sits outside abbeywood. This has happened 3 times to me in the last couple of months meaning I miss the loop train (This is a general commute moan not at SE)
And I already walk from Near Liverpool Street to Cannon St, why should I walk further to LB just cos Southeastern can’t run a proper service from cannon st? Far too many cancellations.
Overall the Elizabeth line is the most reliable railway in the country.
Your problems are down to the government controlled Southeastern. There used to be 6 trains per hour on the Greenwich line plus 2 Thameslink services. The track and signals between London Bridge and Cannon Street have not been upgraded (again down to government control). It's not that much further to walk to London Bridge (many people do it every day) and you get more options.
I often wonder how many people would take a small pay cut if it meant not having to travel up town at all.
Costs me £600 per month to travel (35 miles as crow flies) from only one stop further than Tunbridge Wells. I would happily do this although do enjoy working in London still having emigrated out.
Can claim £2.50 from SE for Friday night's Cannon St nonsense which is nice.
I often wonder how many people would take a small pay cut if it meant not having to travel up town at all.
But then fast forward 10 years and we will have a workforce dominated (even more so) by people sat at home on their own all day who dont know how to communicate with anyone except on a screen, which in turn would undoubtedly lead to even more mental health issues.
Like most things in life the answer lies in trying to strike the right balance.
I often wonder how many people would take a small pay cut if it meant not having to travel up town at all.
Costs me £600 per month to travel (35 miles as crow flies) from only one stop further than Tunbridge Wells. I would happily do this although do enjoy working in London still having emigrated out.
Can claim £2.50 from SE for Friday night's Cannon St nonsense which is nice.
Half of mild in the Cannon Street Spoons for you then!
I often wonder how many people would take a small pay cut if it meant not having to travel up town at all.
But then fast forward 10 years and we will have a workforce dominated (even more so) by people sat at home on their own all day who dont know how to communicate with anyone except on a screen, which in turn would u undoubtedly, lead to even more mental health issues.
Lime most things in life the answer lies I trying to strike the right balance.
I think on one of the early covid threads I said I could do it full time. However having done it full time then I've done a uturn and hugely advocate (for myself) a mix is best. Think the 5 days in the office i have to do is unnecessary given i have a near 2 hour door to door commute but prefer the days Im in the office once im there and find it easier to switch off once leaving the office than just flicking off the laptop at home.
Also the interaction with colleagues, having a laugh, face to face chats etc (when you get on with colleagues) is of great benefit to me personally.
But for everyone it's different.
I do look back on my formative years as a post room lad going out on the piss in the city and west end after work and think that it was a great time in a great city and would have missed out on so much if locked away at home working. But was a different world then and not sure if that culture even exists these days amongst youngsters.
Its shocking at the moment. I work 2 days a week up town and it’s the travel that makes it such a chore. The amount of Bexleyheath trains cancelled out of cannon street is crazy, and they are only every half an hour. Seems an excessive amount of Greenwich line trains.
I then sometimes take the alternative of the Elizabeth Line and try catch the loop from abbeywood to Barnehurst (also every half an hour) only to miss the loop cos the EL train sits outside Abbeywood for 15 mins.
So, I then think I’ll take a 301 bus, only to sit at temporary traffic lights every 200 yards.
Painful.
The Greenwich line trains to/from Cannon Street are half hourly. If Elizabeth line trains sat outside Abbey Wood for 15 minutes the system would grind to a halt.
Connections at Abbey Wood are very poor but there are some improvements to Southeastern services coming in June.
Using London Bridge and walking to/from there would give you more choice.
I’m talking about if there are delays on the Elizabeth line (regularly) then the EL train sits outside abbeywood. This has happened 3 times to me in the last couple of months meaning I miss the loop train (This is a general commute moan not at SE)
And I already walk from Near Liverpool Street to Cannon St, why should I walk further to LB just cos Southeastern can’t run a proper service from cannon st? Far too many cancellations.
Overall the Elizabeth line is the most reliable railway in the country.
Your problems are down to the government controlled Southeastern. There used to be 6 trains per hour on the Greenwich line plus 2 Thameslink services. The track and signals between London Bridge and Cannon Street have not been upgraded (again down to government control). It's not that much further to walk to London Bridge (many people do it every day) and you get more options.
Elizabeth Line isn't even the most reliable railway in London. DLR is far more reliable.
I often wonder how many people would take a small pay cut if it meant not having to travel up town at all.
But then fast forward 10 years and we will have a workforce dominated (even more so) by people sat at home on their own all day who dont know how to communicate with anyone except on a screen, which in turn would u undoubtedly, lead to even more mental health issues.
Lime most things in life the answer lies I trying to strike the right balance.
I think on one of the early covid threads I said I could do it full time. However having done it full time then I've done a uturn and hugely advocate (for myself) a mix is best. Think the 5 days in the office i have to do is unnecessary given i have a near 2 hour door to door commute but prefer the days Im in the office once im there and find it easier to switch off once leaving the office than just flicking off the laptop at home.
Also the interaction with colleagues, having a laugh, face to face chats etc (when you get on with colleagues) is of great benefit to me personally.
But for everyone it's different.
I do look back on my formative years as a post room lad going out on the piss in the city and west end after work and think that it was a great time in a great city and would have missed out on so much if locked away at home working. But was a different world then and not sure if that culture even exists these days amongst youngsters.
It’s not just going out on the piss when your younger and starting out in your career, but it’s about being around people you can learn from informally. I’m talking about learning how business works, how you should/shouldn’t act as a leader, from just observing your role models in the office or having the opportunity to ask a quick question rather than scheduling a meeting for two weeks time. What they are getting there is the cumulative benefit of the experience of generations that have gone before them, each learning from the last. Lose that and it’s not coming back.
If we end up with a generation who have only really known working from home and have missed out on all of that informal experience building then, when these people are supposed to be the leaders in 20/25 years time, the economy will end up in an even worse place than we are now.
Public transport is a big part of that. The extortionate cost of living in London pushes younger generations out, the extortionate cost of train fares - making up a much higher % of your income if your on a lower wage as a junior employee - keeps them out because they simply can’t afford to get in. Add in that even when you decide to suck it up and pay your small fortune to get into London to go to work the trains are an absolute nightmare.
There’s just no joined up thinking in this country. The government moan that productivity is stagnant in our economy but the basic building blocks to encourage productivity are being eroded.
Comments
I utterly despair at the shit I have had to put up with in the last year or more with South Western Railways
The transport links at Woolwich are far better at Abbey wood I think. Just means you have to dice walking through Woolwich and doing the bus stop shuffle while trying to board one.
I then sometimes take the alternative of the Elizabeth Line and try catch the loop from abbeywood to Barnehurst (also every half an hour) only to miss the loop cos the EL train sits outside Abbeywood for 15 mins.
So, I then think I’ll take a 301 bus, only to sit at temporary traffic lights every 200 yards.
Connections at Abbey Wood are very poor but there are some improvements to Southeastern services coming in June.
Using London Bridge and walking to/from there would give you more choice.
And I already walk from Near Liverpool Street to Cannon St, why should I walk further to LB just cos Southeastern can’t run a proper service from cannon st? Far too many cancellations.
If there's scheduled trains advertised then surely it's not expecting too much for them to run - and run on time - more often than not. I struggle to understand why people constantly try to justify this bullshit.
Your problems are down to the government controlled Southeastern. There used to be 6 trains per hour on the Greenwich line plus 2 Thameslink services. The track and signals between London Bridge and Cannon Street have not been upgraded (again down to government control). It's not that much further to walk to London Bridge (many people do it every day) and you get more options.
Costs me £600 per month to travel (35 miles as crow flies) from only one stop further than Tunbridge Wells. I would happily do this although do enjoy working in London still having emigrated out.
Can claim £2.50 from SE for Friday night's Cannon St nonsense which is nice.
Like most things in life the answer lies in trying to strike the right balance.
I think on one of the early covid threads I said I could do it full time. However having done it full time then I've done a uturn and hugely advocate (for myself) a mix is best. Think the 5 days in the office i have to do is unnecessary given i have a near 2 hour door to door commute but prefer the days Im in the office once im there and find it easier to switch off once leaving the office than just flicking off the laptop at home.
Also the interaction with colleagues, having a laugh, face to face chats etc (when you get on with colleagues) is of great benefit to me personally.
But for everyone it's different.
I do look back on my formative years as a post room lad going out on the piss in the city and west end after work and think that it was a great time in a great city and would have missed out on so much if locked away at home working. But was a different world then and not sure if that culture even exists these days amongst youngsters.
informally. I’m talking about learning how business works, how you should/shouldn’t act as a leader, from just observing your role models in the office or having the opportunity to ask a quick question rather than scheduling a meeting for two weeks time. What they are getting there is the cumulative benefit of the experience of generations that have gone before them, each learning from the last. Lose that and it’s not coming back.