London Banter - View Single Post

DRH[_2_] · March 13th 15, 06:55 AM posted to uk.transport.london

On Thursday, 12 March 2015 20:14:02 UTC, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 17:18:03 on Thu, 12 Mar
2015, d remarked:
For Chelmsford and Crawley the main attraction is cheaper houses and
the frequent rail service to London.
Since all three places were the homes of colleagues commuting to where I
worked in Westminster, that's the main point.
The main problem with these commuter towns is that most people don't live
within walking distance of the one main station and so its not just a rail
trip

I don't think you're right there. Most of Chelmsford is within a thirty
minute walk of the station. From a quick look at a map, Crawley is
similar - and it has three stations

A 30 min walk to the station is pushing it for a daily commute, especially if
its freezing cold or ****ing down.

We don't often agree, but on this one we do.

I used to live on a 1960's estate in Chelmsford in a house that Google
Maps tells me is 26 minutes from the station. OK for the occasional
trip, but when I had to do it every day I soon decided to buy my first
car.

The 70's/80's estates are at typically 30-45 minutes walk, and show up
on the map as "Springfield", "Baddow" etc, but are very much part of the
dormitory 'suburbs' of Chelmsford, and all have just the one station to
head for.

So, in fact, most commuters live more than 30 minutes from the station.
--
Roland Perry

This is true. Many commuters take a bus to Chelmsford station from the outlying estates. Just too far to walk but bike is feasible.

But then, different thread, there is the lady trainee lawyer who runs the seven miles from Blackheath to the City each day to avoid the London Bridge chaos:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/trans...-10097213.html

DRH