On 10/10/2017 14:35, GeorgeK wrote:
Thanks for your reply Robin. We were considering this possibility but
the cumulative expenses for the season tickets from e.g. Reading (or any
other town in between) to Oxford and Reading to London were way more
than the 5000£ season ticket from Oxford to London while at the same
time we would live in a town with less going on compared to either
London or Oxford (I think).

Surely it all comes down to what you will accept - the three hour
commute by bus/coach is likely to be more than that unless you live and
work at either end of the bus route. If you have to commute further in
London, don't forget the cost of a travelcard can easily be another
£1000 per year or more.

Whilst it's convenient to live somewhere where things are going on, how
often are you really going to take advantage of that, and if those
places were 30 mins away to save even 5 mins each way on your commute if
you only did them once a week.

At the end of the day, trains work but cost money - I've also no idea
whether you'd be likely to get a seat or not, with standing for an hour
not being the most pleasant of things. Buses are subject to the
vagaries of traffic - the advertised 90 minutes can be an awful lot
longer on bad days.

Given you just don't know, I'd suggest trying some options at typical
commute times - if you don't like it one day, you're going to seriously
detest it after weeks and months.

One thing to consider, is that whilst Oxford isn't particularly great
traffic wise, if your wife was to commute there and you lived in London
(or its outskirts), at least she'd be going against the majority of the
flow of traffic for a lot of the journey.