London Banter - Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

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Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

Hello,

I am completely confused. I moved back to the UK and got a job (finally!) in Brentwood and live in Grays but not certain if I am using the best way of travelling. I was going to take the 269 bus but the timing is not right as I need to start work at 8.30 and finish at 17.00. The only other option appears to be trains to: Upminster, then Romford, then Brentwood. Seems an awful lot of travelling and it would mean that I have to be at the bus stop to get the bus to the train station at 6.00 to be on time for work as it's still a 30 minute walk from Brentwood station to get to work... I would appreciate any advice :)

My questions a
- Does anybody know of a faster alternative?
- How much is the 269? (May warrant taking a taxi from the bus stop to work every day to be on time..)
- What is the cheapest way of buying train tickets (Oyster etc.?) as I have heard contradicting information about this.
- Are lift clubs used in the UK at all? If so, does anybody know of a website?

I would appreciate any information at all :)

Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:09:07 +0100
Mrs Fox wrote:
Hello,

I am completely confused. I moved back to the UK and got a job
(finally!) in Brentwood and live in Grays but not certain if I am using
the best way of travelling. I was going to take the 269 bus but the
timing is not right as I need to start work at 8.30 and finish at 17.00.
The only other option appears to be trains to: Upminster, then Romford,
then Brentwood. Seems an awful lot of travelling and it would mean that
I have to be at the bus stop to get the bus to the train station at 6.00
to be on time for work as it's still a 30 minute walk from Brentwood
station to get to work... I would appreciate any advice :)

My questions a
- Does anybody know of a faster alternative?

Yes - a car. Buy one and save yourself a world of stress and hassle that
you'll get with public transport.

B2003

Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

On Oct 27, 9:09*am, Mrs Fox
wrote:
Hello,

I am completely confused. I moved back to the UK and got a job
(finally!) in Brentwood and live in Grays but not certain if I am using
the best way of travelling. I was going to take the 269 bus but the
timing is not right as I need to start work at 8.30 and finish at 17.00.
The only other option appears to be trains to: Upminster, then Romford,
then Brentwood. Seems an awful lot of travelling and it would mean that
I have to be at the bus stop to get the bus to the train station at 6.00
to be on time for work as it's still a 30 minute walk from Brentwood
station to get to work... I would appreciate any advice :)

My questions a
- Does anybody know of a faster alternative?
- How much is the 269? (May warrant taking a taxi from the bus stop to
work * every day to be on time..)
- What is the cheapest way of buying train tickets (Oyster etc.?) as I
have heard contradicting information about this.
- Are lift clubs used in the UK at all? If so, does anybody know of a
website?

I would appreciate any information at all :)

--
Mrs Fox

The journey planner at

http://www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk...&timeOffset=15

will give you some suggestions. However I don't think there is an easy
option by public transport.

If you could let us know a bit more about where you live and where
your work is, perhaps we might be able to help more.

Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

On Oct 27, 9:09*am, Mrs Fox
wrote:
Hello,

I am completely confused. I moved back to the UK and got a job
(finally!) in Brentwood and live in Grays but not certain if I am using
the best way of travelling. I was going to take the 269 bus but the
timing is not right as I need to start work at 8.30 and finish at 17.00.
The only other option appears to be trains to: Upminster, then Romford,
then Brentwood. Seems an awful lot of travelling and it would mean that
I have to be at the bus stop to get the bus to the train station at 6.00
to be on time for work as it's still a 30 minute walk from Brentwood
station to get to work... I would appreciate any advice :)

My questions a
- Does anybody know of a faster alternative?
- How much is the 269? (May warrant taking a taxi from the bus stop to
work * every day to be on time..)
- What is the cheapest way of buying train tickets (Oyster etc.?) as I
have heard contradicting information about this.
- Are lift clubs used in the UK at all? If so, does anybody know of a
website?

I would appreciate any information at all :)

--
Mrs Fox

Yes, as Boltar (or B2003) suggests the journey you propose is far from
ideal by public transport, especially as you anticipate a 30 minute
walk at the destination. I would suggest a scooter rather than a car.
You would need to do a CBT, which takes most of a day if you do not
hold a motorbike license. Google maps reckons it is 25 minutes from
"Grays" to "Brentwood". I'd say you would probably need to allow a
little more than that, but hugely easier than by public transport.

L.

Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

In message
, at
04:07:32 on Thu, 27 Oct 2011, Paul remarked:
I don't think there is an easy
option by public transport.

It's a typical "circular" trip round London, and poorly catered for by
anything other than M25.
--
Roland Perry

Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

"Roland Perry" wrote:

In message
,
at 04:07:32 on Thu, 27 Oct 2011, Paul remarked:
I don't think there is an easy option by public transport.

It's a typical "circular" trip round London, and poorly catered for by
anything other than M25.

AKA an orbital journey, hence the M25's alternative moniker ;-)

Interestingly, for Grays-Brentwood whilst both the AA and RAC route planners
recommend heading via the M25, both Google Maps and (for 7am and 8am start
times at least) Transport Direct recommend a route via the A128 instead
(broadly parallel to the motorway albeit some distance away). No idea
whether that might be a good idea or a disaster.

http://www.transportdirect.info

Thank you everybody. Great idea getting a scooter!! I can't drive a car at the moment as I need a UK licence. In the process of doing that but it may take a while. The CBT seems quicker so I reckon I'm getting a scooter :D

Thank you again :):)

Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

In message , at 16:17:49 on Thu, 27 Oct
2011, Mizter T remarked:
Interestingly, for Grays-Brentwood whilst both the AA and RAC route
planners recommend heading via the M25, both Google Maps and (for 7am
and 8am start times at least) Transport Direct recommend a route via
the A128 instead (broadly parallel to the motorway albeit some distance
away). No idea whether that might be a good idea or a disaster.

It depends which bit of Brentwood you are heading for. The town is quite
strung-out along the A128 to the south.
--
Roland Perry

Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

On 2011\10\27 17:17, Mrs Fox wrote:
Thank you everybody. Great idea getting a scooter!! I can't drive a car
at the moment as I need a UK licence. In the process of doing that but
it may take a while. The CBT seems quicker so I reckon I'm getting a
scooter :D

I'm sure you can drive in Britain on a foreign licence.

Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

Basil Jet wrote:
On 2011\10\27 17:17, Mrs Fox wrote:
Thank you everybody. Great idea getting a scooter!! I can't drive a car
at the moment as I need a UK licence. In the process of doing that but
it may take a while. The CBT seems quicker so I reckon I'm getting a
scooter :D

I'm sure you can drive in Britain on a foreign licence.

Yes, but only for a limited period of time. A year perhaps?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Corfield (Post 123943)

On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:09:07 +0100, Mrs Fox
wrote:

Hello,

I am completely confused. I moved back to the UK and got a job
(finally!) in Brentwood and live in Grays but not certain if I am using
the best way of travelling. I was going to take the 269 bus but the
timing is not right as I need to start work at 8.30 and finish at 17.00.
The only other option appears to be trains to: Upminster, then Romford,
then Brentwood. Seems an awful lot of travelling and it would mean that
I have to be at the bus stop to get the bus to the train station at 6.00
to be on time for work as it's still a 30 minute walk from Brentwood
station to get to work... I would appreciate any advice :)

As others have pointed out this is not an easy journey despite the
geographic proximity.

Thurrock Council have a lot of information here

http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/travel/transport/

There are good timetable and map pdfs available via the site. I have
had a quick look and I'm not particularly convinced there are
convenient bus times for you but it's not clear as to quite where you
are headed in the Brentwood area. There seem to be possible options
on the 265, 269 and 565 routes.

What I had hoped to find for you was a journey on the Ensign route 81
that actually started back at Grays or nearby. They have "light"
journeys from their garage to / from Brentwood but only a couple of
off peak journeys run in service as the X81. You probably wouldn't
lose anything by dropping Ensign an email and asking if they have any
plans to run any peak hour X81 journeys. At least they'd know they
have 1 prospective passenger!

Bus fare information will only be available from the respective
operators.

Rail does look a tad involved and the x30 min headway between Romford
and Upminster isn't good if there are any delays or disrption.
Ironically Grays is covered by Oyster PAYG as is Romford / Upminster.
It has recently been announced that Brentwood will be covered from
some time in 2012 when the next franchise starts.

Timings for the trains all seem to be around 1 hour or so which is
pretty awful!

--
Paul C

Hi Paul,

Thank you, I tried the journey out by train and it took nearly 2 hours :( Walk from Chadwell st Mary to the bus stop. Take the 83 to Grays station. Take the train to Upminster, then Romford (considerable delay here so may be quicker next time), then Brentwood. Then walk to Hubert Road from the station (approx. 20 minutes) I'll have to stock up on some reading material and get my driver's asap.

Thanks anyway :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce[_2_] (Post 123949)

I don't have a licence at all. South African licences have to be renewed annually otherwise they expire. This was implemented while I was abroad so I have to start from scratch to get my drivers in the UK. Ordered the provisional so should get that in 3 weeks then on to theory and then lessons and practical test. Thank you for all the suggestions.

Grays to Brentwood; please help :)

In message , at 14:33:26 on
Sat, 29 Oct 2011, Paul Corfield remarked:
it is stupid that such a relatively easy journey -
a few miles north south - is so hard by public transport. I guess
this is what happens after decades of slow erosion of services coupled
with deregulation and council cutbacks.

I'm not sure it was ever easy. Essex is divided into the various
corridors: A12, A11 and A128 and people commute up and down them by rail
or road. When I was going to school in Brentwood the service from
Upminster was so bad they had to put on a school bus (whereas pupils
along the A12 made their own way).

There was a secondary bus corridor down to Basildon via Shenfield and
Billericay (served today by 551 probably), but I assume this would have
shown up in searches if going Grays-Basildon-Brentwood was a possibility
today.
--
Roland Perry