Maybe I should have said "busy-ness" and not business, but just wondering
if anyone knew of any websites that detailed how busy trains are coming in
to central London from suburbs?

I am thinking of moving further outward but wondering, aside from actually
waiting at various train platforms in the rush-hour, as to how full trains
are on their approach to London?

For people looking for a longer commuter from more rural areas, I would
have thought "getting a seat on the train" is paramount, and I would have
thought there'd be some sort of resource to help with this somewhere on the
web?

Thanks in advance for any information !
Richard

On Jul 6, 3:48*pm, Richard Dixon wrote:
Maybe I should have said "busy-ness" and not business, but just wondering
if anyone knew of any websites that detailed how busy trains are coming in
to central London from suburbs?

I am thinking of moving further outward but wondering, aside from actually
waiting at various train platforms in the rush-hour, as to how full trains
are on their approach to London?

This group (and uk.railway) is probably as good a resource as any - if
you indicate which direction away from London you're thinking of,
there's bound to be someone on here who's done it/currently does it...

[uk.r added]

Richard Dixon wrote in
. 253:

Maybe I should have said "busy-ness" and not business, but just
wondering if anyone knew of any websites that detailed how busy trains
are coming in to central London from suburbs?

I am thinking of moving further outward but wondering, aside from
actually waiting at various train platforms in the rush-hour, as to
how full trains are on their approach to London?

For people looking for a longer commuter from more rural areas, I
would have thought "getting a seat on the train" is paramount, and I
would have thought there'd be some sort of resource to help with this
somewhere on the web?

Thanks in advance for any information !
Richard

It certainly used to be the case that longer distance commuters had more
chance of getting a seat, but things are now changing. There is enourmous
variation by route and your precise journey (it's much easier to get a seat
at Waterloo or Liverpool Street than Clapham Junction or Stratford for
example).

Neither is distance a guarantee of a seat - I understand that people are
regularly standing between Waterloo and Winchester...

Which part of London do you have to get to (if you are planning a long
distance commuter that last thing you want is a long journey from your
London terminal)?

David

David Jackman pleasereplytogroup wrote in
. 109.145:

Neither is distance a guarantee of a seat - I understand that people
are regularly standing between Waterloo and Winchester...

Which part of London do you have to get to (if you are planning a long
distance commuter that last thing you want is a long journey from your
London terminal)?

Thanks for the reply

Seeing as I work "in the city" then I was looking at commuting to Liverpool
Street or Fenchurch Street - purely overland with no second "stage" to my
commute post London terminal.

Broxbourne appealed as it is very close to some nice rural villages and yet
has an excellent train service (29 mins to Liv Street) but absolutely no
way of telling how full trains will be (coming from Stanstead Airport,
Cambridge or Kings Lynn).

Cheers
Richard

In message , at
18:16:32 on Sun, 6 Jul 2008, Richard Dixon
remarked:
Broxbourne appealed as it is very close to some nice rural villages and yet
has an excellent train service (29 mins to Liv Street) but absolutely no
way of telling how full trains will be (coming from Stanstead Airport,
Cambridge or Kings Lynn).

That line has the second most overcrowded train in the country (7.18
Cambridge to Liverpool St). 85% overcapacity. [2007 figures].
--
Roland Perry

On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 20:00:23 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:


That line has the second most overcrowded train in the country (7.18
Cambridge to Liverpool St). 85% overcapacity. [2007 figures].

I can't remember what, but there was something wrong with that
'statistic'. Train was only four cars that dfay, or something.

Trains from Cambridge are just about full by Broxbourne during the
meorning peak. Of course, getting a seat on the way home requires
turning up a few minutes before departure.

But I would imagine that trains from Hertford East have space, and
there are some peak hour services that start at Broxbourne.

In general trains from Stansted Airport (there's no second bloody A in
Stansted!) do not stop at Broxbourne other than the Stratford service.

Ken at Birchanger wrote in
:

But I would imagine that trains from Hertford East have space, and
there are some peak hour services that start at Broxbourne.

I presume you mean "have space" as in "have seats"? Standing space is all
very well, but not for 35 minutes every day - maybe I've led a charmed
commuter life so far.

Regarding the peak hour services, checking the Hertford East to Broxbourne
timetable, there are trains that "appear" to start at Broxbourne:

http://www.nationalexpresseastanglia...5/84230/file/T
able+4+Hertford+East+to+Liverpool+Street.pdf

For example at 0804, 0818 and 0835 - but checking other timetables, these
appear to start at Kings Lynn, Cambridge and Cambridge again, respectively,
so I can't seem to find these mystery ones that start at Broxbourne (that
would be like gold dust for a commute!!)

In general trains from Stansted Airport do not stop at Broxbourne other
than the Stratford service.

Good point, I'd not noticed this, thanks.

Richard

Richard Dixon wrote in
. 253:

David Jackman pleasereplytogroup wrote in
. 109.145:

Neither is distance a guarantee of a seat - I understand that people
are regularly standing between Waterloo and Winchester...

Which part of London do you have to get to (if you are planning a
long distance commuter that last thing you want is a long journey
from your London terminal)?

Thanks for the reply

Seeing as I work "in the city" then I was looking at commuting to
Liverpool Street or Fenchurch Street - purely overland with no second
"stage" to my commute post London terminal.

Broxbourne appealed as it is very close to some nice rural villages
and yet has an excellent train service (29 mins to Liv Street) but
absolutely no way of telling how full trains will be (coming from
Stanstead Airport, Cambridge or Kings Lynn).

Cheers
Richard


Without any real knowledge whatsoever it's a fair bet to say that the
Cambridge and Kings Lynn starters will be heaving (at the height of the
peak the question is probably more "can I get on" rather than "can I get a
seat") - though many will alight at Tottenham Hale for the Victoria line.
The Hertford starters ought to offer something towards the back. (The best
advice here is of course to wait until September when everybody is back at
work, get up early, fork out £9.70 and find out for yourself!)

On the GE mainline I'm told Chelmsford is becoming an absolute nightmare -
so you would need to go further out than that (unless you fancy Brentwood
where the service is dire but you do, at least, get a seat).

Out towards Southend (on either line) would be another possibility but
isn't really "rural village" territory.

David

David Jackman pleasereplytogroup wrote in
. 109.145:

(The best advice here is of course to wait until September
when everybody is back at work, get up early, fork out £9.70 and find
out for yourself!)

Thanks for all the feedback. I plan to do just this in the next week or
two. If trains do indeed start at Broxbourne (not that I can find any on
the timetables) then that would be a boon !

Richard

On 6 Jul, 21:07, Richard Dixon wrote:
David Jackman pleasereplytogroup wrote 6.109.145:

(The best advice here is of course to wait until September
when everybody is back at work, get up early, fork out £9.70 and find
out for yourself!)

Thanks for all the feedback. I plan to do just this in the next week or
two. If trains do indeed start at Broxbourne (not that I can find any on
the timetables) then that would be a boon !


I have been catching peak trains between Cambridge and Liverpool
Street about two or three times a week for the past seven years. They
all stop at Broxbourne. Since I always get a seat at Cambridge I tend
not to pay too much attention to how crowded they get in the morning,
but my general impression is that although it is almost certain you
would need to stand from Broxbourne, the trains are not "heaving" and
only have a few people standing per carriage. A lot of people get off
at Tottenham Hale, so you may be able to get a seat from there to
Liverpool Street (which is about half the journey time).

In the evening, you have a good chance of getting a seat on a train to
Cambridge (e.g. the 1758). They normally only become crowded at
Tottenham Hale.

The West Anglia timetable was completely reorganised a couple of years
ago. The biggest change was to add extra stops to the Stansted Express
(many more of them now call at Harlow Town), which seems to have had a
big impact on reducing overcrowding on trains to and from Cambridge.
Another big change was to make every Cambridge train stop at
Broxbourne.

However if you're seriously planning moving to Broxbourne, the best
thing is to spend a few days there and try out the commute for
yourself.

PaulO