Commute options between London and Manchester

[SamR]

Hi all,

I am relatively new to UK and would really appreciate your advice. I have been working in London for a year with my spouse. I was now offered a very tempting job in Manchester, but she prefers to keep her job in London for at least 3 years. She is working within 15 min from St Pancras or Euston and I will be based somewhere in the University campus in Manchester, probably a mile away from the Picadilly station. Is there a town within 1h commute from London and 1,5 h commute from Manchester? I can only find Milton Keynes, but it doesn't seem to be a particularly nice place to live.

Thanks a lot

 

[yorkie]

Welcome to the forum. Anywhere else will generally require a change. If you can make it the other way round, then Stoke, Stafford or Crewe commutable from both, but nearer Manchester than London.

Watford Jn would work, but only if you could take the 0651 heading North and the 1655 back South, again otherwise you need to change, and the journey time to Manchester is greater.

 

[gnolife]

And just a quick pointer - Oxford Road is the station in Manchester that's closest to the main campuses of the Manchester universities. Would somewhere like Wolverhampton or Birmingham work as suitable for what the OP wants?

 

[LexyBoy]

Have you both had longish commutes before? I would seriously consider this before deciding to take the plunge and move somewhere. More than 1.5 hours, door to door, gets very tiring over time, especially in winter. For your wife especially commuting into London will be on very busy trains (I don't know the West Coast route well though).

Also bear in mind the cost; a season ticket between London and Manchester costs £13272 a year and if you live in the middle and both commute it is likely to add up to around this much or more (though if you do decide to move somewhere, we may be able to advise on cheaper ticket options). Living costs, especially rent, will be lower the further north you can live.

Another potential option is for one of you to rent a cheap flat near work and travel on Friday night and Sunday night/Monday morning. Certain disadvantages too of course...

 

[tractakid]

I can only find Milton Keynes, but it doesn't seem to be a particularly nice place to live.

I have to disagree with this! Why do you think that?

 

[gordonthemoron]

I have to disagree with this! Why do you think that?

I'd generally agree with the OP on MK , however, where else is there on the route that's better and doable?

 

[oversteer]

Like most similarly sized towns in the UK, Milton Keynes has good bits and bad bits!
It is a pretty decent choice depending on the OP's situation (financial, family etc)

 

[tractakid]

I'd generally agree with the OP on MK

You moron!

 

[Masbroughlad]

Stafford would be ok. Easy to commute to both and a lovely area to live.

 

[maniacmartin]

Have you both had longish commutes before? I would seriously consider this before deciding to take the plunge and move somewhere

I would also recommend to the OP to consider how much time and money will be spent on commuting such a distance daily. It will be very tiring and very expensive.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Birmingham about half way between the two cities. It's 90 minutes from London, and about the same from Manchester. It's certainly a more interesting place to live than Milton Keynes and it is almost certainly the second best connected city by rail in the country after London and there are plenty of decent places to live in the city centre.

I'd offer Royal Leamington Spa up as an option too. Very good service to London, hourly service to Manchester (half hourly if you include connections in Birmingham) and a lovely town in a beautiful part of the country.

You might be better just staying in London and commuting to Manchester though, certainly if you are talking about both moving out of the capital and commuting in opposite directions every day.

 

[fsmr]

Like most similarly sized towns in the UK, Milton Keynes has good bits and bad bits!
It is a pretty decent choice depending on the OP's situation (financial, family etc)

I used to live just outside MK in the 80s and still drive there to get the train for day trips as its only an hour drive from me and has the cheapest and fastest connection into London at only 30 minutes or so to Euston via Virgin compared to 45 mins or more drive to Peterborough and hour rail trip and much more expensive ticket.

There are plenty of very very nice villages and small towns around MK so you dont have to live in the centre, the station sits right next to the North / South A5 dual carriageway giving good access
However as has been pointed out, with major OLE failures seeming to be a monthly or even weekly occurrence between London and MK or MK and Rugby, it would make any journey fraught with potential delays. depends how flexible work is for you both. You wouldn't have a plan B on that journey if the line was shut short of booking into a travel lodge

 

[Eagle]

I'd offer Royal Leamington Spa up as an option too. Very good service to London, hourly service to Manchester (half hourly if you include connections in Birmingham) and a lovely town in a beautiful part of the country.

Leamington to Manchester is 2h30 by a direct train though. That's one hell of a long commute.

Also based on the fact that you are still under the impression that Leamington is a 'lovely town' you've never actually lived here... it's more than a bit of a hole (especially south of the river, where I have the misfortune to live).

 

[Bevan Price]

Have you both had longish commutes before? I would seriously consider this before deciding to take the plunge and move somewhere. More than 1.5 hours, door to door, gets very tiring over time, especially in winter. For your wife especially commuting into London will be on very busy trains (I don't know the West Coast route well though).

Also bear in mind the cost; a season ticket between London and Manchester costs £13272 a year and if you live in the middle and both commute it is likely to add up to around this much or more (though if you do decide to move somewhere, we may be able to advise on cheaper ticket options). Living costs, especially rent, will be lower the further north you can live.

Another potential option is for one of you to rent a cheap flat near work and travel on Friday night and Sunday night/Monday morning. Certain disadvantages too of course...

Annual season prices:
MK - Manchester £8088
MK - Euston £4620
or MK-Euston plus zones 1-6 add on £5500
(from NR season ticket calculator)

So some hard decisions, e.g.. Can you afford to take the Manchester job ?

 

[SamR]

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions! May be MK is not that bad place to live - it is just very different from the Central European towns we used to live in before. Stafford looks however really interesting. Does it really take only 1h15? It is the same time that it takes for a lot of commuters from Brighton and other South coast towns! The season ticket will be expensive, but we pay a lot for our flat in London and oyster/travel cards. We can probably get a nice house and season tickets for the same money in Stafford. Now the main question is how reliable is the connection to London? The yearly ticket does not include London tube or bus, does it (not sure we really need it)? Just out of curiosity, how come there are no regular stops between Stafford and MK? Thanks again!

 

[westv]

Like most similarly sized towns in the UK, Milton Keynes has good bits and bad bits!
It is a pretty decent choice depending on the OP's situation (financial, family etc)

"It has good bits and bad bits" is a phrase often used to describe the UK's worst places.

 

[DarloRich]

Hi all,

I am relatively new to UK and would really appreciate your advice. I have been working in London for a year with my spouse. I was now offered a very tempting job in Manchester, but she prefers to keep her job in London for at least 3 years. She is working within 15 min from St Pancras or Euston and I will be based somewhere in the University campus in Manchester, probably a mile away from the Picadilly station. Is there a town within 1h commute from London and 1,5 h commute from Manchester? I can only find Milton Keynes, but it doesn't seem to be a particularly nice place to live.

Thanks a lot

you can do one you cheeky so and so! - Milton Keynes is not a bad place to live!

On a serious note there isn't really anywhere else within the time frame suggested that offers such quick connections between the to places. Perhaps Stafford is an option, perhaps Crewe, perhaps Stoke.

I would consider if it wouldn't work out cheaper for you to rent a flat or take a room in Manchester and meet up at the weekends.

 

[telstarbox]

You may find other students at the university have a spare room which would be cheaper than renting a whole house/flat. www.spareroom.co.uk is a good place to start.

 

[SimonS]

A season tickets from Stafford to London would cost over £8,000 plus parking if you need it.

Stafford to London is 1h30, so really door to door of 2 hours or 4 hours a day as a minimum. No guarantee of a seat and the services are not exactly high frequency commuter services so plenty of stress from the inevitable meltdown that happens from time to time due to weather, wires down, [select excuse of your choice] etc.

Freezing mornings in the winter to look forward to as well.

At best sounds like a recipe for a miserable home life, and at worst a quick way to burnout.

 

[Bevan Price]

Stafford to London 12 month season ticket costs £9992. (any train)
Or £10584 with London Zones 1-6 add-on, which includes travel on London Underground, Overground & buses within zones 1 to 6.

Cheaper, but much slower option is London Midland trains only season ticket (£5600)

Stafford to Manchester (12 Months) is £3992

For other season ticket options, go to season ticket calculator:

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/seasonticket/tickets

 

[Pumbaa]

I have a number of colleagues, and myself included, who live in Liverpool/Manchester and commute to London up to 4 days a week. No-one I know does 5; they either work a 4 day week or work from home on the 5th day.

I can't empathise with the issue of a partner unfortunately. However, an immediate colleague and their partner had much the same dilemma as yourself. In the end, they decided to live in Liverpool as the partner didn't want to travel too much (they work in Liverpool) and my colleague commutes to London 4 days a week from Liverpool.

If in doubt, try one arrangement for a while and then change it if you need to.

 

[IanD]

I can only find Milton Keynes, but it doesn't seem to be a particularly nice place to live.

Oy!

Why? Because it's the butt of so many jokes? I've lived in many places in the UK and the MK area is by far the most pleasant of those. It has some horrible areas just like anywhere else but the better areas far outnumber them.

If you don't like the thought of MK itself, try some of the more up-market peripheral areas like Newport Pagnell (can't move for Aston Martins), Stony Stratford (home of the Cock and Bull story) - both within 10 mins of MK station -or Olney (alleged birthplace of the pancake race). Plus numerous outlying villages.

The only really bad thing is that some of the pubs like to charge almost London prices - but you're probably used to those!

Maybe visit and see for yourself.

My company has offices in Manchester and MK and lots of people travel between the 2 with no problem.

 

[GatwickDepress]

I can only find Milton Keynes, but it doesn't seem to be a particularly nice place to live.

That's what I thought before I ended up spending most of my time here.

With regards to transport there's regular services to London Euston and Manchester on both Virgin and London Midland and if you ever need to head south, Southern operate services via Kensington Olympia to Clapham Junction. An advance fare from Milton Keynes Central to Brighton can be just £7.50, for example.

The local bus system is subpar at the best of times and there's regular coach services such as Stagecoach's X5 to Cambridge/Oxford.

The architecture and feel of the railway station and the city centre (oh MK, how you long for city status) is a bit subjective but as a whole the area has definitely got more character than most people think.

 

[alex17595]

the Glasgow to Euston service doesn't stop at mk until the afternoon. (the earliest virgin direct is 12.55 from Stafford to mk) where as the Manchester/Liverpool services stop more between Euston and Stafford.

 

[LexyBoy]

Also consider how flexible working hours are for each of you. If one of you can do some of the day's work on the train this will make a big difference.

 

[Kristofferson]

Your best bet is to find a place to live which is convenient for your partner, and negotiate a deal with your potential employer whereby you're only required to be in Manchester 2 (maybe 3?) days a week, and request that travel expenses are covered.

I live in Watford, work in Birmingham and have a similar arrangement regarding working days and expenses. Yes, I spend about 4 hours travelling on the days I'm in the office, but that's negated by the fact I work from home 3 days a week.

Maybe an option if it's viable in your industry? Otherwise steer clear, 5 days a week to Manchester is a recipe for disaster.

And I don't like MK either

 

[IanD]

An advance fare from Milton Keynes Central to Brighton can be just £7.50, for example.

Advance fares from MK to Manchester start at £10.50 (previously got this on the 0647 to MAN arr 0828) so with some early booking you could commute from £20.10/day.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I don't think anyone has mentioned the fact that MK-London commuters cannot use Virgin trains for their commute during the morning (southbound) and evening (northbound) peaks, so you'd be stuck with the delightful(l) London Midland services (i.e. nowhere near as quick or comfortable)

 

[IanD]

If the OP was to commute to Manchester on the 06:47, their partner could catch one of the early Virgin trains which do stop.

 

[gordonthemoron]

If the OP was to commute to Manchester on the 06:47, their partner could catch one of the early Virgin trains which do stop.

True, but there are no southbound Virgin departures from MKC to EUS between 7:14 and 9:19. Northbound is even worse, with no departures from EUS to MKC between 15:43 & 18:43 (weekdays)