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Commuting - how BAD is LONDON Bridge this TIME?
- Thread starter Guinness Boy
- Start date
...most weekly season tickets are cheaper than three standard returns
> I wish! They want £25 a day, so I'd bite their hands off for a weekly at less than £75
Thanks anyway
Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
Oh right, apologies perhaps I was calculating fares a few years back
Arthur
Well-known member
It's dreadful and been dreadful for a long time. It's now about a million times worse.
They've positioned the departure screens in the worst possible place. You can't see half of them because of the shops on the right hand side (WH Smiths/M&S etc) so when as what happened tonight and several services are delayed it just means people congregate in front of the gates which creates a massive bottle neck bending right the way round corner up out to Upper Crust (towards the shard). If your train is there you literally have to force your way through a massive throng of people.
This tweet just about sums it up for me
[tweet]552586646408163329[/tweet]
Been commuting for 15 years and for the first time I'm starting to wonder if it's really worth the hassle. Don't think I can take another 3 years of this. I've had £130 worth of delay repay vouchers in 5 months and the chap in the ticket booth this morning had a cheek to moan about having to process them all when I bought my ticket. Run a service that works and I wouldn't have had that many!
They've positioned the departure screens in the worst possible place. You can't see half of them because of the shops on the right hand side (WH Smiths/M&S etc) so when as what happened tonight and several services are delayed it just means people congregate in front of the gates which creates a massive bottle neck bending right the way round corner up out to Upper Crust (towards the shard). If your train is there you literally have to force your way through a massive throng of people.
This tweet just about sums it up for me
[tweet]552586646408163329[/tweet]
Been commuting for 15 years and for the first time I'm starting to wonder if it's really worth the hassle. Don't think I can take another 3 years of this. I've had £130 worth of delay repay vouchers in 5 months and the chap in the ticket booth this morning had a cheek to moan about having to process them all when I bought my ticket. Run a service that works and I wouldn't have had that many!
Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
What really ****s me off is the fact that no matter what day you travel in the morning you crawl through Gatwick Airport, so despite having a new platform clearly there are more trains going through that station than it can handle so why not reduce the amount ?
Arthur
Well-known member
[yt]WTkjDIkiCnE[/yt]
I got a partial refund on a monthly ticket, I would have got more but I fannied about and didn't do it straight away. I'd go down the ticket off first thing tomorrow if I was you.
Scoffers
Well-known member
This is, of course, what the train cos and Network Rail WANT you to do. Interesting that you're in the business
Back in the real world I need to commute Portslade to Canary Wharf and then walk 15 mins or Portslade to Crossharbour DLR and walk 5. My options to get to Victoria direct are the 5.53 (too early) or 7.17 (too late). My change options are go to Brighton (ok-ish if connections work) or East Croydon and stand in a cattle truck. My reward for this? 2.5% extra on my fare, mainly to pay for your boxes to away days.
Luckily, unlike modern football, there is an answer. On Jan 21st my company will be holding a vote on permanent remote working. I am on the board and will be voting yes. The only reason for this is the disgraceful service on the network across the South East that means that we constantly move 9am meetings to 10 and 4.00 meetings to 3.30. Why the f*** should these lazy, idiotic c***s get our money any more. Think this can't be done? Google sococo. Google Office365. Google how City firms make sure their traders WORK from home. Google Go to Meeting and Webex.
We are a small company of 50 people but half commute. A vote in favour will lose 25 x season tickets across the Southern / South Eastern network. Not many is it? At least not until my CEO and others like him get on the conference circuit and start telling the world of tech and finance how they increased productivity by going remote thanks to Network Rail being the singularly most useless, f*** up company in living memory.
Interesting comments. As someone who has been commuting between Brighton and London since 1987 (with a 18 month break in the mid 90s) I can certainly see both sides of the story. Today's technology means there is no longer any excuse for dropped conference calls or connectivity issues, you just need to invest the time and effort to put the right technology in place that meets your business needs. I work for a US software company of 350 employees of which approximately 20% work from home very successfully. The CEO regularly runs 'all hands meetings' where all staff both office based and remote get a video link where he updates the company on all the important stuff, it works like clockwork. For day to day communications we use Office 365 and OneDrive for business along with Lync, Skype, GotoMeeting and ReadyTalk and rarely have an issue.
That said, I agree that it doesn't work for everyone, it depends to a degree on the business itself, and the culture around that business. We adopt a policy where you have to work for the company for a year before you get the option to work from home. This serves to weed out those who would abuse the privilege but as @Guinness Boy states, there are simple ways to monitor productivity if that is an issue.
There are so many benefits both to the business and the employee that I expect the trend of working from home will only increase over time as technology gets better and better.
For me, I work from home when I need to but still go in most days since I am part of the management its kind of the done thing to be in the office as much as possible.
It's certainly still the case from the Worthing area - a day return is c£55 (and isn't that outrageous?), whilst a week return is c£110.
I can do everything from my sofa that I can from my desk in Moorgate.
A day when I'm in London: up at 5:45, leave home at 6:30, get on a train at 6:50, arrive at London Bridge at 8:10 (if I'm lucky), walk to office arriving about 8:35, leave the office around 17:00, get the 17:40ish train, get back to West Worthing at 19:10 (if I'm lucky), get in the front door around 19:30. 13 hours or my time for around 8 hours work.
A day when I WfH: up around 7:00 and straight on my laptop, work through until it's convenient to jump in the shower and continue. I'll probably walk my won to school (taking 10 minutes) and I will go and get him in the afternoon (another 10 minutes). I'll work through until I've got done what I want - sometime between 5 and 6, although I'll keep going if required. 9-10 hours work for 10-11 hours of my time.
Everyone is a winner with the WfH option.
Papa Lazarou
Living in a De Zerbi wonderland
As we discussed on twitter earlier, it's an absolute nightmare. I also wonder whether it's worth it, but the salary disparity means it's necessary
Papa Lazarou
Living in a De Zerbi wonderland
It's so you can watch the planes taking people on holiday.
blue'n'white
Well-known member
Luckily I took early retirement in July so I don't have to put up with all the sh1t that everyone has to deal with now. I put up with it,on and off, for 28 years so felt I'd done my time. I do not miss it at all - it's the most soul destroying waste of time ever. I now feel calmer than I have done for years
Train Spotter
Member
The 07:32 from Brighton actually got to London Bridge today, the first time since 18 December!
Got there at 09:05, after sitting outside for an age!
Think I'll go work somewherelse for the next 2 days. We have a nice new office quite near Three Bridges station now.
Got there at 09:05, after sitting outside for an age!
Think I'll go work somewherelse for the next 2 days. We have a nice new office quite near Three Bridges station now.
Not Andy Naylor
Well-known member
I used to have to work a day or two for a well-known newspaper's Online sports desk. They insisted I had to go into the office to do so ...
Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
Much quicker through Gatwick today, may even arrive on time
Sergei's Celebration
Well-known member
I commute every day to LB from Hove. It's a disgrace what they have done to LB.
It's dangerous due to overcrowding on the platform side, overcrowded concourse side due to the reduction in floor space meaning people can't get to the trains and the departure boards are in a mental location.
Whoever is responsible needs to be shot...sacked and then shot again.
The trains and the stations are a business. One that is failing to deliver. There needs to be a swift and strong cull.
You'll see me on Twitter complaining or being sarcastic but that won't help I know. It's beyond a joke now and needs to get sorted before someone gets hurt.
It's dangerous due to overcrowding on the platform side, overcrowded concourse side due to the reduction in floor space meaning people can't get to the trains and the departure boards are in a mental location.
Whoever is responsible needs to be shot...sacked and then shot again.
The trains and the stations are a business. One that is failing to deliver. There needs to be a swift and strong cull.
You'll see me on Twitter complaining or being sarcastic but that won't help I know. It's beyond a joke now and needs to get sorted before someone gets hurt.
Papa Lazarou
Living in a De Zerbi wonderland
What's your twitter name?
I was getting that train every morning up until September, so glad I've changed jobs and work locally now. What used to make me laugh was that the scheduled arrival time was 08.43, I think I could count on one hand the number of times it achieved that over the 18 months I worked up there, I see they've changed it to 08.51 or something now, that's still wildly optimistic!
As we discussed on twitter earlier, it's an absolute nightmare. I also wonder whether it's worth it, but the salary disparity means it's necessary
This I disagree with.
People only think it is necessary because they believe their way of life, and what it costs, is the only option available to them. Most people who live on the coast do NOT commute into London - think of the train carnage if they did!
I think people really mean "I like the nice house and holidays and the largely money-troubles-free existence I have, and I don't want to sacrifice that."
It can be more difficult for some - for example divorce meant I (willingly) gave up almost everything financially in my early 30s, a legal wrangling cost me many tens of thousands of pounds not long ago and I have paid, and will continue to pay, maintenance for many years. I don't begrudge those things, BTW, it's part of being a Dad. But even despite those things, there would be options that don't involve commuting - I've just not taken any of them. Yet.