Best driving/train combo to get to East Croydon from south!

[User0610134049]

I could really do with some MN wisdom and help.
Am going to have to travel to East Croydon from Liphook (down the A3 and on the Waterloo/guildford/Portsmouth train line). On the train it’s 1.5-2 hours but only one option an hour really (change at Clapham junction)

Driving says an hour on Google maps but I know in reality will be horrendous and much longer.

Basically nearer home the train links are rubbish, but nearer Croydon the traffic will be awful won’t it.

I thought driving and parking to guildford might be good as it’s after that the traffic worsens on the A3 and m25… but the train links are still rubbish (might be better when timetable improves?)

I think Best option I’ve found so far is driving and parking at Redhill station (an hour maybe? But no idea what traffic is like from m25 to Redhill), then it’s 14 mins on the train and 4 trains an hour.

Merstham looks closer to m25 and 12mins on train but only 2 trains an hour.

Any other ideas I’m missing?

@Newnormal99

Coming off the m25 the really slow but if where you join the a23 at that junction through Hooley and that sort of area. Also going.back in the evening.

Agree with this. Driving in from m25 can be nose to tail. It is also confusing around East Croydon with trams, bus lanes, one way systems. You leave m25 at the Reigate turn off to cut across to Merstham.

The Brighton mainline below Three Bridges is being closed in a few weeks' time, so services may not be so reliable. Victoria services from Redhill/Merstham are being restored on 21st, so it may depend when op plans to travel.

@overthethamesfromyou

Do you have a partner who could do either drop off or pick up on those training days? It's a massive commute to fit into a childcare day.

I'd also advise doing as little on Southern as SWR is a lot more reliable. I mean, no rail service could be as bad as Southern

Yes hopefully sometimes at least one end of the day which will help, but sometimes will be away abroad. I think my parents could sometimes help in the afternoons but not the mornings.

So it’s worst case scenario I have to cover both ends of the day.

Having previously live in Croydon I wouldn't recommend driving. It's a nightmare. I'd go train personally.

And thank you re. Southern 😆

I think best option if I don’t have to do pickup but have to do breakfast club drop off is to do Liphook 810 get there at 938, get back to Liphook at 6.

If I don’t have to worry about either drop off or pickup then probably the direct train from Havant is best although that is southern.

I’m hoping the trainers will be reasonable people and not complain about me arriving at 9.45 and leaving at 4.30 🤞

But maybe one time I’d try the driving to merstham option, but would be more tiring I think.

It’s starting in March

I have checked on the Trainline and the only viable option really is to get a train from Liphook to Clapham Junction, then one back down to East Croydon, or drive to one of the stations on the Brighton line, but that might take longer, and parking might be a problem.

Southern is not the worst train service. I find far less problems with them than with South Eastern or Thameslink.

If you drove to Croydon, would it be easy to park where your training is? It could be quite expensive and a distance to walk.

It’s a good point, I don’t know if there’s parking at the Croydon office, it’s very close to east Croydon station apparently

Thanks everyone
@RampantIvy I think you’re right, hard to know if driving to merstham for example then train for 12 mins would take longer over all or could be shorter but it would be unpredictable and stressful if I’m trying to get back for after school club finish.

I definitely wouldn't be driving to Croydon every day. The traffic is awful.

I don’t think it will be every day
I’m hoping it’s occasional and it is time limited (3 months).
I think worst case scenario is 2-3 days a week but even that is going to be pretty hideous.
Advert said ‘sometimes’.

It sounds as though it’s Liphook that’s the problematic bit. Just in case this wasn’t obvious there are loads of trains from Clapham Junction to East Croydon and it’s very quick.
I think that the train from Liphook May come in on platform 10, and the East Croydon ones go from platform 15. So it’s not going from one end of CLJ to another. I thought I’d point that out as sometimes the Trainline etc gives you ages to change in CLJ but realistically you can do it in a couple of minutes, especially when you’ve got used to it.

I told them when I formally accepted that I would need the distance and childcare responsibilities to be taken into account and had tried to clarify the amount id be needed there in person but hadn’t been able to.
It’s so annoying as once the training period is over I know it will be fine as the office I’m based at is fairly local, it’s just going to be getting through this part

When I drive to Purley from Guildford area I prefer to avoid M25 so go via Clandon ,Great Bookham , Epsom etc !!
I know it's daft .

The parking is shite too. My colleagues used to get subsidised parking 10 minutes walk away from the office. In residential areas it was all residents permit parking. Dread to think what it would cost to park at the Whitgift shopping centre. Agree that driving in from M25 via A23 is horrible. On the rare occasions I had to drive to Croydon I drove in via the A22 and back roads to avoid the A23.

To be honest I would just drive, particularly if there is parking. I find with public transport every time you have to change trains or modes of transport it introduces the possiblity of delay.

That’s a good point @camelfinger there is a train to E Croydon 5 mins after the Liphook one arrives which cuts the total journey time to 1hr12. And if the in bound train arrives on time I think that’s possible, I know Clapham junction quite well

When I travel on trains that require connections. I google the National Rail departure/arrival boards to get the arrival and departure platforms. I find it updates more quickly than the Trainline.

I think I'd take the train and do the Clapham Junction change. Driving to Redhill or Merstham is an option (although I'm not sure what weekday parking is like at those stations) but the traffic on the A3 side of the M25 can be bloody awful so timings would be one really unpredictable. Hopefully the trains will have sorted themselves out by March. I know Southern is currently running an absolutely dreadful COVID timetable but saying they will change it in late feb.

@Cookerhood

To be honest I would just drive, particularly if there is parking. I find with public transport every time you have to change trains or modes of transport it introduces the possiblity of delay.

Driving will be horrendous at rush hour. Avoid. Tbh train is going to be your best bet. It's a reasonably reliable service and only one change. The Trainline tends to over estimate how long changes are, so you might just be able to jump on a slightly earlier EC train from CJ.

The trains via Croydon at the moment are awful as they've cancelled loads of services due to Covid. What would driving to Three Bridges/Gatwick be like? Easy to pick up a train from there.

If you're doing rush hour I think it would take you closer to 2 hours

Trains are awful everywhere, not just in the South of England. We are subject to the vagaries of Northern Rail where I live.

I know, OP was asking specifically about Croydon though