Commuting from Winchester

[identifi]

Hi all,

My wife and I are in the process of considering a move from SW London to the wonderful City of Winchester! We've visited several time, seen a number of houses and are on the brink of making the decision to move. My current commute takes me 45mins door to door to Leicester Sq, I know the train alone will take c. 1hr to Waterloo, can anyone enlighten me on the commute, if I leave between 7 and 7.30 will I get a seat? How do you cope with a 5 day commute, is it worth it for a better quality of life outside the working week?

Any insight gratefully received!

C

Hi there, my husband & I are moving to Winchester in 3 weeks, although he has yet to do the commute colleagues & friends have said they nearly always get a seat. My husband will be commuting to Southwark. We lived in London for years & decided on moving near family when our little one was born. I'm looking forward to a smaller city with the countryside within a few miles & the beach not too far away. Winchester has great cafes/pubs & shops too so I feel we will be getting the best of both worlds as we still enjoy the bustle and watching the world go by. We still love London (to visit rather than live) & have lots of friends there, so knowing its only an hour away is great.

Until recently I commuted 3 times a week. I timed my outward journey to make sure I got a stopping service rather than the fast train. Stopping services tend to take around an hour to 1hr 10 rather than 50 mins but I always got a seat. I did not always get a seat on the fast trains. The ones that leave between about 6.45 and 7.30am are the busiest and almost always leave Winchester with standing passengers.

If you are thinking of leaving between 7 and 7.30, I would consider taking the 6.55 stopping service (at least it was 6.55 the last time I took it). It gets in at about 8.10.

I worked on Fleet St and my journey took around 1hr 45 mins door to door if the trains were on time. That included a 10min walk to the station in Winch and a 25 min walk along Embankment to work. Yes, it was a longish journey but worth it to live here, I think. And I know plenty of people who do it 5 days per week.

And I should add that my husband and a few of his Winchester friends all commute into London. Sometimes on Fridays they meet up on the train for a G&T and there are a couple of nice pubs for a beer before you walk home! The Albion and the Mucky Duck!

I commute 4 days a week from Winchester, and the trains to catch are the 06:55 & 07:05. There is a queuing system on the platform (which caught me out first time i took a train at these times), but works quite well. the queue starts where the door usually opens, so works on a first come first to a seat basis. If you want to be really risky then aim for the 07:18, but this train is normally full and standing when it arrives in Winchester. the only advantage with this train is that it has a buffet car for tea and coffee, the others dont, so you have to remember to get those before boarding. I normally use the train time to work, but everyone else seems to use it for sleeping! : )