Commuting from Worplesdon or Brookwood to London

[Helisimon]

Hello lovely Surrey people,

We're living in Clapham at the moment with two very young children but looking for a house in Surrey to spread out in, and having done a modicum of research we've zeroed in on Worplesdon and Brookwood as having a nice blend of out of town life while still having fast trains to Waterloo in 35 minutes or so. But what I want to know is what is the commute really like? Can you get a seat on the peak trains this close in to London? Are they reliable, or often delayed, and is there any advantage to getting on in Woking or Guildford instead? The last thing we want to do is move there and then find the commute is really horrible and standing room only or something if that's the case then we would rather go the other side of Guildford to Witley or Milford.

Any and all advice appreciated, also any thoughts on the nurseries and primary schools in these areas. Thanks!

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Local Editor

Hi Helismon

I don't commute regularly to London and live a bit further out in Godalming, but I used to commute from Brookwood and my train now goes through Worplesdon.

For the most part you'd get a seat from Worplesdon in the mornings but not guaranteed, I can't speak for Brookwood nowadays. Personally I find the trains much more reliable now than they used to be, but the train journey itself is only a small part of the commute. You also need to take into account the journey to the station (Brookwood you could live near enough to walk, Worplesdon maybe less so); parking at the station if you have to drive (parking can be a nightmare with limited spaces available and on a season ticket only), and the journey from Waterloo to wherever you work. My commute from Godalming to Victoria is 1hr 20 mins door to door (walk to station, 45 mins train, then bus to Victoria, then walk to office).

Parking with season ticket only eh? That's an eye opener so thanks for that. I travel a lot for work so I've already worked out I probably wouldn't get a season ticket, so that's bad news, as is the "maybe you will get a seat, maybe you won't". I don't like the sound of that as 45 minutes is a long time to stand... Hmmm lots of food for thought...

Does anyone else do the commute from these stations or have a DH or DW that does?

Hi, I commute from Guildford to Waterloo every day and you'd be really lucky to get a seat when you get on at Worplesdon. I often don't get one from Guildford.

Trains are normally reliable

Hi Hayley. Thats a real eye opener, and really shocking that even from as far out as Guildford your season ticket doesn't buy you a seat. Legalised robbery. About what time do you get the train though may I ask?

I get the train at just after 7:30 which gets me to Waterloo at 8:11. I then walk for 30 mins to my office! Door to door my commute is just under 2 hours as I live outside Guildford and have to get there first of all!