brighton commute - how bad really?

[olatt]

Thinking of moving from London to Brighton or somewhere near there. I might well work from home but my dh will have to do the commute to south London. He works near Victoria so on paper it doesn't look so bad (his commute from where we live often takes nearly an hour anyway), but I'm sure it can be a nightmare. Anyone have any experience of this? Is it a good idea? Obsessing over property sites at the moment! We have a 6 month old and it just sounds like a nice place to bring up kids.

pros and cons really, like anything.

• From Brighton (as opposed to the Hove and coastal branch) the service is pretty reliable; it is the start of the line so generally get a seat; mostly new rolling stock so not too rattly or cold; But there are large gaps between trains, so if you miss one it can be 40 minutes before the next (ie to Victoria, there are more Thameslink trains in between), and worse coming home; from Hove there is a risk of getting no seat unless you are on a pre-8.00 train, which basically means the 7.11 or the 7.40. I often work at home or locally and commute about 2 days p/w. This means for me leaving home at 7.20 to get the 7.40 and getting home about 7 - 8pm. For me, the hour or so on the train is fabulous private thinking or reading time with nobody saying mummee nonstop. DH leaves home at 7.00 every morning, is in work (near Victoria) at 8.30 and leaves at 5.30 on the dot to be home at 7.05 or so. he dislikes the train, finds it uncomfortable, but gets through a lot of reading he coudn't otherwise do. So whilst your LO is young there is a risk of DH not seeing him all week. Some other friends sort it out by waking up the baby early in order to see him. All in all moving here was the best thing we ever did. I can't value highly enough the chance to go on the beach every day, and the city of Brighton & HOve is a great place to bring up kids, very child friendly. However if the commute is just a bit too much, you could have a look around Haywards Heath and area - 30 minutes or so earlier to get home, and 15 mins in the car to Brighton when you want it. HTH

The commute is ok, as hovely says, but it is hard going to do it every day I think. I do three days and that's enough for me. Agree with hovely that it's good thinking/working time on the train and if you can build that in to your working day (as I do) you could get in to work a bit later and leave earlier.

The trains at rush hour from Brighton generally take an hour to 1hr 10, despite the fact that the fast trains (not running at peak time of course) do it in 49 mins. You need to build in time to get to the station too, bearing in mind that you will pay a premium for a property close to either Brighton, hove or preston park stations. My journey time is 1hr 45 mins door to door.

It's a huge advantage if your dp is near victoria though and you are right that brighton is a great place to live - we moved back here when my ds was 18 months and have never regretted it.

It's also pretty expensive for a season ticket! especially when half the time you don't get a seat for the first 20 mins of the journey grrrrrrr.

It's also pretty expensive for a season ticket! especially when half the time you don't get a seat for the first 20 mins of the journey grrrrrrr.

also house prices v v dear, as puddle says, especially round the stations

it takes an hour and 45 mins from brighton to victoria.

thats a chiffin long day. i travel from worthing near brighton up to london at least once a week and i hate it

sorry thats from worthing - it would be shorter from brighton

We lived in Brighton for 12 years and DH commuted to London for most of that time. Not his favourite thing to do, but living in Brighton was worth it. We moved to Lewes a while ago which we like a lot but it has made DH's journey more difficult. He works near London Bridge but all the direct trains are from Victoria - I think they take 1hour10mins - your DH would be ok though.

Brighton is a fantastic place to bring up kids. We moved from London nearly 4 years ago and I really love it.

If he works near Victoria the commute is very easy. The trains take about 50 mins from Brighton to Victoria.

Highly recommended.

thing is, hovely, he leaves at 8 ish and often doesn't get home until 8pm anyway so he still doesn't see much of ds even without the commute from the coast and the chance to go to the beach whenever! i may end up doing 3 days in london myself. are many childminders/ nurseries set up for the early start?

Have a look on the chilcarelink website olatt, it gives details of nurseries and their opening hours. The ones that I know/have used all still open at 8 but there seem to be a few now that do 7.30 and I saw one that opens at 7. The trouble with nurseries is that they are not flexible, so if the train is stuffed so are you! The women I know who work in London and are still sane have nannies. My SIL has found a childminder who will come to her house and look after her son which works well, but she doesn't have a particularly early start.