Commuting from Malvern to London - are we mad?!

[sergiogarcia]

Hi everyone, My wife and I are considering relocating to Malvern, but I will need to work in London a couple of days a week. Does anyone travel from Great Malvern station to Paddington on GWR on a regular basis? How reliable is it and does WIFI work? Thank you.

Is there any reason you particularly like Malvern? DH and I considered it for retirement but thought it was a bit of a boring place - though we enjoyed our trip to the Morgan factory. I rather like Stroud, which is set in lovely countryside, quite arty and individual. The train service from Stroud into Paddington is great, and yes, the wi fi works.

We're 2 stops down the line from Malvern, and dh works in London two days a week most weeks. He'll drive over to Warwick or Birmingham international mostly as the train from us is a) slow b) only once an hour and c) subject to delays due to the single track.
However, if you know you'll get to Paddington in time for a particular train it is much cheaper than the other lines (£50 return for us). Certainly from our station there are a few people who routinely get the 5.45 train

Thank you, CMOTDibbler, much appreciated. I did notice that the fare from Great Malvern is much less than from other stations on other lines. But the fact that it is single track is a bit off-putting. We've not yet made the move, but we will have to decide soon. On a different thread, does anyone know anything about The Downs, Malvern? It seems to have a good reputation and the Good Schools
Guide seems positive.

It's not single track all the way btw, but the stretches of it do cause issues.
I don't know anything about the Downs, sorry

I know people who commute from Macclesfield and Stoke, Manchester etc. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

20 years ago I did a year in boarding school in Malvern (from memory, the Downs was a good schools then). I used to regularly take the train back to London and was amazed to meet people on the train who commuted to London - daily! Their theory was they would retire early in their 40's so worth 4 day weeks with long commutes. If it worked then....

My husband commutes from Worcester once a week. I think that’s about 10-15 min I the track. He had to take the 6.15 to get there for 9. So it depends if you are happy with that sort of timescale.

Malvern is lovely though.

• up not l

Thanks, everyone. My train would leave at 5.59 and I’d get to my office at 9.15. A bit grim but manageable once or at most twice a week I guess.

It’s a killer. I wouldn’t. And the wi-if kicks you out regularly.

I go up once or twice a month. It’s pretty tiring and that track is slooow in places. You will start to loathe the Cotswolds stations...

It’s pretty though, with a nice theatre, good hill walking, nice town.