Moving to Chesham - questions about transport

[limesweets]

Hi,

My husband and I are in our early 30s, have been renting in north London for the past decade or so and looking to buy a house ideally somewhere on the Metropolitan line. We're looking at Chesham and really like the area - have visited a couple of times already - but we're a bit concerned about transport into London for work as we keep hearing the Chesham branch of the met line can be a bit unreliable? Husband works in central and needs to get there 2/3 times a week, I work near Harrow and need to get there Monday-Friday.

I know that trains from Chesham are less frequent than on other branches of the met line but wondered if anyone here is local to the area and can tell me how much of an issue this is in reality? As long as they're reliable I wouldn't mind them being less frequent but eg if cancellations/delays happen a lot that would be a big issue for me in getting to work... Also neither of us drives and have wondered about getting to Amersham by bus (?) and taking the tube from there if we need to but again, don't know how much of a faff this would actually be.

If anyone has any info that would be great - we like everything else about Chesham and seriously looking at options here but it's just the potential transport issue that's holding us back.

Thanks!

The Met line is the most unreliable of all the tube lines. I honestly can't remember the last time I got a tube train that actually arrived at the time TFL stated on the app. Morning trains are usually more reliable than evening ones and at least leaving from Chesham/Amersham means you are almost guaranteed a seat

Thanks, and yes having lived/worked near a few tube lines in my life I know the met line in general is not as reliable as some others! I guess I'm just wondering if anyone lives in Chesham what it's like commuting to/from London. Trying to weigh up the pros of living in the area against potential cons of commuting...

Tube in Chesham is notoriously unreliable...buses to Amersham from Chesham even worse

I would try and live closer to Amersham if you can as then you have the Chiltern line too. Trains to both Chesham and Amersham from central London get changed to other destinations regularly and at last minute.

The hill from Chesham to Amersham is a nightmare in rush hour and the bus not a great option.

I’ve never seen Chiltern Line trains to Amersham and onward to Aylesbury changed to another destination. There isn’t one! The Chiltern Line is far better than the Met Line from Chesham which is very slow. Chesham is cheaper than Amersham for a reason! The station is small and it’s not really a commuting town. Great Missenden or even Wendover is better. Just avoid HS2 area!

I live near.Chesham and DH worked there. Not driving would be very limiting. No country pubs or walks. I would learn to drive if you want to live in this area to make the most of it. Chesham is hilly and has its limitations!

Amersham is the better station. I don't know much about Chesham trains but I know that when the trains got mucked up at Amersham (as they did regularly) you had a choice when the 'other one' came along.

I would agree with pp. you have to drive you will live a limited life otherwise. Amersham is nicer imo to live in too.

We use the Chiltern Line. DH and others in his office don’t use Chesham station much. The Chiltern Line is pretty reliable.

Thanks everyone this is really helpful. Lots to think about and yes we will probably end up driving in the future no matter where we end up. Seems like in terms of what we need now though (getting into London etc) Chesham might not be the best place for us which is a shame because we did like it.

You could look at train times and see if it works for you. I don’t know how it now works if you get off the Met Line at Chalfont &Latimer and transfer to Chiltern Line.

i do think Wendover is much nicer for a whole host of reasons. Berkhamsted even better. Not cheap though. Or look at Tring. Station not in the town but an easy bike ride away. Quickish into London Euston. Lots of people like Leighton Buzzard and that’s got reasonably priced housing. Again, train goes into Euston.

I feel guilty putting you off Chesham. DH is born and bred! It does have a Waitrose and Neptune store!

I moved to Chesham - I like it as countryside is on your doorstep.
The tubes are not too bad going out (ie every 30 mins) but coming back to Chesham they aren’t completely reliable. I commute less than you though and have the option of driving to or back from amersham and I know another person who lives in Chesham does that, and another person who drives to great missenden when they need to get into London.
I agree with other comments - I think a car is pretty key and couldn’t imagine being without one around here but if you are closer to the centre you might be ok.
prices are more reasonable than amersham!

Ah no not put off exactly, we may end up close-ish to there even if not living exactly in the area. This might be my incentive to finally learn to drive!
Does anyone know anything about Rickmansworth or Maple Cross? These are other places we're considering.

Rickmsnsworth is in the Chiltern Line. More expensive than Chesham. Has a Waitrose. All I know about Maple Cross is that it’s a motorway junction! Chorleywood is nicer.

I was referring to the Met Line trains!!

@BookwormButNoTime
i see. I never use these! Chiltern line is pretty good and at least Amersham gives a choice.,

OP don’t be put off - my partner and I moved from central London to Chesham a couple of years ago and commute into London every week. Yes there can be delays, but usually these are fairly few and far between, and you can easily have your journey refunded by TfL (delay repay scheme applies to delays of 30 mins plus, which always applies as Chesham trains are only every half hour so if your usual one is cancelled, you get the journey for free essentially - which softens the blow somewhat). It’s also worth bearing in mind that it’s significantly cheaper commuting from Chesham than any station served only by a mainline as Chesham by virtue of being on the tube is in a London zone, whilst mainline stations are not (~£15 return vs ~£35 return if I recall correctly).

I would disagree with a previous poster that it’s not really a commuting town - my tube this morning was pretty much standing room only, and that was before it had even left Chesham and started on its journey into London.

Amersham has a slightly better reputation, but you pay for that. You get more for your money in Chesham which is why we came here. Any questions, feel free to pm me - we were in a very similar position to you before we moved here 😊

We have been in and around Chesham for 60 years and if the trains are full, that’s a relatively new thing. Depends what train I guess and where you want to end up in London. The Met Line does crawl all the way into the City. The Chiltern Line doesn’t. It might also be driven by house prices. Chesham is cheaper than villages and Chiltern mainline towns but always has been.

We're in Wendover, on the chiltern line. Very reliable, my husband has commuted to London for 9 years with few issues. Beautiful place to live, affluent, quaint village feel surrounded by countryside, amazing schools, very low crime. Do you need to live on the Met line vs Chiltern line?

We looked at Chesham in 1999 and instead went for North Bushey/Watford which is better connected. Watford is quite urban, there's Bushey, Carpenders Park and all the other North London towns on the Overground. What's your budget? Chorleywood is also really nice but VERY expensive.

@Scottishgirl85
Hi near neighbour! I advocated for Wendover earlier! It’s nicer than Chesham - just no Waitrose and HS2. Lots to do though.

Thank you for all these replies!
We're not put off Chesham just yet - @Flowers024 thank you so much for the offer to pm, I may take you up on that at some point.
Met line is preferable to Chiltern line just because I need to get to Harrow on the Hill area for work. Chorleywood is a bit too expensive for us.
We are also looking at Bushey/Watford.

@TizerorFizz Wendover has Budgeons which is awesome, really fab shop with lovely Cook range of meals and amazing choice. I'm on the hs2 committee so ask any questions. It is a shame for the whole of the Chilterns but once built it's in a tunnel past Wendover.
Without wanting to sound like a snob (which I probably am a little!), Wendover and Chesham are not really comparable towns ;-) but it depends what you're looking for.
Good luck!

@Scottishgirl85
I agree Budgens is so useful! Just to remind you: there is a viaduct to the south of Wendover carrying HS2 over the main road. It’s not all in a tunnel. Building work is disruptive. However I would still prefer Wendover over Chesham but if you don’t drive, there isn’t a big supermarket. It also depends what type of community you are looking for.

OP can't remember which bus (258 or 142) goes from Watford Junction to South Harrow bus station (red bus) through Bushey/Bushey Heath so will cost you £1.65 one way, if it's close enough to where you work. If you are thinking of starting a family Carpenders Park isn't well catered for with Secondaries on any distance criteria so choices from age 11 are limited.
You don't need to live too close to a station, we were quite keen to be very close and it limited our options back in 1999 - first property we bought, we were there 6 years and currently, 17 years here. I still commute, 30 min walk to station and c. 20 min on train - but get bus home from station on return journey 😀

Thanks everyone :)

Doesn’t the chiltern line stop at Harrow? It used to…