Travelling Manchester - Leeds for work

[Changingplace]

I live in Manchester & I’ve been offered a new job that’s hybrid with two days a week working from an office in Leeds, walkable from the train station - does anyone else do this journey regularly?

I’ve been looking at the train schedules and looks like there’s a few quicker ones that take under an hour, I guess I could drive but I’m guessing parking might be a pain.

I don’t mind driving really, just would rather spend an hour on a train where I could be more productive than in the car.

The train costs are ok because I’d be getting a payrise & it’d be worth it financially.

Does anyone else do this? Is it a nightmare? Are the trains ok/rubbish/to be avoided at all costs? Does anyone drive that route very regularly and prefer that option?

Can you leave the office at 4pm? The 5pm plus trains are so full

The trains are frequently late/cancelled and are always standing room only back to Manchester from about 1530 onwards on a week day.

However, for 2 days a week and right job/pay, I'd do it.

I've done it in the past. And I still work in Leeds. Driving in is a nightmare and parking is exorbitant. There are deliberate strategies to deter driving into the centre. If you are going to drive I'd use park and drive.

https://www.wymetro.com/park-and-ride

TransPennine Express is one of the poorest train services in the country - very high number of cancellations etc. Approach with caution!

That’s a thing I could ask, I could either start earlier as well or because I’d be on an earlier/less busy train be able to still work while I travel, I’ll see what they say

I drive past the turn off to Leeds on my commute and it’s always a nightmare. Causes traffic chaos for me and I’m going in the opposite direction!

Ugh this is what I fear 😩

The trains are unreliable, so you need to have a back up plan. They’re often late or cancelled, and standing room only.

But they are frequent enough that it is doable provided you’re travelling from Manchester City centre.

Depending on where you are in Leeds, my preference is usually to drive in rather than train (but I’m between Manchester and Leeds) - parking isn’t too bad, just expensive.

This! I used to try getting on it at Huddersfield - you couldn't even get ON the train at busy times let alone get a seat - it was like trying to get on a busy tube train! And it was just three carriages - train needed to be twice as long as least!

It's a doabe nightmare. Worse if you're diving into the rising or setting sun in the winter.

In theory it should be a quick nip across the Pennines. In practice TPEX is a shit show and it takes about the same time to get between Leeds and Manchester now as it did in 1900. This country is a mess 😭

I used to do this route for about 3 years. It's horrible whether you go by car or train. The trains were heaving, standing room only, frequently cancelled - I actually gave up on them. To drive is knackering and a couple of time there were accidents on the motorway so it took me about 3 hours to get from Leeds to Manchester.

If it's 2 days a week in Leeds and the money is worth it I'd probably grin and bear it. I was doing 5 days a week and I'd never do it again.

Exactly - TPEX used to be brilliant. I go to Manchester a lot from Leeds and the service used to be reliable, cheap and run all through the night to service the airport so getting back late after gigs/night matches etc wasn't a problem.

Now I go over on the train as little as possible for fear of getting stuck/delayed or get the National Express or drive - and add to the traffic congestion!!

Trains are rubbish, roads are awful!

Even before TPX went to pieces, everyone I knew who did it (I work in Leeds, but live south of it) eventually moved to Huddersfield/Brighouse.

Forget HS2*, what the N of England wants and needs is improved rail links between Liverpool- Manchester - Leeds.

• oh wait... they already did

Agree with other, the trains are shite, the M62 is shite, especially at this time of year. You’re crossing the highest motorway in England and it is bleak for 6 months of the year with many crashes due to the weather and people driving like knobs , sometimes it’s even blocked for hours due to snow.
If it’s only two days a week it’s probably manageable if you’re a hardy type but after doing half that commute for many years, I know it can really grind you down in winter.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/number-manchester-leeds-trains-cut-27936186.

Just to add to the misery the train capacity is about to be cut 😕

There's a blown over lorry closing a lane at Rishworth Moor most at least once a week in the winter.

My husband does it, he does 2 days a week but often stops over in Leeds as they are consecutive (we are further south than Manchester)

the trains are not that reliable so he often drives it. It’s fairly easy route but Leeds city centre is bad to drive round at the moment.

Transpenine just announced they were reducing the service to 3 an hour but longer trains to improve the service.

We live the opposite direction to Manc and confirm they are utterly shit, one train an hour ans it goes to the airport but is cancelled frequently so the Leeds service sounds amazing to me tbh

I'd say from a cost point of view, if you're definitely going twice a week, some journies can be significantly cheaper if you book at least 2 weeks in advance.

It's very very busy and there are lots of cancellations, especially on the all stops, but the fast train that just goes Man=>Leeds is actually ok. The problem is getting on it. Usually it loiters at Victoria for about 15 minutes before departure on platform 1, so if you don't mind adding another 10-15 minutes to your journey, you can get a table seat by getting on early. You can't do this with platform 6 trains that go through towards Blackburn etc, and those ones are always getting cancelled. Platform 6 at MCV is actively cursed.

In any other country this would be the most bog-standard 30 minute commute. Ho ho ho. I'd drive. (I did Leeds to Liverpool for 6 months last year. They run about 1 train in 4 in the evenings.)

I used to do Manchester to Halifax 5 days a week. You’ll get a seat going out of Victoria but won’t get one for a while coming back I reckon. I would do it for the right job just twice a week.

I live 7 miles from Leeds station and it took me an hour to drive there last weekend. Traffic is awful, they've shut city square and only now doing anything to redirect traffic (and reducing lanes/capacity in the meantime).

I have colleagues who commute to the city centre from Manchester and they set off early, can get a seat and get an hour of work done before getting to the office.

But the trains are notoriously unreliable, and I've had to put a few folk up before now when the weather meant cancellations (nationwide problem though, not local to Leeds).

Can you do 2 consecutive days with a night in a cheap hotel? Maybe make them long days too, so you're not twiddling your thumbs on your own in the hotel?

FWIW, for the right salary and 3 days wfh, I'd do it.

(But, then I'd be contemplating a move to the right side of the Pennines 😍😍)