cosmicjellybean wrote:

Yossarian wrote:

5 minute walk to the station, half hour train journey, 5 minute walk to work. That adds up to a little over an hour each way once the Thameslink tax has been factored in.

Ugh. A fast train from st albans - kings cross can take under 25 minutes, but about once or twice a week, it takes up to an hour (over 2 hours last week). Thameslink is pretty awful. Though I always have my 3ds with me so that's where most of my gaming time comes from.

I also like to walk to the station and then walk to the office, gives me a 6 mile walk each day which helps keep me active. Also I try to avoid the underground as much as possible.

The one caveat of living in the commuter belt is the travel cost though. I get a ticket which allows one route into london, no bus or underground included, and it's £320 a month. Nearly £400 if you include underground.

Holy shit, I used to take that line (though from Hitchin, so with a few more trains), how has it gotten so bad? I'm really glad I stopped working in London now.

I was thinking it might just be the time of year, but it's been awful all year really. Thameslink used to run it, and it sucked, then first capital connect took over and it seemed fine for a while, then Thameslink took over again. I'm not one to usually complain about 'these damn trains' and I hate hearing people yell and tut on the platforms, but for the amount of money it's just totally shite.

I have train delays or cancellation every day on st least one of morning and evening commute. Been like that for weeks. "Wrong kind of wind"

Today I took the late late train so I could have breakfast before I leave the house.

The Glasgow Underground is a thing of beauty. I can go flat to city centre in about 20 mins.

GooberTheHat wrote:

I kid you not mate, this place has the worst traffic I've ever known. Takes me 40 minutes to drive just under 2 miles at rush hour. I can walk it in 35 minutes. Rubbish.

True, Southampton is terrible for traffic.  A trip to Ikea in Southampton is an exercise in self punishment.

Infrastructure cannot cope. I'm in Ashurst, just outside of Southampton on the way to Lyndhurst (aaaaaahhh....Meridien Modena) and I'm so glad I don't have to commute into the centre of Southampton, which is a hellhole anyway. Southampton has just turned into a shopping and leisure destination now. They're expanding the West Quay shopping development at the moment with another huge cinema complex and selection of ghastly chain restaurants. Another cinema ffs. That makes four within walking distance of each other. There is the port of course, but that's not really a reason to visit Southampton. Every so often someone reminds everyone about the Titanic and there is a museum 'Sea City' I think it's called, which is an overpriced white elephant. There is, officially at least, no other history or culture in Southampton worthy of note, so we will ignore everything else and focus on shops and restaurants.

By contrast I commute to the gloriously cosmopolitan town of Eastleigh....ahem. Go Spitfires.

I'm not sure about further west, but to the east there is QA near Portsmouth, but I guess that's even further for your grandparents.

Yeah, but dat football team, though. *swoon*

Jaco wrote:

I'm so glad I don't have to commute into the centre of Southampton, which is a hellhole anyway.

Tell me about it. I mostly work right in the city centre when not working from home. It's just awful. And I live in Woolston. Which is even worse. (Don't judge me, I didn't know the area when we moved down and we only had two weeks to find a place to live - any port in a storm, even one as stabby as Woolston.)

Considering where else you could be in Southampton, Woolston isn't so bad. Could be in Northam, Shirley Warren, Millbrook, Thornhill, Coxford, Lordshill or of course the wonderful Flowers estate. Southampton has so many dodgy areas. In Thornhill the cats don't go out at night unless they're heavily armed.

I bought something on Gumtree a while ago, I then realised they were on the Flowers estate and I phoned up and cancelled. Rather do that then head anywhere near that place.

Some time ago I was a finance assistant for a fruit & veg wholesalers in the centre of Southampton near Holy Rood church. I had to drive in from Hill Head, which is the relatively posh area where my parents live and it's right on the coast. Five minute walk and you can see the Isle of Wight. I detested that drive. Northam bridge, every single day gah!

Sometimes I think about getting a motorbike. Bombing through the countryside for twenty minutes doesn't sound like a bad way to start the day.

Jaco wrote:

Aye, I do Northam bridge every day. It truly, deeply sucks. When I first moved here I went out for a late night walk (something I did all the time in Cumbria). NEVER AGAIN. I forgot we had the Weston estate less than a mile up the road. That place is like Beirut in the 80s.

I forgot about Weston. Are their actually any nice areas in Southampton?

Bits of Bursledon and Hamble are ok, but noisy. Warsash and Swanwick aren't what they're cracked up to be either. Basically, the place is a toilet.

48 minutes

cockbeard wrote:

Nope, head West, life gets better at Cadnam, then you can start heading south towards god's green and pleasant

I assume I drive straight past Bournemouth right?

hahaha, to be honest, yes, Bournemouth is merely a gateway to the delights of 'Da-arzat'