Living in the burbs

Hi everyone,

I'll be living in Loughton, Essex when I arrive in the UK. Does anyone have experience living outside of London and commuting? How are the trains? What times do they start/stop during the day? I have a feeling I'll be getting to know the tube system VERY well.

The transportation system is quite good in London. You can get multiple types of passes - zone specific (for that day), daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Passes can be used on buses, trains (not in the first class section though!), tubes, etc. Trains and the tube stop at I believe 1am but buses run all night and are fairly regular in their timing. You can also get the Oyster Card which will give you kind of a discount on your passes (very similar to the Presto card introduced for GO Transit in Ontario).

The fare structure is based on different "zones" - the further out you are, the more that you pay.
This website should help: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

Wow Loughton into the city is not going to be a fun daily commute - if that is what you will be doing. I don't have any experience taking the Central line out that way, but I lived in a couple different places in Hertfordshire while in the UK and being on the Met line for 45 mins to get into the city was unfun. Use to take the Northern line - Edgware branch as well, which wasn't quite so bad.

Do you have friends or extended family out in Essex? What part of London do you need to commute to? That's a lot of track to be going up and down on a daily basis and the more of it you're on the greater the chances are of getting caught up in delays or one type or another.

One thing you will pick up on after you've been using it a while, is which lines to use and which stations to get off at to get from a to b to c the easiest. I'm not sure where you are coming from, but if you've spent time on subway systems before you'll have no problem.

Regardless, the tfl site will handle all your travelling needs.

I commuted from the Hainault loop on the Central line for a number of years. I needed a zone 5 pass. The Central line is a lot faster than the District line that also runs out east. My journey time to Liverpool street was about 35-40 mins. You should be able to get a seat in the mornings since your starting your journey near the beginning of the line. I experienced a number of delays and cancellations on that line (one time for 3 months) but was able to claim a refund for my lost journeys. In the case of a Central line cancellation I would take an overground train from Liverpool Street to Ilford and then a bus.

There's a lot of green space out there and feels less crowded than living closer to London.

It depends where you'll be commuting to. If it's Canary Wharf or the City it'll probably seem OK and, as you're towards the end of the Central Line you should get a seat most mornings.

If it's the West End or anywhere further west like Hammersmith the journey will probably feel a bit of a slog to be honest, but you'll get used to it. Take a look at www.tfl.gov.uk for lots more information about how transport in London works.