[Chuffy Chuffnell]

I thought I had to share this exchange I've had with "Peter" on another forum, discussing Shrewsbury, as to me it sums up how so many just simply don't see what utter sheep to the system they are. (Or how little they value their life..)

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Peter:Jobs well I would imagine some will be created by the proposed development although Shrewsbury is ideally placed for commuting to the midlands,London and even Europe I believe my comparrison to Chester is realistic.

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Me, Chuffy:Commuting to London and Europe?! Are you mad?? London is almost 3 hours away! (And there are no direct trains..)

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Peter:You are the one who is mad looking through blinquered vision,firstly London is commutable I know people who do it several times a week from wales so I am sure Shrewsbury gets its share,also prices of accomodation and housing not to mention living quality would make Shrewsbury an atractive proposition for some also the road system in theory is conveniant.
Commuting to Europe what is wrong with that? many European cities are just a short plane ride from Birmingham or Manchester not so much daily but once or twice a week certainly.

At this point I almost died. (Those who don't know where Shrewsbury is, well, it's no where near an airport and really really quite far from London...)

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Me, Chuffy:Sorry, you're accusing me of being mad?!

And then suggest commuting for 6 hours a day is fine?

Okay... time I stepped off this insane planet. Frankly anyone who doesn't mind commuting 6 hours a day DOESN'T HAVE A LIFE OR A BRAIN OR BOTH. No one should be spending so much of their short and precious lifetime sitting on a train shuttling back and forth to work.

Seriously, are you being serious?!!

If this is the state of things, that people commute for a quarter of their days, then what has the last millennium of progress been for?!

Live closer to work. Work closer to home. Use technology so that you don't need to physically move about. Why is this so hard to achieve?! If that job in London is so precious, move nearer. If you can't afford to then you can't afford that job - it's paying too little or house prices down south are too expensive (probably both). Either way, the system isn't working for you so don't play the system's game.

Rat race indeed. Giant rats called people, running harder and harder to their graves. I hope these people all die from stress in their 40s.



Keep running!!

This post has been edited by Chuffy Chuffnell: 13 April 2012 - 05:56 PM

[erat_forte]

Ah I love that cartoon!

What do these people who catch a train at 5am to get into London for 8am, actually do all day? I know they attend meetings and sit with their face glued to a computer screen but what are they actually doing?

[spyguy]

erat_forte, on 13 April 2012 - 07:02 PM, said:

Ah I love that cartoon!

What do these people who catch a train at 5am to get into London for 8am, actually do all day? I know they attend meetings and sit with their face glued to a computer screen but what are they actually doing?

Long distance commuting is OK if you have infinite time and money.

People don't.

Unless you are earning big bucks than a commute of more than 1 hour each way is not worth.
If you are earning big bucks you'll probably ought to live nearer your job.

Seriously petrol and train fare are f-ing expensive in the UK.

[Chuffy Chuffnell]

spyguy, on 13 April 2012 - 08:14 PM, said:

Seriously petrol and train fare are f-ing expensive in the UK.

But clearly not expensive enough..!

[Senny Pijama]

Since I moved to the USA, I've come to realise that people - in general - consider 30 minutes to be a little too long to commute. When I lived in Kent, a 2 hour door-to-door journey was pretty much expected.

[quinnbear]

I guess you need to have an important job to justify a long commute!

I used to do a ten mile drive in London and it was about 40-50 minutes (or 1h15 on a bad day). My current commute in the countryside is a pleasant 20 miles in half an hour. But I really wouldn't want to do more than 30 minutes. There just aren't enough hours in the day to waste commuting (but maybe it's because I'm getting older...)

[porca misèria]

I'd never want a long daily commute. I think the Bath/Bristol one is the longest UK commute I've really been comfortable with. Though a longer one can have advantages: Bath-Swindon was 25 minutes on the train, but the fact of there being a train served as an excuse to leave the office at a reasonable hour most days And Bath-Yeovil, though hard work, was a fine ride in the summer months, with a midway break at the point in Glastonbury where good water gushes forth and I took my fill along with the ancient hippies.

[SaintJay]

10 Minute walk there, 10 minute walk back. I win.

[worried1]

My commute is 40 minutes door to door on a good day, an hour on a bad day or if I choose to walk instead of get the tube. My main train journey is under 20 minutes, but there is a bit of mucking around once in town.

It is bearable, but there is no way I'd do more than that unless a very special job demanded it. In the office, very few people commute less than that and some do have 2 or more hours each way to commute each day.

It does come down to personal choice, though. I could move to Shrewsbury and probably buy an excellent house for the same money I could buy a 2 bed flat for in my outer London suburb. I'd never do it, but I can understand why some people would do.

[Monkey]

My commute is 15 mins, the longest i've ever had was 1.5 hours to 2 hours or so, Southampton to Basingstoke, that consisted of 2 busses 1 train, and was a complete pain. i did it for 6 months when i was 20.

the shorter the commute the better IMO.

my G/F's commute used to be 40mins, which consited of a 10 min walk, 4 min train, 12 min boat, 12 min bus, 2 min walk.

her new job is now 40mins as well. a 40 min drive.

[Son of Taeper]

The commute issue is always close to my heart.
If one gets fuel and travel time thrown in at can work out quite well.
If one does not, it's a bit like chucking £20 quid away on booze on a Saturday night then peeing it up the wall (only you do it 5 days a week)
I used to do a lot of contract work in the past and the rate ph often looked tempting at first glance.
Once one factored in all the variables though, I would often take a cut of a few pounds an hour for a local job.
One hour each way in travel plus the fuel mounts up.

[DeepLurker]

Well the "Peter" quoted in the OP isn't far wrong - there are people who commute insane distances. Lots of them.
I personally know people who:

• Work in London and live in a house share; go home to Manchester for the weekend.
  
• Fly to Germany to work every week; again, live in a house share.
  
• Commute between Surrey and Hertfordshire every day.

This post has been edited by DeepLurker: 16 April 2012 - 10:11 PM

[Chuffy Chuffnell]

DeepLurker, on 16 April 2012 - 10:10 PM, said:

Well the "Peter" quoted in the OP isn't far wrong - there are people who commute insane distances. Lots of them.
I personally know people who:

• Work in London and live in a house share; go home to Manchester for the weekend.
  
• Fly to Germany to work every week; again, live in a house share.
  
• Commute between Surrey and Hertfordshire every day.

Yes but the point of the thread in the original forum was what should Shrewsbury become (economy-wise) and he was basically saying that it should become a commuting town for London and even Europe!

Madness!

These people you know must be f*cking nutters. No doubt they think they're living the dream though..

This post has been edited by Chuffy Chuffnell: 17 April 2012 - 12:15 PM

[SeeYouNextTuesday]

I remember catching the borders routed train from Cardiff to Manchester. Took what? 90mins+ to get to Manchester from Shrewsbury? I don't suppose its gone any better or a faster train travels through.

On the general subject of commuting, I drive about 15 miles each way and it takes 30-40mins depending on the conditions and I ENJOY IT! So there.

[Chuffy Chuffnell]

SeeYouNextTuesday, on 17 April 2012 - 12:33 PM, said:

I remember catching the borders routed train from Cardiff to Manchester. Took what? 90mins+ to get to Manchester from Shrewsbury? I don't suppose its gone any better or a faster train travels through.

On the general subject of commuting, I drive about 15 miles each way and it takes 30-40mins depending on the conditions and I ENJOY IT! So there.

Manchester-Shrewsbury depends on whether you travel during the week or at the weekend and then whether at peak times, during the day or late evening. The quickest trains currently take about 1hr 15min, though I see under the new timetable (coming in late May) that's been reduced to a speedy 1hr 6min! That's pretty good going. Certainly living in Whitchurch or Nantwich or so and commuting to Manchester by train would make sense.

As for driving - it can be enjoyable. Where is your drive? My driving (not a daily commute mind - I don't have one) is largely in rural Shropshire and I find it pleasant enough, though I avoid busy roads and busy times of the day! I also try to use the trains as much as possible, as around here they're not too bad (I'm on the Manchester-Cardiff route).

This post has been edited by Chuffy Chuffnell: 17 April 2012 - 08:16 PM