F@cking Trains
il_principe
Posts: 9,155
So this morning was my second ever commute from my new place. I've got another 6 weeks (of which I'm doing 4) off the bike and have no choice but to get the train to work. Chuffing hell but it's a nightmare; by the time the train get's to my station its so rammed I have to physically lever myself on and this is at 7:50am with a 13 min journey to Waterloo so not the peak of Rush Hour. How in god's name can people do this everyday? I spent 13 mins wedged in a corner whilst people coughed, sneezed, jostled, shouted ("move down please!") and looked generally fcuking miserable. For the love of god WHY? I'm sure plenty of people that got on where I did could cycle so why don't they? I think a month of this is going to drive me mad, but a year, a working lifetime? Mental, completely mental.
- 2023 Vielo V+1
- 2022 Canyon Aeroad CFR
- 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
- Strava
- On the Strand
- Crown Stables
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JonGinge wrote:Sorry, probably should have warned you. Trains from Wandsworth Town to Waterloo are always packed at rush hour; many don't get on the first train. They're ok at about 7:30 or earlier... When I have to take the train I get up early
Yeah it's a nightmare. Still I only have 15 working days left before I'm back on the bike...- 2023 Vielo V+1
- 2022 Canyon Aeroad CFR
- 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
- Strava
- On the Strand
- Crown Stables
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At least you are not on the underground.0
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Trains are ghey, I've been driving in on my off the bike days recently (brum though so no congestion charge) this morning it gave me the oppurtunity to listen to a good interview with Robert Englund which was nice.
Still wish i was on the bike though. Saracen Tenet 3 - 2015 - Dead - Replaced with a Hack Frame
Voodoo Bizango - 2014 - Dead - Hit by a car
Vitus Sentier VRS - 20170 -
Just had a month of train and tubes. It's hell your right.
So glad to be back on the bike this morning.0 -
I was lucky enough to move jobs over the last three years from the City (trains to London Bridge), to Knightsbridge (trains to Victoria) and now to leafy Surrey.
Travelling into London Bridge was always pretty bad, but I've done it a couple of times recently to visit my company's London office and it is absolutely terrible now. If they pack that many people onto trains and still don't make enough money from the revenues generated to be able to fix the overcrowding something is seriously wrong.
Victoria was far more relaxed than London Bridge. In the best part of two years I hardly ever had to stand. Having said that, the cycle to that part of London was also so much better as well.
Now I'm in the countryside. The train service isn't ideal in terms of frequency, but a single costs £1.70 and there are loads of empty seats. Again, the cycle is even better than my previous bike commute. Generally I cycle every day other than Wed, as I like to do weights on Wed night and can't handle riding and weights in one day. I also jump on the train with the bike in the morning if I'm feeling a little dead, or like this morning, if my knee is sore. You couldn't do that if you were travelling towards London of course.
I've actually got the possibility of switching to a job based near to Oxford Street, but the location means I'd have to take an earlier (and busier) train to Victoria. I really don't know if I could face it.
I must say that I wish people would cycle to work simply because they realise it can be enjoyable and healthy, but with the choice of that or the train I can understand why many make the switch.0 -
JonGinge wrote:Sorry, probably should have warned you. Trains from Wandsworth Town to Waterloo are always packed at rush hour; many don't get on the first train. They're ok at about 7:30 or earlier... When I have to take the train I get up early
I leave as late as possible
. I'd sooner ride my mtb in, then pick it up and the weekend and combine it with a trip to Borough Market than give my money to South West Trains. Horrible things.
And what is it with train commuters: why don't they take their coats off when they get on in the winter or when it's cold? And keep wet coats on and then sit down next to someone?
And why do trains keep their heaters on in the summer?
Horrible, scutty things. Yuk.FCN 2-4.
"What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
"It stays down, Daddy."
"Exactly."0 -
I always have a bad day if I've had to take the train in. Awful, cramped, expensive, unreliable, slow and if one more persons shoves past me into a crowded carriage.....
Much happier on the bike.0 -
I've just started a new job (yay!!!, i'm employed again...) and I now have to commute into London on Wednesdays.
Thank feck it's just Wednesdays. How do people do this every day ?
When I arrived at the station, I wasn't allpowed to get on the first London train that was sitting at the platform, because *4* "dispatchers" were readying it for departure. So I watched a train with lots of space leave without me.
The next 2 trains were announced as delayed. Feck knows why. But in the end another train arrived in less than 10 mins, I even got a seat after I persuaded a nice lady to let me have the seat she had been using for her paperwork.
The tube sucks. Period.
On the way home, Paddington was closed. Dunno why. We were cast adrift at Edgewarwe Road to find our way there "by surface routes".
Fortunately I found a pub :-) And then, eventually Paddington and the train home.
Brrrrr..... I'm moving somewhere warm and dry for the winter...Misguided Idealist0 -
SW trains has been a doddle for the last couple of years even with the odd nobber sitting in the cycle space, at least I could get my bike on an off the train myself without booking and 99% of the time I'd get a seat. Now i'm on FGW I have to book and getting on and off is more difficult than discovering the meaning of the universe, I tried for several months a couple of years ago not doing that again, so I find myself on the tube once more from Paddington to Kings Cross
Help me people, I can't bare or afford to buy a folding bicycle what can I do.
Sorry for the hijack J
Distressed of Windshire Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.0 -
itboffin wrote:SW trains has been a doddle for the last couple of years even with the odd nobber sitting in the cycle space, at least I could get my bike on an off the train myself without booking and 99% of the time I'd get a seat. Now i'm on FGW I have to book and getting on and off is more difficult than discovering the meaning of the universe, I tried for several months a couple of years ago not doing that again, so I find myself on the tube once more from Paddington to Kings Cross
Help me people, I can't bare or afford to buy a folding bicycle what can I do.
Sorry for the hijack J
Distressed of Windshire
Work
from
home
Misguided Idealist0 -
itboffin wrote:SW trains has been a doddle for the last couple of years even with the odd nobber sitting in the cycle space, at least I could get my bike on an off the train myself without booking and 99% of the time I'd get a seat. Now i'm on FGW I have to book and getting on and off is more difficult than discovering the meaning of the universe, I tried for several months a couple of years ago not doing that again, so I find myself on the tube once more from Paddington to Kings Cross
Help me people, I can't bare or afford to buy a folding bicycle what can I do.
Sorry for the hijack J
Distressed of Windshire
Leave a bike at Paddington for the London section?
Best make it an old one though - the bike racks at Paddington are an absolute mess and about 6 bikes to each post!!0 -
Fireblade96 wrote:itboffin wrote:SW trains has been a doddle for the last couple of years even with the odd nobber sitting in the cycle space, at least I could get my bike on an off the train myself without booking and 99% of the time I'd get a seat. Now i'm on FGW I have to book and getting on and off is more difficult than discovering the meaning of the universe, I tried for several months a couple of years ago not doing that again, so I find myself on the tube once more from Paddington to Kings Cross
Help me people, I can't bare or afford to buy a folding bicycle what can I do.
Sorry for the hijack J
Distressed of Windshire
Work
from
home
Yes 2-3 days a week ATM Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.0 -
markshaw77 wrote:itboffin wrote:SW trains has been a doddle for the last couple of years even with the odd nobber sitting in the cycle space, at least I could get my bike on an off the train myself without booking and 99% of the time I'd get a seat. Now i'm on FGW I have to book and getting on and off is more difficult than discovering the meaning of the universe, I tried for several months a couple of years ago not doing that again, so I find myself on the tube once more from Paddington to Kings Cross
Help me people, I can't bare or afford to buy a folding bicycle what can I do.
Sorry for the hijack J
Distressed of Windshire
Leave a bike at Paddington for the London section?
Best make it an old one though - the bike racks at Paddington are an absolute mess and about 6 bikes to each post!!
Yep I noticed that it looks like some sort of hideous Halford bikehut time capsule, I don't have a bike I'd be comfortable leaving there, mmm ebay here I come
Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.0 -
itboffin wrote:Fireblade96 wrote:itboffin wrote:SW trains has been a doddle for the last couple of years even with the odd nobber sitting in the cycle space, at least I could get my bike on an off the train myself without booking and 99% of the time I'd get a seat. Now i'm on FGW I have to book and getting on and off is more difficult than discovering the meaning of the universe, I tried for several months a couple of years ago not doing that again, so I find myself on the tube once more from Paddington to Kings Cross
Help me people, I can't bare or afford to buy a folding bicycle what can I do.
Sorry for the hijack J
Distressed of Windshire
Work
from
home
Yes 2-3 days a week ATM
4 days a week ! I win ! (it's like not-commuting not-racing, but I win anyway...)Misguided Idealist0 -
Fireblade - congrats on the job.
ITB - ride in. You did that to go to the pub. FCN 2-4.
"What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
"It stays down, Daddy."
"Exactly."0 -
but look what's arriving at Paddington soon:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... dington.do
I imagine bikes will be inspected by bouncers on the door to keep the riff-raff out.0 -
Odd, seems like the trains are much more of a problem for you peeps headed West or SW. Coming into town from Kent (albeit zone 4) I nearly always get a seat going in or headed back. Makes my 2-3 non-bike days a week seem alright....maybe you're just living in the wrong part of Town? "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0
