Apartments in London and the British Rail

I've started browsing apartments on Gumtree and Rightmove and have found several attractive flats in London that are near the British Rail but not near the subway. I just wondered if taking the rail is much more expensive, inconvenient, etc. and if anyone on the site uses it to commute along with the subway. 

It depends on the station you'll be at and the station you're going to.

check http://www.nationalrail.com/  for ticket pricing.

You also can purchase passes though, which if you're commuting every day, I'd imagine you'd need. I know you can buy train/tube combo tickets, I'm not sure about passes.

I've started browsing apartments on Gumtree and Rightmove and have found several attractive flats in London that are near the British Rail but not near the subway. I just wondered if taking the rail is much more expensive, inconvenient, etc. and if anyone on the site uses it to commute along with the subway.  

I commuted via the Underground for around seven years and have commuted via mainline/overground/British Rail stations for just over two years.  Included in that are commutes that were a combination of overground and underground.

I much prefer the overground trains and now I do my best to avoid the Underground; it really stresses me out to take the tube on the rare occasions that I do end up having to use it.

I commuted via the Underground for around seven years and have commuted via mainline/overground/British Rail stations for just over two years.  Included in that are commutes that were a combination of overground and underground.

I much prefer the overground trains and now I do my best to avoid the Underground; it really stresses me out to take the tube on the rare occasions that I do end up having to use it.

Ditto for me as well.  I daily commuted via underground for 4 years and overground for 1.  I LOVE the overground.  LOVE IT!  I really avoid the tube now and hate taking it.

ETA: Where are you looking?

Want to third that as well. When we first moved over here, brother in law advised us to keep to the overground as much as possible. I also very much prefer taking that to the underground when I can.

As above.  Give us an idea of where you need to commute to and where you are working and we can help.

Oh, and don't forget buses!


Vicky

Well several places (sorry my memory is failing at the moment--all in south London.) One I can think of off the top of my head (the northern-most and most accessible of those I looked at) is Clapham. I've seen several apartments that are very near the overground but about a mile to the subway. I was worried that the overground would be more costly or something. I'm glad to hear so many rave reviews of it though! This will open up the possiblities flat wise!   I'll do some more browsing tonight to list the other overground stops I saw what looked like (online) attractive flats. Thanks to everyone for your feedback!  

There is very little tube in South London, but great overground, so don't let tha that put you off. 

Vicky

Think of the tube as like..the 4,5 or 6.  Not as bad as the 7 train, though. 

I can't say I love the tube, but since I took the subway all the time back in NY, I don't hate it.  I've learned the best times to catch it and where to stand if I want to get a seat for the portion of the journey. 

The only problem with British Rail is longer wait times, a greater need for planning as it
runs on a schedule, and possibly higher cost. I move around London on pay as you go Oyster and sometimes skip taking the BR because it's usually not included on pay as you go. However, the BR is really nice, and living in South London away from the tube and near
the BR often means lower housing costs. I really like South London (I live in SE17,
 a bit ghetto but it suits me fine) and recommend it. Forest Hill, Ladywell (?), Dulwich
and Nunhead are some other neighborhoods you can try.

Taking the train can be cheaper, too.  For instance, I live in Zone 3 and a monthly travelcard for Zones 1-3 to travel on all Underground, buses and trains would cost me over £100 per month.  HOWEVER, I simply have a season ticket for the train ONLY between my local train station and its central London terminus (Victoria station, in this case) and it costs £75/month.  Much cheaper!!

And trains are often times less crowded than the Tube, those this is extremely variable based on what train/Tube you're talking about.

I prefer the train anyday, since it's not as stuffy or hot as the Tube - even though it runs slightly less frequently, it's really not a huge deal.  Often times trains can be FASTER than the Tube.  For instance, from Clapham Common the Tube takes 18 minutes, but the train from Clapham High Street or Clapham Junction takes 8 minutes.  If you live near Clapham Junction, it's one of the busiest stations in Britain, so there's trains into Waterloo or Victoria literally every minute - just as frequent as the Tube.